Lakers vs Nuggets
After knocking off the Pelicans in the play-in tournament, the Lakers earned themselves a date with the Nuggets in the First Round of the playoffs. Game 1 is Saturday night in Denver with the Lakers coming in as 6.5-point underdogs. Of course, after their run to the Western Conference Finals last year, it’d be foolish to write off LeBron and company in the playoffs. On the other hand, the Lakers lost all three regular-season games against the Nuggets by an average of 10 points. They’re also just 12-27 against the spread when coming off a road win since Darvin Ham took over as head coach.
As for the Nuggets, they won six of their last eight games to close out the regular season and earn the no. 2 seed in the Western Conference. They also went 4-1 against the spread in their final five games, so they have plenty of momentum heading into the playoffs. However, the extra rest could lead to a rusty Denver team. The Nuggets somehow went 6-11-1 against the spread with a rest advantage during the regular season. That creates some doubt and could give the streaking Lakers some hope. But that extra rest didn’t bother the Nuggets in Game 1 of the First Round last year, beating Minnesota by 29 points. Therefore, we’ll trust the reigning champs to win and cover in Game 1.
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