Denver Nuggets vs. LA Lakers: Key NBA Matchup Preview

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00:00Your two premiere NBA handicappers live right here on this Wednesday morning on the early line

00:05on SportsScreen. We will get you set for the first four in Dayton in just a little bit,

00:10but first let's go around the association. Intriguing matchup tonight in the Western

00:15Conference. A battle of the current team that is the three seed. That would be the Denver Nuggets

00:21who have a game advantage over the Lakers. LA sitting in that four spot. Let's head out to

00:27Los Angeles where the Lakers are a home two-point underdog now against the Denver Nuggets. The

00:32over-under stands at 234. Are we expecting to see Nicole Jokic and Jamal Murray return tonight for

00:40Denver? When exactly is LeBron James going to be back for the Lakers? I would say DRS,

00:46another difficult game to handicap that's about to tip in a little less than 12 hours.

00:51Yeah, so let me get this straight in the NBA how you're supposed to approach this. Denver

00:54doesn't play anybody. Wins a game against Golden State, one of the hottest teams in the NBA.

00:57Denver plays everybody tonight against a team without LeBron James. They get smoked at this

01:01point because the anticipated starting lineups tonight starting with the Denver Nuggets,

01:04Murray, Brown, Porter Jr., Gordon, and Jokic. So we're ready to go in that game. Take a look

01:10at the Lakers. Look at Don Ciccino being there. Goodwin, Reeves, Finney-Smith, and Hayes. This

01:15should be a victory for the Nuggets. Now the one thing you do have going now is this line opened

01:18up at FanDuel in New Jersey last night minus one and a half points. It's now up to two at most

01:23outlets across the board, and I agree with that. If we're talking about Xs and Os the way the game

01:26is supposed to play out, Denver should be rested, ready, with their best players, and win this

01:31basketball game. But also, this line isn't Denver Nuggets minus four and a half, minus five and a

01:36half, minus six and a half. It's roughly a pick'em in that one and a half to two point range right

01:40now, which again, as I joked, the MO of the NBA is they're rested and they won. Yeah, this should

01:45be an easy, like Westbrook went nuts last game. He's on the bench coming off it, like where do I

01:49sign up? Buyer beware? Maybe. I'm still going to fall into that trap. Nuggets for me tonight, Ben.

01:54They handle the Los Angeles Lakers. DRS eight and six. That is what Denver has been straight up

02:01since the all-star break. What's really interesting though about that for the Nugs,

02:06they've only covered in one game, booked as a favorite in that span. No LeBron James for the

02:12Lakers tonight. Everybody else that Donnie just mentioned, of course, does have a prop listed.

02:16Always a good sign. They will be available and come to play Denver currently 44 and 25.

02:24They have a game advantage over the Lakers in the Western conference, 42 and 25. That is the

02:31Lakers. So two fewer wins, but two fewer games played the Lakers, a game out three seat Denver,

02:39four seat LA. As of this moment, 11 games slate around the association tonight. Let's head out

02:46to Miami, the heat on an eight game losing skid, trying to end that against the Detroit Pistons,

02:53who are a four and a half point favorite in South Beach. Total now stands at 218. What's the

02:58breakdown for tonight's game in Miami? You should be able to ride the streaks out, but understand

03:02this, you're going to get a heavy public favorite in this game for the Pistons that opened up in

03:06New Jersey at Fandul with five and a half. And now we sit across the board, most of the outlets

03:09at four and a half, including the Fandul Sportsbook. That total low, typically we see heat

03:13and numbers low, but it is rising slightly 217 to 217 and a half to 218. Now at most spots,

03:19including the Fandul Sportsbook anticipated starting lineup, Cunningham, Hardaway Jr.,

03:23Thompson, Harris, and Durin, and then Hero, Robinson, Wiggins, Jaquez, and Adebayo. For me,

03:29sometimes you just want to ride. Something is broken, Ben, with the Miami heat. And until they

03:34get it right, I don't see I can back it, even though they're home and their dogs and the South

03:38Beach flu and everybody wants to get down there and hit the clubs. Detroit is the better ball

03:43team. Why? Because the record over the past eight games has been, they haven't won a game.

03:48So until they win, I'm not looking to even take them even with getting points at home down in

03:53South Florida. I'll take the Pistons in this one and lean on that. The Heat have lost eight in a

03:57row. The Heat have lost 11 of 15 since the all-star break in terms of this eight game skid.

04:03Miami has not covered in its last six, including its last three booked as an underdog. Detroit

04:09still playing really good basketball, 38 and 31, the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.

04:15Miami has fallen all the way into the 10 spot. They're not in danger of being got

04:19in the play-in tournament. They would just have to go on the road to win a play-in tourney game,

04:24and then win another one if they even want to be in the post-season. And despite the Pistons'

04:30strong play, they haven't been booked as a favorite all that often. Just 29 times entering

04:36tonight in 69 total games, but still 16 and 13 against the spread. DRS, the Cavs have dropped

04:44two straight. They're on the second leg of a road back-to-back in Sacramento. Can they stop this

04:50little slide of their own? Again, forget the X's and O's in this. This is a must-win situation for

04:56the Cavaliers right now. This is the chance that everybody said, oh, we'll see how the Cavaliers

04:59finish their season, and maybe they don't finish it in such style as they played the entirety of

05:05the season. Five and a half points still sits at five at the FanBlue Sportsbook right now. I'm

05:08going to take the Cavaliers. I'm going to back them understanding we can't lose three in a row,

05:12people. They are a five-point favorite. They've also won the Concord twice in their last eight

05:17games.

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