The Los Angeles Lakers will travel to the Ball Arena on Saturday night to take on the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers are seventh in the West with a 21-21 record, while the Nuggets are sixth in the West with a 21-19 record this season.
Lakers at Nuggets Stats
Looking at the Los Angeles Lakers stats
The Los Angeles offense has been doing very well this year as they are currently third in the NBA with 112.1 points per game. Leading the scoring output is small forward LeBron James as he is averaging 29.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.1 blocks, and 1.7 steals per game on 52.4 percent shooting from the field, 36.6 percent from beyond the arc, and 76.9 percent from the charity stripe.
The Lakers have not been doing well on the defensive side of the court this season as they are allowing 112.8 points per game, which is 26th in the sport. A big reason is because they are tied with the Houston Rockets for the second-most free-throw attempts allowed in the NBA. They need to fix their defensive strategy if they want to make the playoffs or even miss the play-in tournament entirely.
Looking at the Denver Nuggets stats
The Nuggets have not been a good offensive team this season as they are 23rd in the league averaging 106.4 points per game so far. Center Nikola Jokic has been leading the team as he has recorded 25.5 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, 0.8 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game with a slashline of 56.6/29.7/81.8 so far. They need to be more of an offensive threat if they want to be successful this season.
Denver has been a solid defensive squad so far this year as they are ninth in the league giving up 105.7 points per game. A big reason for the number being so low is the fact they are able to hold the three-pointers against them to 33.8 percent, which is tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz for sixth in the NBA.
Betting Trends for Los Angeles at Denver
- Nuggets are 7-2-1 ATS in their last ten games vs Lakers in Denver
- Nuggets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Saturday games
- Nuggets are 6-2 ATS in their last eight home games vs a team with a losing road record
- Lakers are 4-13 ATS in their last 17 games vs a team with a winning record
- Lakers are 2-9 ATS in their last 11 games playing on two days rest
Who to Bet Lakers at Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are currently 3.5 point home favorites in this game against the Los Angeles Lakers, according to the top sportsbooks in the United States. The Lakers have an issue of fouling and sending teams to the free-throw line, and the Nuggets are able to defend the basket well.
Los Angeles is 17-25 against the spread this season, while Denver is 17-23 against the spread, so there is no huge swing there. All in all, go with the Denver Nuggets to cover the spread and win by multiple possessions.