Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA – Photo by Icon sport
The Denver Nuggets are visiting the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday night.
The Nuggets are picking up the pace
The Denver Nuggets are third in the Western Conference with a 35-16 record. They have won four of the last five games and are coming off a 112-103 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. The Nuggets are sixth in the league, shooting 49.4% from the field, and have the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the league. Nikola Jokic is the frontrunner in the MVP race, averaging 26.3 points, 12.2 rebounds, and 9 assists per game.
The Lakers are back from the road trip
The Los Angeles Lakers are ninth in the Western Conference with a 27-25 record. They have won the last three games of the six-game road trip and are coming off a 124-118 win over the Charlotte Hornets. The Lakers are seventh in the league, shooting 49.3% from the field, and are the team with the fewest three-point attempts per game, 30.4. LeBron James leads the team with 24.9 points per game.
Betting Trends
Denver has won the last six games against the Lakers. They are 4-1 SU in the last five games overall and 13-2 SU in the last 15 games against teams from the Pacific Division. The Lakers are 5-2 SU in the last 7 games, and 4-2 SU in the last six games played on Thursday.
Prediction and Conclusion
This will be an interesting matchup between the teams that played in the Western Conference finals last season. The Nuggets swept the Lakers back then and are a -3.5-point favorite going into this one. Nikola Jokic is having another impressive season, and the Serbian will most likely win his third MVP award. The Lakers are back home from a long road trip, and they have been playing pretty solid lately. However, the Nuggets simply know how to play against the Lakers. Their up-tempo basketball would be a problem for the Lakers. The Nuggets will take control of the scoreboard early in the game and will win at the end.
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