Lakers at Nuggets – Injury Trouble for Denver

NBA Basketball Sports Betting

Los Angeles Lakers (48-10 SU, 30-27-1 ATS) at Denver Nuggets (38-20 SU, 32-25-1 ATS)
Friday, February 27

BetOnline NBA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: L.A. LAKERS -2, Total 218

Here are some of the NBA basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• LA has won 14 of its last 15 games SU
• LA has covered four of its last six games
• LA has played 10 of its last 15 games OVER the total
• LA is 7-2-1 ATS in its last ten road games
• LA has won 10 of its last 11 road games SU
• LA has played 10 of its last 13 road games OVER the total
• DEN has won 11 of its last 16 games SU
• DEN is 0-4 ATS in its last four games
• DEN has played three of its last four games OVER the total
• DEN has won five of its last six home games SU

Also…

• LA has won the last nine meetings SU
• LA has covered nine of the last ten meetings
• The last five meetings have gone UNDER the total
• LA has won the last four meetings SU as the road team
• LA has covered four of the last five meetings as the road team
• The last four meetings in Denver have gone UNDER the total
• LA has had the shooting edge in eight of the last nine meetings
• DEN has had the rebounding edge in four of the last six meetings
• LA has made more three-pointers in nine of the last ten meetings

I don’t think we have to be afraid of a meeting at the Pepsi Center, since the Lakers scored wins at Boston and Cleveland going into the break and have followed that by winning as the visitor against lesser lights like the Warriors, T-Wolves and Thunder. Sure, they are coming into the Mile High City and all that altitude without rest. However, last night’s win over the Suns was kind of a laugher. They took a 21-point lead into the fourth quarter and got starters plenty of rest. Kobe Bryant played just 27 minutes, Pau Gasol played less than 24 and Derek Fisher played just 21. The bench contributed 58 points in the 132-106 win.

It means something that the Lakers have dominated this Nuggets team, as they have won nine consecutive meetings, including a 104-97 win at the Pepsi Center on November 1 and a 104-90 triumph at the Staples Center three weeks later. Chauncey Billups was around for the second one, and scored 15 points on 50% shooting with nine assists and no turnovers. If the Nuggets couldn’t win with Billups at or near his best, what are they going to do tonight?

Nene Hilario bruised his knee against the Bucks and may not be able to go tonight, even though an MRI test revealed that there was no further damage. If he can’t go, the Nuggets will have to rely more on Chris Andersen, who has blocked 18 shots in his last three games but does not add a lot of offensive punch (6.2 ppg).

Denver is third in the Western Conference and has developed more of a defensive mindset with Billups in the fold. Of course, is more difficult to make that defensive mindset work against the better teams when you don’t have something like Marcus Camby’s shot-blocking and rebounding to rely on. The Lakers have dominated Denver and there’s no reason that shouldn’t continue. Los Angeles is 10-4 ATS in the second end of back-to-back games, and we’ll lay a couple of points with them in the BetOnline Sportsbook.

JAY’S PLAY:  L.A. LAKERS -2
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

(Charles Jay makes his share of shots from the top of the key as a contributor to the BetOnline Locker Room)