Filip Tomic
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It’s a massive game in Los Angeles tonight as the defending champions Denver Nuggets come to town to take on the Lakers. Tip-off is on ABC at 8 pm ET, I’ve done a Same Game Parlay to make things a bit more interesting. Last night I was just a DeMar DeRozan three away from landing my SGP bet on the Bucks vs Bulls game, let’s hope our luck turn around here.
For predictions on the side and total for the rest of Saturday’s 5-game slate simply visit our NBA Picks page.
Let’s dive into my SGP bet now!
Under 229.5 Total Points (-110)
LeBron James 3+ Made Threes (+155)
D’Angelo Russell to Score 15+ Points (-230)
Same Game Parlay odds: +654
Under 229.5 Total Points (-110)
Jamal Murray is most likely not playing here and that could be a big blow to the offensive production of the Nuggets. However, I am sure the Lakers too will have a tough time scoring the basketball. Denver is elite on defense, they’ve ranked in the top 10 in defensive rating for most of the season and have now elevated themselves to 6th over the last 10 games or so.
The under has cashed in 14 of 18 Nuggets games, they are 11-19-1 on the O/U in away games as well. LA did put up 134 on the Wizards in their last game, but scoring on the Nuggets is a completely different animal. In the 2 meetings this season they’ve managed just 107 and 106 points, it could be a struggle once again here. The under is a perfect 3-0 in the last 3 meetings, so let’s hope the streak continues.
LeBron James 3+ Made Threes (+155)
The stage is set for yet another milestone in the storied career of LeBron James. The King enters the game with 39,991 total points which means he is just 9 points away from becoming the first player ever to score 40,000 in the regular season. What better team to do it against than the one that eliminated the Lakers from the postseason last year? If he could get it in a win that would be even more special. What James is doing right now is quite remarkable, he continues to defy logic and is putting up 26.6 points per game over his last 8 outings, while shooting 55.6% from the field and 46.7% from downtown. Even 10 years younger players would be happy with those numbers, but this 39-year old is showing no signs of slowing down. We all saw what he did to the Clippers on Wednesday with his 7 threes, if he can hit one or two early here then the Nuggets are in trouble as well. Back LeBron to get hot from downtown.
D’Angelo Russell to Score 15+ Points (-230)
Murray’s absence directly impacts the production of D’Angelo Russell here. Without having to worry about his elite defense, Russell can do his thing and give the Lakers a much needed spark from the point guard position. He’s been cooking over the last 10 games, upping his average to 20.6 points per game, while clearing this line in all but one of this games. He just had 22 points against the Wizards in 44 minutes played, it was his 5 straight game of at least 3 threes made and 2nd in 3 nights with 4 threes. Without a productive game from Russell I’m afraid the Lakers won’t be able to pull off the upset here. He hasn’t had the best of luck against the Nuggets over the last 5 meetings, but with the Lakers postseason hanging by a thread there’s no better game to make amends for that with a big scoring night. I’m counting on Russell to perform.
