Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
The Los Angeles Lakers are 5-0 straight up and against the spread over their last five postseason games after winning their Western Conference Finals opener against the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers will try to extend their winning streak to six straight games with another victory in Game 2 on Sunday night.
Los Angeles is a 7.5-point favorite on the NBA odds in Orlando at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Denver is 1-4 SU and 2-3 ATS in five games against the Lakers this season.
Nuggets vs Lakers | OddsShark Matchup Report
Anthony Davis had a dominant performance with 37 points and 10 rebounds in 33 minutes of play in Los Angeles’ 126-114 Game 1 win over the Nuggets. The Lakers scored 103 points through the first three quarters of this game, taking a commanding lead into the fourth that allowed the starters on both sides to get some rest down the stretch.
Considering how dominant the Lakers defense looked in holding Denver to 21 points in the second quarter and 20 points in the third quarter, the Nuggets may regret not getting more out of a game in which they scored 38 points in the first quarter.
The Lakers have compiled a 9-1 SU and 8-2 ATS record over their last 10 postseason games per the OddsShark NBA Database.
Denver had no answers for the Lakers on defense in Game 1. The Nuggets allowed 120 points to the Lakers back in February and 124 points to them when the two teams met in the NBA bubble in August, so Los Angeles’ offensive outburst in Friday’s series opener should not have come as a surprise.
There won’t be any panic in the Nuggets as this team has already erased two 3-1 series deficits so far this postseason, but digging a hole against this red-hot Lakers team isn’t likely to be a winning strategy in this series.
Sunday night’s total is set at 213.5 points at sports betting sites. The OVER is 3-0 in the last three meetings between these two teams.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray have carried the Nuggets this postseason with their outstanding individual performances. If Denver has any chance of making this a series, it will need its two superstars to outplay Anthony Davis and LeBron James; a difficult task for any two players on the planet.
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