Free NBA Pick: Lakers vs. Nuggets NBA Odds
Looking for Los Angeles Lakers free NBA picks & NBA odds? NBA betting sees the Thunder taking on the Lakers on Sunday, February 14, 2021, at the Ball Arena. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NBA basketball matchups so stay tuned for more FREE daily NBA hoops predictions like this Laker Nuggets matchup.
2021 NBA Handicapping
(21-6) Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets (14-11)
Date: Sunday, February 14
Time: 10:00 PM EST
Venue: Ball Arena, Denver Colorado
NBA Moneyline Odds: Lakers -130 | Nuggets +112
NBA Betting Odds: Lakers -2
NBA Betting Total: 216
Sunday, February 14, the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets play for the second time this season. The Lakers won 114-93 in the first meeting.
Last season, the squads played four times with the Lakers taking three of the four contests. The Lakers hold the all-time record having won 109 matches of the 180 played.
Los Angeles Lakers
Winning involves luck and it would be fair to say part of the current seven-game win streak has involved some luck. It also exposed an interesting trend.
Diving into the win streak notes strong showings against upper tier clubs like the Celtics and Nuggets holding both under 100 points.
Yet, they were pushed to the brink versus the non-playoff seeds. The double-overtime win versus Detroit was written off as the defending champs taking the Pistons too lightly.
However, they were pushed to consecutive overtime games versus OKC who had the minimum eight players available and were missing star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the second match. Likewise, the Grizzlies limped into LA with only nine players available.
A win is a win but this isn’t a habit the Lakers want to continue especially when LeBron James has to push his body and takeover games that shouldn’t be needing that type of effort from the superstar.
Denver Nuggets
One bright spot for Denver is they are making a concerted effort to improve defensively improving their 17th ranked defense of the season to 11th in February.
Unfortunately, they’ve witnessed an offensive drop from fifth to 17th in February. And, while they’ve faced the top ranked Bucks offense in this segment they’ve also played the bottom two offenses (Cavaliers, Thunder)
As per usual the one constant is Nikola Jokic who is averaging 26.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.6 assists and 1.6 steals on the season.
Jamal Murray continues to battle a myriad of ailments as he tries to regain his consistency but perhaps the greater worry is Michael Porter Jr. who was supposed to step up and become the third member of the Nuggets Big 3.
Since returning from a 10 game absence due to COVID-19 MPJ has registered double digit rebounds once and scored in double figures on six occasions in 11 games.
Denver needs more from the youngster and definitely needs him to be more consistent in order to return to the top of the West.
Gary Harris (left adductor strain) and PJ Dozier (hamstring) have missed five and eight games respectively and aren’t expected to suit up Sunday.
Greg Whittington had knee surgery that will keep him off the court for four to six weeks.
NBA Betting Trends:
- The Lakers are 8-2 in the teams last 10 head to head meetings
- The Lakers are 5-4-1 ATS in the last 10 head to head meetings
- Over/Under is 7-3 in the teams last 10 head to head meetings
Free Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets NBA Prediction:
The game features the league’s number one Lakers defense versus the fifth ranked Nuggets offense. Let’s see if the Lakers summon their typical effort facing a playoff seed. LA will be keen to make sure Denver gains no confidence versus them in case a postseason matchup reoccurs.
4* Free NBA Betting Pick: Nuggets +2
The x-factor is Jamal Murray – is he healthy enough to produce a bubble-type performance? If yes, then the Nuggets stop the streak, if not the Lakers make it eight in a row. I’m going to bank on the former.
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