Los Angeles Clippers Vs Denver Nuggets Betting Picks, Predictions, Odds & Lines
The Clippers and the Nuggets will square off in a crucial NBA betting game for both teams on Saturday night in Denver. Tonight’s game may easily be a deciding factor for who finishes third in the West. Entering the playoffs from that spot is important as it will likely mean avoiding the Lakers in the first round. After losing two straight games, the Clippers are only half-game ahead of their tonight’s rival. Prior to those two games, the Clips have only lost 3 times in the last 15 outings. Right now, they hold a 43-21 record, going 36-27-1 against the spread.
The Nuggets, on the other hand, are red-hot. They’ve won 4 straight games, 3 of them by double-digits. They are also 12-3 in their last 15 outings. This season, Denver is 42-21 straight up and 30-33 against the spread. This will be the third game between two teams this season. Each team won once, with the road team coming out victorious both times.
Los Angeles Clippers Vs Denver Nuggets Betting Odds & Line Movement
The oddsmakers are favoring the Clipper for this one and the NBA betting line is at -4.5 at the moment. The total is set at 223.5. The lines may change during the day if we get more information on Kawhi Leonard’s availability.
Notes On The Denver Nuggets
Looking at the way they performed lately, one could never guess that the Nuggets are dealing with injuries to several key players. They have even improved on offense since the injury to their second-best player Jamal Murray. Since Murray went down, Denver is averaging 120 points per contest, 5 more than their season average. In their last game, they overcame the Raptors, winning 121-111 on the second night of a back-to-back. It was an all-around team effort with 7 players scoring in double-digits. Michael Porter Jr’ continued with fantastic performances with 23 points and 7 rebounds. Nikola Jokic added 19 points and 11 boards. Denver won despite Toronto being of fire from deep with a 50% 3pt percentage. However, the Nuggets won the battle by outrebounding the Raptors 47-35 and forcing 15 turnovers.
Tonight, the Nuggets continue to play with the depleted backcourt. Murray is out for the season, and Will Barton and Monte Morris are also unavailable.
Notes On The Los Angeles Clippers
While the Nuggets are faring just fine without one of the star players, the Clips have struggled without Kahwi Leonard. Coach Lue has built the offensive juggernaut and the Clippers have the second-best offensive rating in the league with 117.9. However, in the last five games without Kahwi, they averaged only 108 points. In Leonard’s absence, Paul George is playing some of the best basketball of his career. Still, the Clippers dropped two straight games. On Wednesday night, they lost to the Suns and failed to get closer to the No.2 spot on the West. In that game, the Clips were efficient from the floor shooting 51.3% but were outrebounded and had more turnovers. Paul George led the scoring with 25 points and added 10 rebounds and 4 assists. The rest of the starting 5 also scored in double-digits, but the Clippers hardly got any production from the bench.
For tonight, Leonard is a game time decision, while Ibaka and Beverley remain out.
Los Angeles Clippers Vs Denver Nuggets Betting Pick & Prediction: Denver +4
The Nuggets are on a roll lately and the Jokic-MPJ duo seems unstoppable. Kahwi might play, but without Ibaka, the Clips don’t have enough under the rim to deal with Jokic. We expect a tight NBA betting game going down to the wire and this spread just seems too big.
