Los Angeles Lakers vs Denver Nuggets betting tips and predictions for Friday’s NBA game on ESPN. The Lakers look to go back to .500 at Crypto.com Arena as they host Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Los Angeles Lakers
The loss against Boston on Wednesday was a real stinger for the Lakers who were up big late in the 4th quarter, but just couldn’t close it out. Both Lebron James and Anthony Davis went over 30 points, which is a good sign moving forward, however they couldn’t do much against Jayson Tatum who finished with 44 and 9 rebounds.
The bad news is, Denver also has a player capable of scoring that many points on any given night in Jokic, so the Lakers defense will have their hands full for yet another game. The oddsmakers have the home team as underdogs here, but not by a lot. LA has beaten Denver in 7 of the last 8 home games, plus they are also 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against Western Conference opponents.
Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets are on a 3-game win streak at the moment following their latest win over Washington 141-128. Scoring that many points is nothing new to this team, as they always rank near the top in offensive efficiency. Two-time MVP Jokic exploded for 43 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals, playing a complete all around game. He goes up against Anthony Davis tonight, so it’ll be interesting to see how he follows up that huge performance. Denver is one of the harder teams to beat when playing on the road this season, over their last 12 games they have 8 wins and just 4 losses. They are doing all this without the services of Michael Porter Jr. who is out with a heel injury, but so far they haven’t missed him all that much.
It’s always a competitive game when these two teams meet up. I would give a slight edge to the Nuggets here, simply because of what Nikola Jokic is doing right now. Denver is 7-3 SU in their last 10 games, plus 5-1 ATS in their last 6 vs Pacific Division opponents. Take the road team to cover.
Los Angeles Lakers vs Denver Nuggets Predictions & Odds
Whenever these two teams meet up it always feels like a high scoring game is coming our way. That was the case in 7 of the last 10 meetings with the over cashing, they are averaging 226.5 points between them during that stretch. Both Davis and Jokic are in great form offensively, so they will cancel each other out here. Neither of them is all that impressive on the defensive end, so I would expect both to go over the 30 point mark here. Denver’s last 4 of 6 games have gone over the total, while that’s been the case in 7 of 8 for the Lakers.
In games played at home, the Lakers are 8-3 on the O/U in the last 11 outings, and 4-1 in favor of the over in the last 5 vs Denver there. Don’t be surprised if both teams go over 115 points tonight, so let’s back the over.
