The Denver Nuggets players are dropping as flies, but nobody’s going to feel sorry for them. They’ll have to regroup and try to avenge the recent loss to the visiting Los Angeles Lakers. Neither side played at a high level right now, but both have shown glimpses of their high potential.
Lakers at Nuggets
Spread: Denver Nuggets -4 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: o/u 220.5 points (-110)
The Lakers put in a fight against the Warriors, but lose third in a row
The L.A. Lakers needed an extra period to decide who’s better – them, or the defending NBA champions. Sound nice? Well, it’s true, but they’ve also previously lost to two of the weakest sides in the league, and also ultimately fell to the Golden State Warriors, losing 123-127 after overtime.
The Lakers wouldn’t budge after trailing by double digits for the most of the first half, and to the fully healthy Warriors too. Brandon Ingram’s 3-pointer started an 18-4 run and Julius Randle made it 10 consecutive field goals made for Los Angeles to regain balance in the game, and take the lead into the halftime break. Ingram finished with a career-high 32 points to lead the Lakers and Randle scored 20 off the bench as the Lakers continued to keep the score close even in the third quarter when the Warriors usually finish off their opponents. Lonzo Ball scored eight consecutive points in the third quarter – he finished with 15 points and 10 assists, a part of a good game from the backcourt as well. Clarkson and Caldwell-Pope each scored 21 points as the Lakers shot 49.5 percent for the game. The score was 84-84 coming into the fourth and tied nine more times in the fourth, the last on Durant’s 3-pointer with 46 seconds left. Both teams missed their final shots of regulation, where Steph Curry finally took over. Lopez and Nance had forgettable games again, and Kuzma did not play, so it wasn’t all pink, but the Lakers can be happy with the showing.
Kuzma, actually the Lakers leading scorer who is recently demoted to the bench, is experiencing back spasms. It is unknown if he’ll play in Denver. Ball received stitches to close a cut on his head in the last game but is fully expected to play Saturday.
Place: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Date/Time: Saturday, December 2nd, 2017. 9:00 PM ET
TV Coverage: Altitude, NBATV
The Nuggets lose Jokic to an ankle injury, barely win against Chicago
The Nuggets can’t catch a break. They’ve not yet got used to playing without Millsap, and now another important big went down. Denver won 111-110 at the buzzer over the lowly Chicago Bulls. They were saved by a terrific performance of Will Barton, who stepped in admirably after Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic limped to the locker room near the end of the first half.
I picked Denver in this game under a premise of Bulls being bad and losing energy by the game’s end, but only the second part was correct. As the game went on, the Nuggets seemed more and more like a much better team, even without Jokic. Still, it wasn’t enough to erase the memory of an ugly first quarter. The Bulls have already experienced big blowouts in the West, and they were ready to go down swinging. The Nuggets were supposed to jump on them from the start and make up for a bad loss in the previous game, but instead, the opposite happened. Chicago scored 39 first quarter point, looking nothing like a team struggling to score. The Bulls led 26-8 after eight minutes of play, and this poor start doomed Denver into playing catch-up the rest of the way. Barton showed he’s in for a big night early. As soon as he came in, he scored 12 points in a span of 2:18 to get Denver within five. Still, Chicago maintained the lead throughout the first half and went into the locker room ahead 68-62. Without Jokic (8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists in 16 first-half minutes), the Nuggets had some big to step in and finally got some production from Faried and Lyles. The Manimal scored 14 points to go with 13 boards, while Lyles chipped in with 10 and 6. The Nuggets managed to enter the clutch leading by 5 but committed a few turnovers late, and it led to a see-saw ending where Barton shined again. He finished with 37 points on 13-of-19 shooting and a team-high +12 and hit a reverse layup with three seconds left to win the game for his team. The Nuggets shot just 45.8 percent compared to Chicago’s 53.7 percent, but made up for it at the free throw line and on the offensive glass.
Luckily the reports say that Jokic’s ankle injury is minor, but he’s still questionable to play in this game. So is Wilson Chandler, who missed the previous two with back pain. Millsap is expected back after the All-Star.
Los Angeles Lakers at Denver Nuggets Game Trends & Prediction
The Lakers covered the spread against the Warriors and improved to 10-11 overall. They don’t fare as well on the road though, where they only managed to pull three ATS wins in nine games (including the ‘away’ game to the Clippers). On the totals market, the Lakers are 11-10 after 6 overs in the last 7 games, so it’s a definitely an important trend. They are also 9-3 against O/U when it comes to playing their own conference.
The Denver Nuggets are 6-5 ATS in Pepsi Center, but they went just 2-8 outside it. They failed to cover in their last two and four of the last six, a part of the season that started with a heavy loss to the Lakers. They are also 9-12 against the totals, after last game broke a string of three consecutive unders. Since Paul Millsap went down with an injury, the Nuggets have gone 2-3 against the spread, and 2-3 against the over/under, not counting the game he got hurt in.
Admi-Rank: Barely winning against the worst, at home, that’s big trouble for the Nuggets, who continue to plummet in the rankings. The Lakers have gained some percentage points with bugging the Warriors, but they aren’t to be trusted in succession. Keep in mind that the Nuggets number reflects their performance and it doesn’t account for injuries.
The Lakers beat Denver 127-109 two weeks ago by jumping out to 26 points first half lead. It was also the game where Nuggets coach Malone and Jokic get ejected and Millsap suffered the injury, so it’s not in the best of memories for the Denver team. They complained about the officiating, but it’s worth noting that they were killed by Lakers tempo, mobile forwards and lack of interest on the defensive end, and I don’t see that anything changed for them, except for the players who might miss this game.
Nikola Jokic will miss several games, according to the latest reports which is why the Nuggets were favored by the bookies only 4 points. On the other side, I have big expectations from the young Lakers team, which is why I will pick them to cover the spread.
My Pick: LA Lakers +4 (-110)
Total: pass
