The Los Angeles Lakers are searching for identity and the frustration is boiling, but there’s no time to relax, as the hot shooting Denver Nuggets come to Hollywood to remind the Lakers fans about the Showtime.
Nuggets at Lakers
Spread: Denver -4.5 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: o/u 222 points (-110)
The Nuggets put up NBA-season high in a win
Only a day after the Houston Rockets put up 142 points in regulation to set NBA high for the season, the Denver Nuggets managed to bestow it. The New Orleans Hornets fell victim to a true Colorado three-point avalanche and allowed 146 points on Friday night.
It was a perfect game for the Nuggets. The ball was moved well and there was no hesitation among the shooters. The basket was wide as the ocean and the Nuggets scored at least 37 points in three of the four quarters. They jumped out to a 35-10 lead, and maintained it for the most of the first half, but the Pelicans did manage to chip away from it and slowly pulled within 8. Then Davis went down with an injury and the Pels hopes of coming back all the way sunk. The Nuggets seized an opportunity to knock down a shaken rival – they scored 82 points in the second half alone, mostly due to sniper precision from the long range. Four different players have hit at least three triples as Denver shot 18-of-35 from distance and 63 percent overall on field goals. Jamal Murray showed that a game of rest indeed helped heal his woes and scored a season-high 31 points (against Holiday, true, but still). Harris wouldn’t be shaded either, hitting 9-of-11 attempts for 22 points and a +41 on the plus/minus. Millsap punished the Pelicans on both sides, providing blocks and steals on defense, while scoring 20 points and dishing out 7 assists in a most complete performance of the lone All-Star in the team. Jokic, the babyface of the franchise, played well against the formidable opposition – he double-doubled with 13 points on just 5 shot attempts and 11 boards. The cutting game was running perfectly and he assisted directly on 6 field goals, and had at least as many secondary assists. Denver somehow managed to grab 13 offensive rebounds despite guiding all balls through the hoop and had 37 assists in comparison to 14 TOs. Defensive stats aren’t impressive, rarely it is when the game goes like this, and that’s not their forte either.
The Nuggets are off to a three-game road trip that will culminate on Wednesday in Houston, when two teams will have an opportunity to compare their arsenal.
Place: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Date/Time: Sunday, November 19th, 2017. 9:30 PM ET
TV Coverage: NBCSNW, NBCSCA
The Lakers find new lows in a home loss to Phoenix
The Lakers dropped to 6-10 for the 2017-18 season after Phoenix won by a final count of 122-113 in a sloppy game featuring 34 turnovers with LA responsible for 19 of those giveaways. It was just two bad teams going at each other. The Suns just needed it more and fought for it harder.
For the home team, Brandon Ingram came out aggressive scoring 12 in the first quarter alone. Foul trouble disrupted his rhythm and he didn’t seem to find good spots with as much regularity past the first 12 minutes. Brook Lopez was solid and tabbed a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds, but the Lakers wouldn’t have come close if not for a terrific second half performance by the rookie forward Kyle Kuzma, who is getting better by each game passed. Kuzma scored 28 of his career-high 30 points in the second half, adding 10 rebounds, but his performance was a silver lining for the Lakers who have five losses in their past six games. Lonzo Ball couldn’t put his mark on the game, finishing with a Kirilenko-type of a line – 6 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals. He also earned a fair amount of criticism for looking over at a skirmish that erupted near him and disinterestedly walked away without helping his teammates. He was always going to come with that burden of being above the team, and is still very much a rookie on and off the court. But the Lakers did not lose for their offense, but because they allowed 122 points, the most since allowing 130 to the same opponent on the second day of the season. The Suns turned live turnovers into easy baskets, attempted 102 field goals and connected on 47 percent of them.
The Lakers had the full squad available, except for Larry Nance Jr., who is absent for a long time. Los Angeles is continuing what’s turning to be a miserable four-game stand by playing Denver and Chicago next.
Denver Nuggets at Los Angeles Lakers Game Trends & Prediction
The Nuggets responded well to 82 points in Portland, proving that it was just a bad night. They are still not positive against the spread, going 6-9 overall this season, but are heading in the right direction. Their issues lie on the road, where they are just 1-5 ATS. They are also 6-9 against the total points line and a part of the lean towards unders is a trade-off, the Nuggets have put in an extra effort to improve defensively and the offense regressed. Well, up until the last game.
The Lakers fell to 7-9 ATS this season after failing to cover in five of their last six games. The regression has been visible, but it is so big that the market can’t catch up with. After four unders in a row, the last two games ended over the line, bringing their O/U record to 7-9 overall, and 5-4 at home. Also, over is 4-0 in Lakers last 4 home games.
Admi-Rank: It’s not just the last games of the opponents – the Nuggets are heading in the right direction, and the Lakers slide lasts for at least two weeks. This created a rather large difference between the two sides, but shouldn’t be as large given the game venue.
The next step for the Nuggets is to elevate their game where there’s no help of the elevated ground. With the Lakers and the Kings their next hosts, the Nuggets should feel urged to take these. Still, they are so young and their carefree style of basketball doesn’t give the impression that they’ll change their laid-off attitude and embrace focus. Until they mature more, they’ll be susceptible to laying eggs against teams that can score on them, and Lakers do have a nice offensive capability.
The books have shown respect toward the Nuggets in this one (or not trusting the Lakers much). The spread is 4.5-points on the home side, which is close to a teaser. I’m going with +3.5 on the Lakers side and would be waiting to see if some early money movement changes the line. Don’t bet on these prices, keep your discipline and wait for high enough of a value. However, the total points market can already be explored. The line is set at 222, too high to pass on the under side. One game the Nuggets scored at will and the Lakers playing the Suns may bring you to the point where minus points are hard to stomach, but that’s exactly what the odd setters had in mind. Go against the public and stay under the line.
My Pick: (no wager on the spread, but keep an eye on Los Angeles +5 -105)
Total: Under 222 points (-110)
