The Lakers Are Back Home After a Successful Road Trip
Our Nuggets vs Lakers Betting Preview Has All The Analysis You Need To Make Your Bet!
The Nuggets and Lakers will play in a late-night matchup on TNT in crypto.com Arena.
But the NBA Trade Deadline will have passed before this game is played. The Nuggets are contenders in the West, while the Lakers are looking to make moves to become contenders in the West.
There could be some last-minute changes that could change the line with players moving from their respective teams.
Keep that in mind and check all of the trade deadline deals before making a wager.
The Nuggets have won four of their last five games and have the MVP favorite in Nikola Jokic on the squad. Meanwhile, the Lakers have added three straight wins and have ultimately proved to the Lakers management that they will contend for a playoff spot this season with LeBron James.
Still, at home, the Lakers are +4 (-105), with the total at 228.5.
We’ll take a look at the Nuggets vs Lakers betting lines below.
Denver Nuggets vs Los Angeles Lakers 
Date, time:
Streaming: Live Sports Stream
Nuggets vs Lakers Betting Trends
The Denver Nuggets have lost their last two games against the spread. They played back-to-back games against a low-tier opponent, the Portland Trail Blazers, and failed to cover both games despite earning straight up wins.
On the other hand, the Lakers have won two of their last three games against the spread and are currently on a three-game winning streak.
Denver has hit the Under in eight of their last ten games, while the Lakers have hit the Over in eight of their last ten games.
Something has to give in this matchup. The Lakers and Nuggets have hit the Under in their last two meetings, including the October 24 matchup this year. Denver added a 119-107 win over the Lakers and covered the five-point spread.
Is Jamal Murray The Forgotten Man?
The Nuggets are the reigning and defending NBA Champions. While Nikola Jokic was a star in the playoffs, so was Jamal Murray.
Coming off a massive injury, he took a giant leap into becoming one of the best point guards in the game.
This season, Murray has added 21 points, 6.6 assists, and four rebounds per game. He’s also shot 47.1% from the field and has helped the Nuggets to a 35-16 record. But apparently, that’s not good enough to make the NBA All-Star Game.
Murray was snubbed and will still wait to earn his first NBA All-Star Game appearance.
His 21.2 points per game would match his career high. He’s also on pace for more assists and fewer turnovers in a season this year.
The NBA players and fans are sleeping!
Will The Lakers Make A Move?
LeBron James likely wants the Lakers to make a move and get better. But as the days go by, it’s probably more unlikely that the Lakers will make a significant splash.
Rumors swirled last week about James wanting to leave the Lakers. But his agent, Rich Paul, denied those rumors. It also came out that the Lakers want James to finish his career in Los Angeles and don’t want him going elsewhere.
Either way, it sounds like the Lakers aren’t confident enough in the team they’ve got. They’d rather hold onto their assets and build despite James aging and getting closer to retirement.
The other players on the Lakers have also told the media that they’re not worried about getting traded at the deadline either.
If anything, the Lakers will be buyers. They won’t sell. But we’ll see if Los Angeles actually pulls the trigger before this game is played.
Los Angeles’ Streak Is Coming To An End
The Denver Nuggets are much more consistent on offense this season. The Nuggets have scored at a top-10 rate in points per 100 possessions and rank 10th in effective field goal percentage this season.
On top of that, Denver has only turned the ball over 12.9% of the time and has added 29.5% of offensive rebounds, which is 6th best in the NBA.
The Nuggets won’t get to the foul line often, but they’ll limit turnovers and get high-quality looks from the field.
The Lakers are typically good on the defensive glass and have held teams to 115.5 points per 100 possessions. That’s about average, and it’s all because they don’t foul at a high rate.
Meanwhile, the Lakers only score 115.5 points per 100 possessions. They’ll get to the foul line more frequently but won’t have much success on the offensive glass, as they’ve earned only 22.9% of offensive rebounds this season.
The turnovers have been getting high for Los Angeles, too. But with the Nuggets earning only 12.5% of turnovers this season, it’s unlikely that turnovers will become the real difference in this game.
Ultimately, it comes down to high-quality looks. The Lakers have an effective field goal percentage of 56.2%. However, the Nuggets have limited teams to a 53.5% effective field goal percentage.
Los Angeles will have a more challenging time finding good looks and won’t be able to earn second chances off of them.
The Nuggets are way ahead of the Lakers in the NBA Power Rankings. Meanwhile, the Lakers haven’t had a favorable NBA schedule recently, as they’re coming home from a long road trip.
Therefore, after reviewing the Nuggets vs Lakers betting preview, we’ll take the Nuggets at -4 (-115). This spread is among the many valuable NBA betting lines on the board.
