NBA: Denver Nuggets vs Los Angeles Lakers Pick and Predictions 10/30/2022

Game: 9:40 PM ET, Sunday, October 30th

Venue:  Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California

Where to Watch: NBA League Pass

Nuggets: 4-2, 7th place Western Conference

Lakers: 0-5, Last place, Western Conference

DraftKings:  Point Spread: Nuggets -3.5; O/U 228.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Nuggets -3.5; O/U 228.5

Fanduel: Point Spread: Nuggets -4; O/U 228.5

Nuggets: PG Jamal Murray, SG Kentavious Caldwell Pope, SF Michael Porter JR, PF Aaron Gordon, C Nikola Jokic

Lakers: PG Patrick Beverley, SG Russell Westbrook, SF Lonnie Walker IV, PF Lebron James (day to day) C Anthony Davis

A Western Conference battle of Good vs Amazingly bad.  Both these teams have a generational talent.  The Nuggets have Center Nikola Jokic who is a two-Time MVP and has transformed the very idea of what Centers should do in the NBA… everything!  The Lakers have PF/SF/PG Lebron James.  The best player of the last 2 decades by far… LeBron should have won 8 MVP awards but sportswriters unfairly like to spread that award around to the newest flavor.  LeBron will soon surpass Kareem Abdull Jabbar for the most points scored in NBA history… all-time leader in points scored!... A record that stood for 30+ years and will stand for decades more to come once LeBron has it.  The problem LeBron has is his roster is awful.  No matter how well LaBron plays the team will not help him get the win… instead his team will act as an anchor.

The Denver Nuggets have played six games so far and have lost to the Golden State Warriors and the Portland Trail Blazers.  They have beaten The Lakers, The Jazz (twice) and the Thunder.  So we really DON'T KNOW… how stable this roster that was decimated by injury last season really is… Truth be told, everyone should be beating the Lakers, Jazz (twice) and Thunder.  Those teams are among the worst.  Still a win is a win is a win.  PG Jamal Murray has solidly worked his way back into being an effective part of the starting unit after missing last season.  SF Michael Porter JR has put up solid contributions each night with 22 pts and 13 rebounds in his last game against the Jazz being the best so far… Yet Michael, who missed last season, and multiple seasons earlier in his career… will always be a walking on glass player.  At any money the injury bug could steal him away again.  Still this team HAS Nikola Jokic… 20.7 points, 8.8 assists, and 10.7 rebounds a game… and all of those numbers are down from a season ago!  Nikola is a true top-3 player in the league.  He will always give the Nuggets a chance for a win… and if the Lakers Anthony Davis misses another game?... Who exactly will stop him from a 30 pt 15 rbs night?... No one on the Lakers roster. 

The Los Angeles Lakers have produced the happiest team in the league after just 5 games played… That team is the New Orleans Pelicans!  The New Orleans Pelicans get to be a good team this season… They get to push for the Playoffs and hope that Zion Williamson makes it through the season… and most importantly because the Pelicans have the right to swap first round draft picks with the 0-5 Lakers?... The Pelicans are currently leading the race to the NBA Draft’s most ping pong ball status! Which essentially puts a playoff team in the lead for the most hyped, generational talent in the draft since… well Zion Williamson.  If the Lakers end up giving the Pelic ans 7’4 French Center Victor Wembanyama… The Anthony Davis trade will go down as one of the worst trades EVER!  Even though the Lakers got a bubble Championship in year one… It will still be the trade that ruined the Lakers for a decade!  The Lakers keep losing… SG Russwell Westbrook can’t shoot and has missed 1 game from being benched.  PF/C Anthony Davis already has back soreness that caused him to miss a game with more coming… and the rest of the Laker roster is simply made of guys who shouldn’t be getting major minutes on any team in the NBA… let alone alongside LeBron James.

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Our prediction for Sunday, October 30th is…. Nuggets 113 - Lakers 104

The obvious Nuggets win will happen.  People keep telling me the Lakers will eventually win.  But the shooting numbers AND the bad defensive numbers say they literally can’t until the run into another scrub team on a bad night.  There is nobody on the Lakers roster (including Anthony Davis) who can stop Nikola Jokic from having a big game.  Bet on the Nuggets ATS… do it quick before Vegas comes to their senses and increases it from the 3.5 it is now.

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Denver is 55 Over - 30 Under when the total is 220 - 229.5 the last 3 seasons.

The Lakers are 0-4 ATS as an underdog this season.

Lakers: C Damian Jones.  In their last game Damian simply looked lost as he barely contributed anything during the loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.  He had a tough night for sure with Rudy Gobert AND Karl Anthony Towns on the court at the same time.  The team kept trying to force the ball into him in the post only to see it become an instant turnover.  Damian desperately needs Anthony Davis to play in this one… because C Nikola Jokic is the tallest order to defend at the Center position in the league.

Nuggets:  PF Aaron Gordon.  If Aaron was a Batman villain he would be Two-face.  Some nights this guy contributes stats all the way across the board… chipping in some points, some rebounds, some steals, some blocks…. And some nights he seems completely invisible.  On any given night Aaron Gordon can be a solid star… or a barely there role player.  Playing opposite of Nikola Jokic on the block should supply him with Dennis Rodman type rebounding numbers from all the deferred attention… He just doesn’t seem to get that.

Nuggets: Michael “I have another shot” Malone

Lakers: Darvin “this is gonna hurt my resume” Ham