The top two teams in the NBA’s Western Conference square off on Tuesday when the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers’ 10-game winning streak reached its conclusion with their loss on Sunday to the Dallas Mavericks, but the team has won 85 percent of its games to date this year. This is a team that has dealt with a few injuries but continues to keep the winning up. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had not been playing well at all, but since Avery Bradley went down with an injury and Caldwell-Pope joined the starting lineup, he has been much better, with his confidence way up. LeBron James and Anthony Davis continue to lead this team to win after win.
Denver is coming into this game off perhaps its most disappointing performance of the season. The Nuggets had a 17-point lead over the Kings in the second half on Saturday but wound up losing the game 100-97 in overtime. They stopped scoring as the offense just could not come through for them at all. This is still a very deep team with several playmakers at each position, but the effort was not there offensively. No disrespect to the Kings, but Denver is way too good to be shut down totally by that defense.
The spread for Tuesday night’s showdown favors the Nuggets by two points, while the over/under is set at 208.5. The moneyline on Denver is -135 on Denver and +115 for LA.
LA Looks To Start New Streak
Fresh off getting battered by Dallas, the Lakers are back trying to get it going. The Lakers are third in the league in points allowed, as they have played strong defense throughout the year, having multiple rim-protectors in the game most of the time. The duo of JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard has combined to average 2.6 blocks in roughly 37 minutes per contest. And it is rare to see Howard only averaging seven points and seven boards, yet still serving as an effective player here. They do lack consistent scoring outside of James and Davis, so they will need to work on that.
Most of their success has come against teams with losing records, so whenever they have to play a team of Denver’s caliber, they really need to buckle down.
Going For A Signature Win
Sacramento was able to take care of business against the Nuggets late, so now it is on Denver to respond in a game that more people than usual will be tuned into. Nikola Jokic will likely have to go against Davis and McGee, neither of which will be easy matchups. Jamal Murray will also have tough matchups to try and score against, and it’s important for both of these guys to lock in. If they both perform how they are meant to, the team should do okay. It will be hard to slow both James and Davis, but certainly not impossible.
If these guys can knock down their threes at an effective clip, there should be no reason for them not be in striking distance in the waning moments.
Lakers Win It On The Road
James’ latest triple-double will power the Lakers to their 18th win in 21 games!
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