L.A. Lakers (40-12) vs. Denver Nuggets (38-16)
Date/Time: Wednesday, February 12, 2020 10:00 PM ESPN
The top two teams in the Western Conference face off on Wednesday night in the Mile High City with the Denver Nuggets hosting the L.A. Lakers.
On the season Denver is 26-24-4 ATS with an O/U record of 25-29 and L.A. is 27-24-1 ATS with an O/U record of 26-26.
The Lakers have won two in a row and four of their last five games and they are in first place in the Western Conference three games up on the Nuggets. The team is balanced and while they rank seventh in the league averaging 114.6 ppg they have put up 125 points in each of their last two games.
The Nuggets are hot, as they have won four in a row and six of their last seven games. They lit it up scoring 127 points in their last game but their defense, which ranks fourth in the league giving up an average of 106.4 ppg, gave up 120 points.
These teams have split the two games facing each other this season with each winning on the road.
This season the Nuggets are 21-6 at home and the Lakers are an NBA best 22-5 on the road.
Blazing the Suns
The Lakers were at home in their last game where they blazed the Phoenix Suns beating them 125-100. They outscored them by 16 points in the second half and they played great on both ends of the floor shooting 51.6% from the field and holding the Suns to 42.1% shooting.
Anthony Davis led the Lakers in the Suns’ win with 25 points and 10 rebounds, Rajon Rondo blew up off the bench for 23 points, and LeBron James “only” had 17 points on 6/16 shooting but had eight boards and nine assists.
The Lakers did not make any deals at the trade deadline and it looks as of Darren Collison will stay retired. The team is banking that Kyle Kuzma can step up and be the third scorer and while he is averaging 12.8 ppg he has failed to score in double figures in two of his last three games.
Big Time Comeback
In their 127-120 win over the San Antonio Spurs in their last game the Nuggets came back from 23 down to get the W. Denver did allow the Spurs to shoot 48.2% from the floor and 50% from 3-pt range but they shot a scorching 56.3% and 51.4% from deep.
Jamaal Murry led the Nuggets with 26 points in the win over San Antonio, Nikola Jokic had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Paul Millsap came off the bench to go for 22 points.
Jokic (20.6 ppg 10.2 rpg) leads six players for Denver averaging in double figures. Murray is the second leading scorer at 18.6 ppg and has been on fire as of late averaging 28.3 ppg in his last four games.
The Nuggets beat the Lakers badly in the last matchup in the end of last year, but King James did not play.
Our Prediction
The Nuggets are 12-6 ATS in their last 18 games facing the Lakers and 5-1 ATS in their last six games facing them at home.
Even with the trends above pointing to the Nuggets in this game I am taking the Lakers. They have the best road record in the NBA, and they will be pumped for this game wanting to keep their cushion over the Nuggets in the Western Conference standings. L.A. will win and cover and win their second game of the season in Denver.