Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets Prediction, NBA Odds
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Edgar Chaput
These sides won’t only be lifting the proverbial curtain on the 2023-2024 campaign. The Denver Nuggets now have a special banner in their rafters as 2022-2023 NBA champions, the franchise’s first-ever ring. Winning a title is an incredible challenge. It’s often said that defending a title is even more demanding.
It’s only late October, so we’re getting ahead of ourselves, but the road begins on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers, the next-to-last team Denver eliminated in the playoffs.
The NBA odds place the Denver Nuggets as favourites, but with a spread that respects their rivals at only -4.5.
Lakers vs. Nuggets NBA Betting Odds
The most obvious stat that comes to mind when thinking of these two sides is last year’s Western Conference finals. Los Angeles made an improbable and no less impressive playoff run by dumping out the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors in the first two rounds. For a while, it looked as though LeBron James and company had it in them to pull off one of the most magical postseasons in NBA history.
Denver had other plans, taking all four games from the Lakers en route to their championship celebrations a couple of weeks later.
Of note, the regular season series between the sides was tied 2-2. One eyebrow-raising element concerning that statistic is that both of the Lakers’ wins came before they made significant roster changes and went on their latter-half run.
The Nuggets sported a serviceable 45-37 record ATS during the regular season and 12-8 in the playoffs.
L.A. often bears the brunt of expectations, which probably explains why they only went 40-41-1 against the spread in the regular season.
Los Angeles Lakers
Not that much has changed since we last saw the Lakers walking off the court after Game 4 in last spring’s Western Conference Finals. The organization liked what it saw so much in the second half of the year that the overall strategy appears to be to try and run it back
LeBron James enters his staggering 21st season in the league. His running mate is once again Anthony Davis and the supporting cast’s shoes will be filled for another season by Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell, and Jarred Vanderbilt (day-to-day). That’s not to say that the Lake Show made no moves during the break. Former Heat PG Gabe Vincent now wears purple and gold, as does former Timberwolves PF Taurean Prince.
L.A. was an excellent scoring team last season, netting 117.2 points a night, good for sixth league-wide. The defensive numbers don’t look as impressive (116.6, 20th) but the truth of the matter is that once certain figures were dealt away (i.e. Russell Westbrook) that side of the ball got cleaned up. A healthy Anthony Davis helps as well, although that’s a constant worry with him.
Denver Nuggets
Can the Denver Nuggets be the next Lakers, Spurs, or Warriors, winning multiple titles in short order? Or are they the Raptors or Bucks, who won it all once and have struggled to recapture the magic since?
We’ll find out in the months ahead, but suffice it to say that, like Tuesday’s opponent, not much required tinkering during the offseason in Mile High. Nikola Jokic is back, and so is Jamal Murray, the team’s two most important figures. PF Aaron Gordon is back for more great defensive play and blistering dunks, supported by Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. How long does this core stay together? When does someone in the group become too expensive to retain? Those questions will find answers in due time, but for now, this is an excellent squad, deserving of their rings and a threat to the 29 other NBA teams.
The bench is different with guys like Justin Holiday, Reggie Jackson. Second-year pro Peyton Watson will also be expected to step up his game.
LAL
DEN