Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets: NBA Free Pick

We know that the Lakers are going to lose eventually, but it’s just difficult to try to pick out which team is going to be the one to do it. This is a team that just doesn’t have any flaws right now. G Kobe Bryant is a monster on the outside, and he is clearly one of the best pure scorers in the history of the game. Bryant is averaging 24.1 points per game. In the paint, F Pau Gasol is dominating, picking up 23.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, while his counterpart, F Lamar Odom is also good for a double-double on the average night. F Matt Barnes and F Ron Artest are proving to be really pain in the neck defenders. G Derek Fisher really isn’t a scorer anymore, but he is the perfect man to take care of the basketball in the Triangle Offense, a scheme devised by arguably the greatest coach in NBA history, HC Phil Jackson. No team can score like LA can (112.1 PPG), and few teams are defending this well while playing at a high octane pace as well (99.6 PPG).

The Nuggets are better than a 4-4 team this year, but they could still have potential problems later down the line with F Carmelo Anthony, who still wants out of town. Melo is averaging 24.1 points per game this year, but he has to be wondering when he is going to get some help to avoid getting blown out by teams like the Indiana Pacers. There’s never an excuse to lose 144-113 against any team in the NBA, and there’s really never an excuse to let a team shoot over 90% from the floor in a given quarter. Yikes. With both F Kenyon Martin and F Chris Andersen battling injuries are measured in months, not in days or weeks, it is clear that the Nuggets are going to be fighting on the glass quite a bit this year. They are only averaging 40.1 boards per night as a team, No. 25 in the NBA, and they are getting outdone by 3.3 rebounds on the average outing. Denver, especially at this type of a pace, has to shoot better than 44.9 percent from the field as well, especially when it is probably going to be limited in its offensive rebounding chances. Until all of that improves, there’s just no hope for the Nuggets getting over the hump and back in charge of the Northwest Division.

This very well could be the night that LA finally drops. The Lakers are getting everyone’s best shots right now, and you know that Denver has been sitting at home after that bad loss against Indiana just seething to get back on the court. We’ll take the few points handed to us in this NBA betting affair.