Two Teams Faced Each Other Twice | Lakers vs Nuggets | OSB
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets
By Sam Batz
For the third time this season, the LA Lakers will take on the Denver Nuggets. The game will be played in Crypto.com Arena, LA’s home court, where the Lakers have gone 6-7 on the season. The Nuggets are 9-7 in away games and are the favorite to take the dub on Friday. The two teams faced each other twice back in October and the series is currently tied 1-1. Denver won the first contest, beating the Lakers 110-99, while LA took the second, winning 121-110, and securing their first victory on the season after starting 0-5. Denver is currently the three seed in the West with a 17-10 record, while Los Angeles is sitting in the twelfth place position in the West with a 11-16 record. Denver is on a three-game winning streak, coming off an impressive victory Wednesday against the Wizards beating them 141-128. The Lakers will try to get back on track after losing to Boston in a thrilling overtime contest in their last game.
From a statistical standpoint, the Nuggets and the Lakers are nearly neck-and-neck. Denver is averaging 116.0 points per game while the Lakers are averaging 115.0. Denver is allowing 114.3 points per game to opponents while the Lakers are averaging 116.6 points allowed. There isn’t much to divide these two when you look at the numbers, so why are the Lakers six games behind the Nuggets in the West? It comes down to talent and chemistry. The Nuggets have had relatively the same team for the past three seasons, allowing them to learn how to play as a cohesive unit. The Lakers on the other hand have gone through drastic changes since winning “The NBA Bubble” title back in 2020. Both teams retained their top guys but it is Los Angeles who has gone through wholesale changes to the bench, adding players like Russell Westbrook who has not delivered on the promise of a “Big Three” in LA. Denver has retained the talent that saw them through to a sixth seed in the West last season, but due to injuries to key players like Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr, the run ultimately ended in defeat after they were bounced out in the first round of the playoffs by Golden State. Now, the Nuggets are nearly back to full strength and are primed to be a top seed in the West. The Lakers will need to turn things around quickly if they are to avoid missing the playoffs for a second straight year. After last season’s debacle, Lebron James vowed to never miss the playoffs again, but unless the Lakers pull themselves together, Lebron may not be able to deliver on that promise.
The current spread for this matchup has the Nuggets favored by an extremely close margin with a -1 for Denever and a +1 for Los Angeles. Denver is 3-2 in their last five games and 1-4 against the spread in that same stretch. Additionally, the Nuggets will be in LA on Friday night and are 6-10 against the spread in their road games. The Lakers have gone 1-4 in their last five games and are 1-3 against the spread. LA is 6-6-1 against the spread at home. The point total has gone over in four out of the last five games for the Lakers, and has gone over in eight out of their last thirteen home games. The Lakers know how to score at home, so for anyone looking to bet on the over/under in Friday’s contest, recent trends suggest the over is the safer bet. Denver on the other hand has gone over the point total in three out of their last five games. Both the Lakers and the Nuggets average over 115 points allowed to their opponents, so once again, the over is likely the safer option depending on what the sportsbooks give for this game. For moneyline bets, I would take the Nuggets. They have a more well-rounded team. The Lakers only have two players (Lebron James and Anthony Davis) that their opponents need to worry about. The Nuggets come into this game with a 14-7 record as the favorite, while the Lakers are 6-13 as the underdog.
The Los Angeles Lakers have had a disappointing season so far, and although the spread suggests they have a shot at beating Denever, I like the Nuggets in this one. Even without Michael Porter Jr, who is out with a heel injury, Denver has the talent and depth to beat anyone. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are a lethal combination and the Laker defense is not good enough to stop them. On the LA side, Lebron and AD have accounted for nearly 40% (1,205 points out of a team total 3,104) of the Lakers points this season. While that is impressive, it hasn’t translated into wins. LA needs to spread the ball around and get other players involved if they want to have a shot at beating the top teams in the league. I predict the Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 117-112 and improve to 18-10 on the season.
