The sky seemed to be falling for the Denver Nuggets when Nikola Jokic was facing an extended spell on the sidelines, but instead, they\u2019re on a hot streak heading into tonight\u2019s matchup with the Charlotte Hornets.<\/p>\n
Denver is 6-1 in its last seven games, and my Hornets vs Nuggets predictions expect big-time production from the hosts\u2019 role players against a Charlotte team that brings an ugly 8-15 road record to Ball Arena.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Read on for my NBA picks<\/a> ahead of this battle on Sunday, January 18.<\/p>\n Hornets vs Nuggets prediction<\/p>\n Hornets vs Nuggets best bet<\/strong>: Peyton Watson Over 18.5 points (-115)<\/p>\n The Denver Nuggets<\/a> have needed contributions from up and down the roster to survive Nikola Jokic\u2019s absence, and Peyton Watson<\/a>\u2019s emergence has to be among the biggest pluses to come out of this stretch.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to forget that Watson averaged just 8.1 PPG last season, but he\u2019s looked like a different player this year, with a major take-off this month in an expanded role. Spreading his wings as an offensive force, he\u2019s averaging 23.6 PPG in January.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Watson has gone past this O\/U number in nine of his last 10 outings, including a 21-point effort yesterday against the Washington Wizards, and I see Denver leaning on his athleticism in the second game of a back-to-back set.<\/p>\n While Watson\u2019s 48% mark from 3-point range isn\u2019t sustainable, he can get buckets in other ways, too. In addition to Jokic, the Nuggets will still be without Cam Johnson and possibly Christian Braun, so shot volume shouldn\u2019t be a factor.<\/p>\n The Charlotte Hornets<\/a> gave up 136 points against the Golden State Warriors last night, and there\u2019s no reason to think the visitors\u2019 defense will fare any better with Watson\u00a0& Co. on the charge.<\/p>\n Hornets vs Nuggets same-game parlay<\/p>\n Give me the team that\u2019s finding a way to grind out victories and maximizing its talent. The Nuggets are 12-6 at Ball Arena this season, and 26-16 ATS overall, and Jamal Murray<\/a> is coming off a lights-out effort against Washington. I can\u2019t trust the Hornets offense to show up here after some wildly erratic totals in January.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Brandon Miller<\/a> has put together consecutive strong shooting nights, but his assist tallies have been even steadier. He\u2019s dished 4+ dimes in four straight games, and I expect him to flash his playmaking skills in what should be an end-to-end contest.<\/p>\n Hornets vs Nuggets SGP<\/p>\n Peyton Watson Over 18.5 points<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Our “from downtown” SGP: Doing Things the Hardaway<\/p>\n Tim Hardaway Jr.<\/a> has knocked down 17 threes across his past four outings, and he dropped 30 points on the Wizards last night. With the Nuggets short on sharpshooters, Hardaway has a neon green light to let it fly from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n Hornets vs Nuggets SGP<\/p>\n Peyton Watson Over 18.5 points<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Brandon Miller Over 3.5 assists<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Tim Hardaway Jr. Over 3.5 threes<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Hornets vs Nuggets odds<\/p>\n Spread<\/strong>: Hornets -1.5 (-110) | Nuggets +1.5 (-110)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Moneyline<\/strong>: Hornets -120 | Nuggets +100<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Over\/Under<\/strong>: Over 228.5 (-110) | Under 228.5 (-110)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Hornets vs Nuggets betting trend to know<\/p>\n The Nuggets are 9-1 SU in their last 10 matchups against the Hornets. Find more NBA betting trends<\/a> for Hornets vs. Nuggets.<\/p>\n How to watch Hornets vs Nuggets<\/p>\n Location<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n Ball Arena, Denver, CO<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Date<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n Sunday, January 18, 2026<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Tip-off<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 8:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n TV<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n FDSN SE Charlotte, Altitude<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Hornets vs Nuggets latest injuries<\/p>\n Not intended for use in MA. This article originally appeared on Covers.com<\/a>, read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sky seemed to be falling for the Denver Nuggets when Nikola Jokic was facing an extended spell…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":525955,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[131688,7194,3118,42780,8605,3134,3140,3373,1260,3369,50066,62,233583,93799,67,132,68,3117],"class_list":{"0":"post-525954","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-brandon-miller","9":"tag-cam-johnson","10":"tag-charlotte-hornets","11":"tag-christian-braun","12":"tag-denver","13":"tag-denver-nuggets","14":"tag-golden-state-warriors","15":"tag-jamal-murray","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-nikola-jokic","18":"tag-peyton-watson","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-the-nuggets","21":"tag-tim-hardaway-jr","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-washington-wizards"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115918123053813453","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n
\n
\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n
Affiliate Disclosure<\/strong>: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.<\/p>\n