LA Lakers (17-3) at Denver (13-4)
When: Tuesday, December 3rd, 2019
Where: Pepsi Center,
Denver, Colorado
Time: 9:05 ET | TV: SportsNet LA
Opening Odds: Pickem/210.5
Many NBA fans and oddsmakers are expecting an All-Los Angeles Western Conference Finals matchup between LeBron James and the Lakers and Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers, but there are couple of other teams that will have a say in it. One of those is the Denver Nuggets, who might not have the star power of the two L.A. squads but has All-NBA center Nikola Jokic, a ton of depth and arguably the best home-court advantage in the NBA playing at altitude. Tuesday is the first of four regular-season meetings between the Nuggets and L.A. Lakers. Denver just saw their six-game winning streak end with the 100-97 setback to the Sacramento Kings, in which point guard Jamal Murray failed to get a shot off at the end of overtime after having one blocked at the conclusion of regulation. Los Angeles had a 10-game winning streak halted by the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday 114-100. Denver was a much better team than L.A. last year, nearly reaching the West Finals, and won two of three meetings. The Nuggets won easily in their lone home game 117-85. James played in all three despite missing 27 games overall in 2018-19 and averaged 24.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists. Murray averaged 20.3 points and 7.0 rebounds for Denver and Jokic 16.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists. The home team is 8-1 against the spread in the past nine meetings, while the over is 10-3 in the previous 13 in Denver.
Tuesday is the first of a back-to-back for L.A., who will not likely hold out LeBron, but it’s not out of the question that Anthony Davis takes a seat. James had 25 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and Davis 27 points and 10 rebounds in the loss to Dallas on Sunday, but the rest of the starting five combined for just 19 points. Kyle Kuzma is the Lakers’ top bench scorer, but he was held to only four points on 1-for-8 shooting as he deals with an ankle issue. The Lakers also committed 17 turnovers versus the Mavericks, with six of them coming from James. This one starts a very challenging stretch that includes eight of 11 on the road including tomorrow night in Utah. L.A. is just 1-6 ATS in their past seven vs. the Western Conference.
The Nuggets will wear their “City Edition” jerseys for this one and they feature the team’s iconic rainbow skyline logo. The Nuggets blew a 17-point halftime lead in losing to the Kings Saturday, as Sacramento became the third team in the NBA this season to win when trailing by at least 17 at the break. Gary Harris had a season-high 25 points but 18 of those were in the first quarter when he outscored the Kings by himself. Jokic was 3-for-11 for seven points with four turnovers and is in a scoring slump with three straight single-digit games. Power forward Paul Millsap is averaging just six points and 2.5 rebounds over the past two games. Denver will start a four-game East Coast trip on Thursday.
The Lakers might be the better team, but Denver is really good at home and I expect Jokic to break out of his slump in a big way. Denver is a perfect 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS when playing on two days rest. This should be a really good game with the Nuggets pulling it out in the end.
Check out who Bobby Babowski has on his Free NBA Picks page for Tuesday. He is 23-16-2 on the season!
Pick: Nuggets -2
Lakers are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
Lakers are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games following a ATS loss.
Lakers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following a straight up loss.
Lakers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
Lakers are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
Lakers are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games overall.
Lakers are 3-9 ATS in their last 12 games following a straight up loss of more than 10 points.
Lakers are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
Lakers are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 vs. Western Conference.
Nuggets are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game.
Nuggets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games.
Nuggets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game.
Nuggets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games playing on 2 days rest.
Nuggets are 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
Nuggets are 13-5 ATS in their last 18 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
Nuggets are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 Tuesday games.
Nuggets are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games overall.
Under is 4-0 in Lakers last 4 games playing on 1 days rest.
Under is 5-0 in Lakers last 5 overall.
Under is 3-0-1 in Lakers last 4 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
Under is 5-0 in Lakers last 5 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game.
Under is 11-4 in Lakers last 15 vs. NBA Northwest.
Under is 19-7 in Lakers last 26 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
Under is 24-9 in Lakers last 33 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
Under is 13-5 in Lakers last 18 Tuesday games.
Under is 35-16 in Lakers last 51 games following a ATS loss.
Under is 40-19 in Lakers last 59 vs. Western Conference.
Under is 29-14 in Lakers last 43 games following a straight up loss.
Under is 5-0 in Nuggets last 5 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
Under is 7-1 in Nuggets last 8 vs. NBA Pacific.
Under is 7-1 in Nuggets last 8 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of greater than .600.
Under is 4-1 in Nuggets last 5 overall.
Under is 4-1 in Nuggets last 5 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
Under is 8-2 in Nuggets last 10 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game.
Under is 28-10 in Nuggets last 38 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
Under is 22-8 in Nuggets last 30 home games.
Under is 22-8 in Nuggets last 30 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
Under is 20-8-1 in Nuggets last 29 games playing on 2 days rest.
Under is 7-3 in Nuggets last 10 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game.
Under is 21-9 in Nuggets last 30 games following a ATS loss.
Home team is 8-1 ATS in the last 9 meetings.
Over is 10-3 in the last 13 meetings in Denver.
Over is 19-7-2 in the last 28 meetings.
Lakers are 7-17 ATS in the last 24 meetings.
Lakers are 0-5 ATS in the last 5 meetings in Denver.
