NBA (4/4) | San Antonio Spurs vs. Denver Nuggets: Wildcat Warfare
Written by: Varun Sharma
Last Update: Sun Apr 05, 2026, 9:35 pm ET
Read Time: 7 minutes
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I couldn't be more excited for this matchup and with such a small slate, we're locking in. The San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets face off tonight in the Mile High City, with two potential MVPs going head to head.
Let's jump straight into it.
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Game Information
Matchup Information
- Location: Ball Arena; Denver, Colorado
- Date: Saturday, April 4th, 2026
- Tipoff: 3:10 PM EST
Key Players
- Victor Wembanyama (SAS): 29.2 MPG | 24.7 PPG | 11.5 RPG | 3.1 APG
- Nikola Jokić (DEN): 34.8 MPG | 27.7 PPG | 13.0 RPG | 10.8 APG
Betting Odds
Odds via Lucky Rebel, an industry leader in the sports betting world.
Analysis & Breakdown
The Joker, not Jester
Denver's currently just one game ahead of the Houston Rockets for 4th place in the Western Conference and just one game behind the Los Angeles Lakers in 3rd place. With Luka Dončić now potentially missing the final few games of the regular season, Denver's got a chance at moving up with just five games left on the schedule.
It won't be an easy, however. The Nuggets have the second hardest remaining schedule in the NBA. Denver will play the Spurs both tonight and on the last night of the regular season. In between they've got games against the Portland Trailblazers, Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Denver's been great as of late, winners of seven in a row. Look a little deeper though, you see two of those wins came against the Jazz, one against the Warriors and one against Mavericks. It's a little less impressive, especially when you remember how close those Jazz games really were.
Denver's biggest issues have been on the defensive side of the ball. The team ranks 1st in offensive rating but 21st in defensive rating. The Nuggets are the only team in the top four of their respective conference with a defensive rating in the bottom 15 this year. The only way they've been able to mitigate damage is by averaging 121.4 points per game (1st).
Jokic is once again playing like an MVP, but the play of Jamal Murray needs to be highlighted. Murray's averaging 25.6 points, 7.1 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game this year. He's shooting 48.4% from the field, 43.4% from three and he set the Nuggets single season record for threes made.
The Extraterrestrial
Since the start of February, the Spurs have been the best team in the NBA. San Antonio has won 27 of their last 29 games, they've got the 2nd best offensive rating since the All-Star break and the 3rd best defensive rating. The team's averaging 123.0 points per game since the break and that's second only to their opponent tonight, the Nuggets.
Wembanyama's been on a different planet this year. He's still averaging under 30 minutes per game but still putting up video game type numbers. The Frenchman's averaging 24.7 points and 11.5 rebounds per game and like I said, still not playing full minutes.
Wemby's been great, but this roster the Spurs have put together has been great too. Stephon Castle's started 64 of his 65 games this year; averaging 16.7 points, 7.2 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game. The second year guard's still not playing more than 30 minutes per game and it's because of San Antonio's depth.
Dylan Harper's been great in his rookie year; averaging 11/4/3 off the bench and playing 22.4 minutes per game. Add to this vets like De'Aaron Fox, Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson; you can very quickly see the depth I'm referring to.
Saturday's Best Bets
Jamal Murray o24.5 Points (+100) | Lucky Rebel
Today we've got a couple of Kentucky Wildcats going head to head. Jamal Murray for the Nuggets and De'Aaron Fox/Keldon Johnson for the Spurs. Murray was drafted 7th in 2016 with De'Aaron Fox being drafted 5th the following year.
Neither guy played more than one year at Kentucky and they never played a single game together. Regardless, over the last few years when these two face off; both see a significant bump in usage.
In their last six games against each other, Murray's averaging 26.5 points per game, shooting just under 50% from the field and 43% from beyond the arc. Murray's been great this year and if the Nuggets hope to pull of the upset tonight, they'll need him to be at his best.
De'Aaron Fox o16.5 Points (+105) | Lucky Rebel
Nearly identical pitch here for Fox. He's cleared this line in three of his last four against the Nuggets and going back to his last six games against Jamal; Fox is averaging 21.5 points per game and shooting 44% from the field.
Fox has played the Nuggets twice this year, both times he's taken 19 shot attempts. That's well over his average of 14.3 field goal attempts per game this year and very much in line with how he approaches these games.
Fox is averaging 18.5 points per game this year and shooting 49% from the field. The Nuggets rank 20th in points allowed and 26th in opponent rim field goal percentage. Fox is shooing 70% at the rim this year and ranks top 10 among PGs in shots at the rim.
Tonight should be the perfect matchup for the former Wildcat.
Stephon Castle o12.5 A/R (-130) | Lucky Rebel
Castle has just been so good in his second year, it can't be ignored. The kid ranks 8th in assists per game this year but is the only guy in the top 10 averaging fewer than 30 minutes per game.
Despite playing just 29.1 minutes per game, Castle's seeing the second highest usage rate on the team, he's dishing out 39.7% of the team's assists and averaging just under 14 potential assists per game.
Castle's also averaging 5.2 rebounds per game and sits third among all PGs this year in total rebounds. He's also cleared this line in both games he's played 25+ minutes against the Nuggets, averaging 13.0 rebounds 9.5 assists per game in the two matchups.
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