There is a game of the week potential at the Mecca, Madison Square Garden, on Wednesday evening as the Denver Nuggets come to town to face the New York Knicks.
Following a slow start, the Denver Nuggets have recently regained their momentum and appear poised to become the Western Conference contenders they have been for several years. With Nikola Jokic again putting in a monstrous MVP campaign, Denver’s a threat to beat anyone at any time.
The New York Knicks, on the other hand, have somewhat recovered after reaching their peak at the end of the 2024 calendar year. Though the Knicks remain comfortably in the top four in the Eastern Conference, a little spark will be needed to keep pace with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics atop the standings.
With an absolutely fascinating NBA matchup on the schedule this Wednesday in Manhattan, check out our Denver Nuggets vs. New York Knicks predictions, including our NBA expert picks, with tip set for January 29 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Matchup Nuggets vs Knicks Overview
Teams: Denver Nuggets vs. New York Knicks
Date: Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Madison Square Garden
Win Probabilities
The prediction tip for the winner in the game between the Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks is the New York Knicks.
Projected Final Score
Our predicted final score for this NBA matchup is the New York Knicks 107-110 Denver Nuggets.
Expert Prediction: Who Wins?
There are so many factors at play in Wednesday night’s game between the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks that it is a must-watch basketball game. It is at the best venue in the sport, Madison Square Garden. It features two of the most fun, energetic teams in the league. And, as it is a Western Conference versus Eastern Conference clash, it’s got a bit of freshness to it, too.
Though neither the Nuggets nor the Knicks are the favorites to come out of their respective conference—that honor goes to the Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics—there is the potential for an NBA Finals preview here. Both teams have the top-end talent and depth required to make a long run in the playoffs, and this would be a superb matchup once there. It is also the return of the always exciting individual matchup of Nikola Jokic and Karl-Anthony Towns, after the two transcendent talents spent years battling in the Northwest Division during the latter’s Minnesota Timberwolves career.
All told, expect an electric atmosphere and game on Wednesday night in an incredibly intriguing matchup.
Why the Denver Nuggets Can Cover
Don’t look now, but the Denver Nuggets are back. Sure, they were a game away from the Western Conference Finals last season, but between a disjointed 2023-24 regular season and a weird start this year, they had fallen from view a little. Not anymore. With Jokic at the helm, Denver has emerged as one of the league’s top teams in its last 10 games, demonstrating to the league why it is a genuine contender for the blue title.
With Russell Westbrook experiencing an unbelievable, unexpected, late-career renaissance, Denver’s survived the minutes Jokic is off the floor better than ever. To boot, Jamal Murray is slowly dragging himself out of the malaise that has plagued him for the better part of a year.
The Nuggets’ offense has been outrageously good in recent weeks, led as always by Jokic’s mastery. Over their last 10 games, the Nuggets are first in offensive rating, and the gap between themselves and the second ranked Memphis Grizzlies is about the same as the gap between the Grizz and the 10th best offense in the league.
The efficiency has been through the roof, too, with Denver first in both true shooting percentage and effective field goal percentage over that same 10 game span. Jokic’s commitment to basketball purity has effectively spread throughout the rotation, with the Nuggets sharing the ball at a great rate. They are first in team assists per game—again by a wide margin, too—and are in the top five in assists per field goal made.
New York’s defense has not been great at any point this year, and with the way the Nuggets are playing offensively, the Knicks may simply fail to keep up.
Why the New York Knicks Can Cover
Despite the Denver Nuggets’ superior offensive and defensive play in recent weeks, the New York Knicks offer a unique strategy that few teams can match against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.
In consecutive playoff series, first a five game triumph in the first round and then a seven game elimination in the semifinals, the Nuggets were given troubles by the Minnesota Timberwolves and Karl-Anthony Towns. They did so by putting the heavy footed, thickly built Towns on Jokic as an individual matchup and allowing Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert to lurk off Denver’s weakest shooter, coming across to help when needed.
That alignment gave the Nuggets problems and, effectively, threw their offense out of sync—especially in last year’s second round series when Jamal Murray was completely ineffective. Though the Knicks don’t have a Gobert-like additional big to utilize in such a way, they can find a similarly effective matchup. With Towns taking Jokic and either Mikal Bridges or OG Anunoby lurking from the weak side, New York can replicate the Timberwolves’ strategy to a pretty strong degree.
Jokic is one of the best players of all time and can’t be stopped. However, Towns has proven that he can slow him down enough to involve Denver’s other players. This helps level the playing field and could open up a path to victory for the Knicks at home.
How to Make Nuggets vs. Knicks Picks
Ready to make picks on the Denver Nuggets vs. New York Knicks matchup on Wednesday, January 29? Make sure to head over to Sportzino, where you can find every NBA game on the slate this weekend and so much more!
