Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets – NBA Picks, Odds, and Prediction 9/26/20

The Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets meet Saturday in game five of the NBA Western Conference Finals at the AdventHealth Arena.

The Los Angeles Lakers look for another victory to advance to their first NBA Finals since the 2009-10 season. The Los Angeles Lakers are averaging 113.7 points on 49.5 percent shooting and allowing 106.5 points on 45.2 percent shooting. Anthony Davis is averaging 28.9 points and 9.6 rebounds while LeBron James is averaging 25.9 points and 8.8 assists. Kyle Kuzma is the third double-digit scorer and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is grabbing 1.9 rebounds. The Los Angeles Lakers are shooting 35.4 percent from beyond the arc and 74 percent from the free thitem line. The Los Angeles Lakers are allowing 36.9 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 43.8 rebounds per game.

The Denver Nuggets look for a victory here to save their season and force a game six on Monday. The Denver Nuggets are averaging 107.4 points on 47.4 percent shooting and allowing 109.3 points on 47.3 percent shooting. Jamal Murray is averaging 26.9 points and 6.6 assists while Nikola Jokic is averaging 24.7 points and 10 rebounds. Michael Porter Jr. is the third double-digit scorer and Jerami Grant is grabbing three rebounds. The Denver Nuggets are shooting 38.5 percent from beyond the arc and 81.1 percent from the free thitem line. The Denver Nuggets are allowing 37.3 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 40.9 rebounds per game.

The Nuggets are 5-0-1 ATS in their last 6 games playing on 1 days rest, 5-1-1 ATS in their last 7 games as an underdog and 5-1-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall. The Lakers are 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 games playing on 1 days rest, 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 games as a favorite and 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 games overall. The under is 7-3-2 in Nuggets last 12 overall. The Nuggets are 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings in Los Angeles and 3-1-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings.

The Denver Nuggets outplayed the Lakers twice in this series and could have easily won game four if they didn’t have sloppy possessions in the final five minutes. The Nuggets have also shown to play their best basketball twice when down 3-1, as they’ve come back from such a deficit twice in these playoffs. The Los Angeles Lakers are a little too experienced to allow such a comeback for a third time, but the Nuggets have shown they can hang with the Lakers in this series. Give me the points.