Denver Nuggets at LA Lakers

NBA Betting Preview
Denver Nuggets (52-26) at Los Angeles Lakers (62-16)
Thursday, 10:30PM Eastern

Betus.com betting line –

Two of the biggest names out West will collide this Thursday night inside the Staples Center when the Los Angeles Lakers host the Denver Nuggets. The game will be the 4th meeting between these two teams this season as the Lakers captured the first two wins and Denver responded with an 11 point victory in the most recent meeting back in late February. Thursday night’s battle comes at a time when both teams are playing extremely well and promises to be an exciting show. Los Angeles has knocked off 4 straight wins and owns the 2nd best home record in the NBA at 33-5. However, Denver is playing better than they have all season considering they are winners of 7 straight games and 12 of their last 13 games as well. The Nuggets may be the only team from the Western Conference that can contend with the Lakers by the way things have looked throughout the regular season and Thursday night’s game could be an indication of how things could shake out in the playoffs considering these two teams will be biggest favorites to represent the West in the Finals.

The Los Angeles Lakers are fresh off a strong 122-104 victory over Sacramento on Tuesday night. Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 26 points and 12 rebounds while Kobe Bryant added 22 points as well. The Lakers shot a strong 51% from the floor in the win and have been shooting the ball very well over the last few games. The previous 3 meetings have been rather low scoring games considering both teams average over 104 points per game on offense. However, only the first meeting reached over the 200 total mark with a combined total of 201. Kobe Bryant ranks 3rd in the NBA in scoring posting 27 points per game and has averaged 30.5 points per game in the 3 previous meetings against the Nuggets. The big headline entering Thursday night’s game is the possibility that the Lakers will have Andrew Bynum back in the lineup after missing the last two months with a knee injury. The young center is averaging 14ppg, 8rpg, and 2 blocks per game for the season and definitely gives the Lakers a bigger advantage when he is on the inside. After all when Bynum was in the lineup the Lakers were 2-0 against the Nuggets earlier this season.

The Denver Nuggets may very well be the hottest team in the league right now with a little help from the huge beating the Cleveland received from Orlando to slow down their momentum. The Nuggets are coming off a 110-87 victory over Minnesota on Sunday and have a showdown with less than stellar Oklahoma City Thunder tonight. Denver scoring ability has been big aspect to their most recent success. The Nuggets have reached the century mark in all of their last 13 games. Interestingly enough Denver is extremely tough to beat when reaching 100 points in a game considering they hold a 41-6 record on the season when reaching the century mark. However, when they do not score 100 points Denver holds a measly record of 11-20. Carmelo Anthony and J.R Smith have been superb in recent weeks posting big numbers every night. Smith is averaging right at 20 points per game which is 6 points above his averaged over the last 5 outings. Anthony has been nothing short of impressive as well averaging 28 points per game over his last 8 performances and these two superstars will be looking for big nights to try to get the tough road win inside the Staples Center this Thursday.

Pick – Expect this game to be higher scoring than the previous 3 since both teams are shooting very well.