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Los Angeles Lakers at Denver Nuggets Betting Preview

Sunday night in the NBA features a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals. The Los Angeles Lakers (21-6) are in the midst of a seven-game winning streak and trail the Utah Jazz by a single game for the top seed in the West.

They’ll head to the Rocky Mountains to take on the Denver Nuggets (14-11), who have back-to-back wins following a trio of losses.

This is the second time the Lakers and Nuggets have played this season. The first came just 10 days ago when Denver blew a 12-point halftime lead and lost 114-93 in Los Angeles.

LeBron James had a 27-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist triple-double as seven total Lakers scored in double figures. Los Angeles’ defense in the second half was the big story, though, as it held Denver to just 35 points over the final two quarters.

Here is a closer look at Sunday night’s matchup between the Lakers and Nuggets, along with odds and free pick. Los Angeles is currently a 3.5-point favorite on the road.

By the Numbers

Despite playing at the league’s fourth-slowest pace, the Nuggets are averaging 115.2 points per game, the fourth-most in the NBA, on a strong 48 percent from the field. They also are in the top 10 in three-point percentage and rank fifth in offensive rating.

Perhaps a little surprisingly to some, the Lakers are just 13th in the league with 113.2 points per game. However, their overall field-goal percentage of .486 is the third-highest in the league. This despite the fact that they’re in the middle of the pack when it comes to making threes.

However, Los Angeles is countering its fairly-average offense with a league-leading defense. The Lakers are second in the NBA in points allowed with 105.2 to go along with the league’s best defensive rating.

Meanwhile, Denver is 12th with 111.2 points allowed and 18th in defensive rating, but it does manage to get over eight steals per game.

Lakers Betting Preview

Since dropping back-to-back games back in late January, the Lakers have won seven straight. But it has hardly been easy in those seven games.

At one point, they had three straight games go to overtime but managed to pull out wins in all of them. They’ve also had to come back multiple times, including their most recent game on Friday against the Grizzlies, in which they trailed 22-2 to open up the game.

In year 18, LeBron James has been carrying the Lakers all season. The 36-year-old hasn’t missed a game and is a frontrunner for MVP, averaging 25.6 points with just about eight rebounds and eight assists per game.

Anthony Davis returned to action Friday after missing a couple of games, netting 35 points against Memphis. It was his second straight game with 30 or more, as Davis is aiming to improve his 22.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.

Besides those two stars, Los Angeles’ two biggest offseason additions have been big contributors as well. Dennis Schroder is averaging 14 points per game, third on the team, and also dropped 21 in their previous game against Denver.

Montrezl Harrell is the other newcomer who has impressed, averaging 13.5 points, including 20-plus in two of his last three games. Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Talen Horton-Tucker are among the other key role players that make the Lakers one of the toughest teams in the West.

Nuggets Betting Preview

The Nuggets are probably a little better than their record indicates, but it has been an up-and-down season so far. Following four losses in five games to begin the season, Denver managed to improve its record to 11-7.

The Nuggets followed that up with another stretch of four losses in five games, among them the 21-point loss to the Lakers. However, they have seemingly recovered with a near-40-point win over the Cavaliers and a comeback win over the Thunder.

Nikola Jokic is one of the more unique players in the NBA. The big man is putting together a career year across the board with 26.7 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, as well as a staggering 8.6 assists. Jokic had a 50-point night right after facing the Lakers and 47 before facing them but was bottled up with just 13 points against Los Angeles.

His running mate, Jamal Murray, enjoyed a breakout in the bubble last year, and the point guard is averaging 18.3 points on 44 percent shooting. Murray had 22 points on Friday, his first 20-point effort since dropping 20 against Los Angeles.

Denver’s duo has the potential to become a trio with the development of Michael Porter Jr. The 22-year-old is third on the team with just under 15 points per game but is starting to find his groove again in the last couple of wins after missing a number of games due to COVID-19.

Will Barton and Monte Morris have also been steady role players for the Nuggets, with Morris scoring 16 the last time these teams played. Paul Millsap is also a steady veteran who can rebound well against a big Lakers team.

Betting Pick

The Lakers are a rare team that can go on a long winning streak despite not playing its best basketball. But that’s exactly what’s happening, as the Lakers’ last seven games have mostly been a grind against largely-inferior opponents.

However, the Nuggets haven’t fixed all of their issues and will need a much better effort from Jokic Sunday night than the one they got from him 10 days ago.

Ultimately, I’m siding with the Lakers defense to pull off the win. Denver will need to get its stars, primarily Murray and Porter, going from beyond the arc. However, Los Angeles boasts the league’s best defense against three-pointers, which may force the Nuggets into taking lots of contested twos.

Look for the Lakers to shine defensively while a healthy James and Davis do their things on the other end.

Pick: Lakers -3.5

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