Filip Tomic
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The wait is finally over as the new NBA season finally tips off in Denver on Tuesday night. The defending champion Nuggets will raise the banner and receive their championship rings as part of ring night at Ball Arena as they host the Lakers team they swept 4-0 in the Western Conference Finals last season. Tip-off is at 7.30 pm ET on TNT.
Continue reading to see my Same Game Parlay but don’t forget to bookmark our NBA predictions for picks for every game of the 2023-24 NBA season. Let’s dive into my SGP bet now!
LA Lakers +4.5 (-110)
LeBron James to record 6+ rebounds (-310)
Jamal Murray to score 20+ points (-175)
Nikola Jokic over 0.5 made threes (-188)
Same Game Parlay odds: +558
LA Lakers +4.5 (-110)
The Lakers come into this season highly motivated following last year’s exit from the Western Conference Finals at the hands of the Nuggets. Improvements have been made on the depth side of things with Gabe Vincent, Jaxson Hayes and Taurean Prince joining and no significant departures so far. Ball Arena is a building where they haven’t had much success lately as they are just 1-6 in their last 7 visits. However, we’ve seen a lot of promise from Darvin Ham’s team in preseason and there’s also the motivating factor of wanting to prove that last season’s series could have gone their way.
The Nuggets’ preseason went okay as they finished with a 3-2 record. Nikola Jokic stuffed the stat sheet in the final game against the Clippers, while Jamal Murray enters the year fully healthy, which should allow him to focus on his play instead of rehabbing injuries. There are a couple of potential absentees for the Nuggets with Michael Porter Jr. and Christian Braun both being game-time decisions. Add to that the depth players they lost in the offseason, and I think Denver could come out of the gate a little slowly this season. The ring ceremony could also affect them a little bit emotionally, so I think the Lakers won’t be without a shot in the opener. Give me LA to cover.
Read our LA Lakers vs Denver Nuggets predictions
LeBron James to record 6+ rebounds (-310)
As he enters his 21st season in the NBA, LeBron James still has a lot to prove despite turning 39 in a couple of months. Last season he played in only 55 games, which tied the 2nd-lowest mark of his career. On Tuesday night he will become only the 6th player in NBA history to play in 21 seasons, while also being officially the oldest player in the league. Despite all that mileage on his body, James regularly delivered on the rebounding side of things last season finishing the year averaging 8.3 boards per game. He elevated that to another level in the postseason, averaging 9.9 in 16 games. Against Denver he easily cleared this line in all 4 WCF games, while in his last 5 against them during the regular season he has averaged 8.2 while clearing this line in all 5 games. Let’s back all those trends to carry on in the season opener.
Jamal Murray to score 20+ points (-175)
Jamal Murray played a huge part in the Nuggets’ postseason run, elevating his scoring from 20 points per game to 26.1 in 20 games played. His shooting splits were at 47% from the field, almost 40% from 3-point land and better than 92% from the charity stripe. He had himself a series against the Lakers, torching them for an average of 32.5 points per game, with his lowest output being 25 points in Game 4. He has also dominated LA during the regular season, averaging 23.2 points per game in the last 5 meetings and failing to clear this line only once. With the possibility of Michael Porter Jr. being absent in the opener on Tuesday, Murray might need to carry more scoring load than usual, so I think backing him to get 20 points is a good bet.
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Nikola Jokic over 0.5 made threes (-188)
The reigning NBA Finals MVP is on a run of 3 consecutive games against the Lakers with at least 1 3-pointer scored in the regular season. He closed out last season scoring at least 1 trey in all 5 NBA Finals games against Miami, while in the series before that against LA he failed to do so in only 1 of the 4 games. At 46.1% he was one of the most efficient shooters from beyond the arc in the 2023 NBA Playoffs and that carried over to the preseason as well. He scored at least 1 three in 3 of the 4 games played, capping it off with a 3-for-6 night against the LA Clippers in the win on Friday. The Lakers simply have no answer for him, he’s at 64% from the field in the last 5 regular-season meetings against them. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Joker hit multiple threes, but let’s go with just 1 for extra security.
You can also check out our NBA team win totals best bets
