The defending champions are aiming to win their 3rd game in a row overall and 7th straight against the LA Lakers tonight as the two teams lock horns for the 2nd time this season. Denver came out on top on opening night 119-107, in what was a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals. Denver has had LA’s number for a while now, so the odds are stacked in their favor here as they open as 3.5 point favorites. Nikola Jokic in particular has taken it upon himself to play extremely well in this match-up, he is averaging 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds and 10.3 assists in his last 10 games vs the Lakers. He’s also notched a triple-double in 5 of his last 6 against LeBron and co., it could be another long night for the likes of Anthony Davis and the rest of the defenders the Lakers decide to throw at the 2-time MVP. Denver is 13-2 SU in 15 games vs Pacific Division opponents and currently on a run of 4 wins in 5 games overall.
It'll be an emotional night for the Lakers here as they will reveal a Kobe Bryant statue ahead of tonight’s game at crypto.com arena. In honor of the Lakers legend, the players will also wear their black mamba jerseys for tonight’s game, they’ll be extra motivated to do well here. Things have slowly turned around for LA in the past week or so, they’ve won 5 of their last 7 games and have covered the spread in 4 of their last 5 at home. All of this is great news if you’re a Lakers fan, but if you’re GM Rob Pelinka this has made your job a lot tougher ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline. The Lakers were in the mix for several moves, but with the likes of D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura playing really well lately, trading them away now looks like a bad idea. Regardless of that and the poor run in recent games vs the Nuggets, the Lakers players will be eager for this game to start, they’ve beaten Denver 8 times in the last 11 meetings at crypto.com Arena.
