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Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets – NBA playoff series schedule & TV information
The NBA Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets will tip off on Friday night, televised on TNT. As for the Eastern Conference Finals featuring the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, ESPN has those rights. Boston and Toronto will have already played twice before Los Angeles and Denver take the court for Game 1 of their showdown, because the Nuggets went the full seven-game distance with the Los Angeles Clippers before pulling off the upset.
Here is the NBA playoff schedule for the Western Conference Finals:
Game 1: Friday, Sept. 18, 9:00 pm EST, TNT
Game 2: Sunday, Sept. 20, 7:30 pm EST, TNT
Game 3: Tuesday, Sept. 22, 9:00 pm EST, TNT
Game 4: Thursday, Sept. 24, 9:00 pm EST, TNT
Game 5: Saturday, Sept. 26, 9:00 pm EST, TNT (if necessary)
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets – NBA playoff odds
Denver has without question been the story of the 2019-20 NBA playoffs. The Nuggets have become the first team in league history to come back from 3-1 deficits in back-to-back series. They accomplished the feat against the Utah Jazz in round one before doing so in even more improbable fashion at the Clippers’ expense.
Of course, it’s not the Lakers’ fault that haven’t really been in the headlines. No news is good news when you are favorites. They have been quietly going about their business, easing past both the Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets in five games. L.A. dropped the opener in each of those series before reeling off four-game winning streaks. In part due to such dominance, the well-rested Lakers are overwhelming favorites against the red-hot but weary Nuggets.
NBA series odds
While single-game lines are the most common form of NBA playoffs betting, NBA series odds can be similarly intriguing. The Lakers are massive -625 favorites to take this series and advance to the NBA Finals against either the Celtics or Heat. As for the Nuggets, they come in as huge +450 underdogs. Looking at Game 1 from an individual standpoint, the odds are nowhere near as extreme. Los Angeles opens as a -305 favorite on the money line, while you can get Denver at +250. The spread has the Lakers as -7 favorites.
If you are looking at riskier plays and finding longer NBA playoffs odds, exact series scores are also on the market:
Lakers 4-0: +350
Lakers 4-1: +200
Lakers 4-2: +350
Lakers 4-3: +550
Nuggets 4-0: +10000
Nuggets 4-1: +2500
Nuggets 4-2: +1200
Nuggets 4-3: +1000
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets – NBA playoff series predictions
This NBA series does not pack the same punch as an in-city battle between the Lakers and Clippers, but Lakers-Nuggets is going to be met with enthusiasm. How could it not? L.A. boasts two of the biggest stars in basketball in LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Denver has channeled its inner Houdini on several occasions, mostly thanks to Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic. Murray was especially incredible in round one, while Jokic led the way in the conference semifinals. Although the Murray-Jokic two-headed monster cannot compete with James and Davis (who can?!?!), Nuggets role players such as Paul Millsap, Gary Harris, and Michael Porter Jr. can also have big impacts. If the Lakers want to win this without any drama—or even win it at all—then Kyle Kuzma, Rajon Rondo, and Danny Green will have to contribute.
Count out the Nuggets at your own peril. They were written off trailing Utah 3-1 and they were all but done for when they fell into the same hole against the Clippers. We aren’t about to predict another miracle at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., but we do realize that Murray, Jokic, and company are good enough to make this series interesting. Taking the Lakers at -625 to advance has no value, so your best bet is to go with them to survive a relatively competitive series by an exact 4-2 margin at +350.
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