Two Christmases have already passed since the last time the Denver Nuggets lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. After taking Game 1, will the Nuggets continue dominating the Lakers and win Game 2? Or, will the Lakers find a way to even up the score in this first-round series?
Catch this game live on Tuesday, April 23, 2024 at 10:00 AM, Manila time
Away: Los Angeles Lakers (0-1)
Projected Starting Five:
- D’Angelo Russell
- Austin Reaves
- LeBron James
- Rui Hachimura
- Anthony Davis
It was a familiar story for the Lakers in Game 1 of their series against the Nuggets. Again, they lost to Denver and again it’s largely because they could not figure out a way to stop Nikola Jokic. But the Lakers still had plenty of moments in the series opener, especially in the first half, as they even carried a three-point advantage to the locker room at the half. Anthony Davis and LeBron James scored 32 and 27 points, respectively, in the loss.
There was simply not much support for AD and LeBron, with the latter also being less aggressive in the second half in which he only took six attempts from the field and made only eight points. D’Angelo Russell who came up huge for LA in the Play-in Tournament game against the New Orleans Pelicans scored only 13 points and shot just 6/20 from the field (1/9 from deep). It’s clear that the Lakers will not survive the first round living on just the bread that Davis and LeBron make. For what it’s worth, the Lakers are 20-15-0 against the spread this season in outings after a loss.
Home: Denver Nuggets (1-0)
Projected Starting Five:
- Jamal Murray
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
- Michael Porter Jr.
- Aaron Gordon
- Nikola Jokic
Jokic and company showed in Game 1 why the Lakers should have just avoided an early playoff rematch against Denver. Jokic led the way for the Nuggets on Sunday with 32 points, 12 rebounds, and seven dimes, while shooting 15/23 from the field. He simply canceled out the scoring production of AD on the other side for the Lakers, but unlike Davis, Jokic got plenty of support from his teammates. Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. scattered 22 and 19 points, respectively.
Aaron Gordon and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 12 points apiece. But it was not just all offense for the Nuggets, as they also had the Lakers committing 12 turnovers and getting just 79 attempts from the field, while Denver coughed the ball up just six times and took 102 shots from the floor. Only after a half into the series, it looks like the Nuggets have the Lakers figured out. The Nuggets are 6-0 against the spread in their last six games versus the Lakeshow.
Picks
Spread: Denver Nuggets (-7.5)
Over/Under: Over (223.0)
