TDG’s NBA MONDAY NIGHT VEGAS *JACKPOT*
- Handicapper
- Team Del Genio
- League
- NBA
- Competition
- Los Angeles Lakers vs Denver Nuggets
- Time
- 04/22/2024 10:14 PM
- Bet Type
- Point Spread
- Pick
-
Denver Nuggets -6.5 (-115)
(BetMGM)
- Outcome
- Loss
- Analysis
- Our 20* NBA Monday Night Vegas Jackpot is with the Denver Nuggets minus the points versus the Los Angeles Lakers at 10:10 pm et.
In our Saturday report when we took the Nuggets in Game 1 of this series, we indicated that Los Angeles needs to steal one of these opening games in Denver to make sure they return to Crypto.com Arena with the series tied at 1-1. If things go bad early in this game, head coach Darvin Ham may choose to have James and Davis pack it in early to save their energy for the second game of this series. Instead, the Lakers started as well as could be expected and at the 6:05 mark of the second quarter took a 49-37 lead. It was the best-case scenario at the time. They were making 61.3% of their shots and only missed five of their 21 shots inside the arc. They were holding the Nuggets to 37.8% shooting. LeBron James and Anthony Davis had 30 points between them and were outscore Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray by 11 points. Yet Denver went on a 20-8 run to tie the game at 57 just before halftime. The Lakers still took a three-point lead in the locker room, yet the Nuggets went on a 13-0 run in the third quarter to take control of the game. They were up 15 points in the fourth quarter, yet while Los Angeles pulled within six points, Denver still comfortably cruised to the 114-111 victory.
The result was the worst-case scenario for the Lakers. James and Davis expended full-game energy yet still lost to the Nuggets for the ninth straight time. James played 40:45 minutes and Davis played 44:30 minutes. The D’Angelo Russell problem continued despite his playing better during the regular season. Russell was a disaster in the four-game sweep at the hands of Denver last year. He averaged only 6.2 points per game in those four games last season on 32% shooting. On Saturday, Russell scored 13 points but it was from 6 of 20 shooting and eight misses from his nine shots from 3-point land. In his five playoff games against Denver, he has missed 21 of his 24 shots from 3-point range. The Lakers shot 49.4% from the field yet still lost by 11 points. Jamal Murray missed 15 of his 24 shots from the field which is not likely to happen tonight. Once again, Nikola Jokic is the difference. He scored 32 points on Saturday and added 12 rebounds and seven assists. He helped the Nuggets grab 15 offensive rebounds and score 18 second-chance points. The Lakers scored only eight second-chance points from six offensive rebounds. Denver held a 21-14 point edge in transition and a 64-54 advantage in the paint. The Nuggets' dominance against the Lakers is only growing stronger. They are averaging 117.7 points per game against them in their last four games. Los Angeles is averaging only 107.5 points per game in their last four against them despite topping 107 points just once. These four games were all decided by at least eight points with the last two and three of the four double-digit margins. The Lakers have covered the point spread six times in their last seventeen games when playing with revenge from two straight losses by ten or more points. Play Denver minus the points.
Good luck - Team Del Genio.
