The Los Angeles Lakers got a fast start from LeBron James, a double-double from Anthony Davis and held Denver to just six free-throw attempts in Game 1 on Saturday.
Yet they still lost by double digits to the reigning NBA champions.
After surviving the James-Davis duo for the 114-103 victory to open the Western Conference first-round series, the Nuggets will try to preserve their home-court edge in Game 2 on Monday night.
TRENDING
Denver is a consensus 7.5-point favorite ahead of Game 2. The line opened at 6.5 points at BetMGM, but shifted a full point with the Nuggets backed by 72 percent of the spread-line total. They have also been backed by 65 percent of the money on the same number at BetRivers.
The Over/Under has stayed steady at 223.5 points at BetMGM, where the Under has drawn 54 percent of the money. Meanwhile, the slightly lower 223.0 total at BetRivers has seen 64 percent of the money back the Over.
Prediction: Desperation time is quickly approaching for the Lakers, who don’t want to return home down 0-2 in the series. That may well still happen, but look for Los Angeles to put up a strong 48-minute battle and make Denver work for it. –Nuggets 112, Lakers 109
PROP PICK
Austin Reaves Over 22.5 Points/Rebounds/Assists: This has been the most popular player prop for Game 2 at both sportsbooks, with BetMGM reporting 99 percent of the bets backing the Over at -130 while BetRivers has seen 2.4 percent of all player prop money wagers on the game backing this one at -122.
Reaves had only 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting in Game 1 to go along with four rebounds and three assists. He has averaged 15.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game (25.7 average total) on the season.
KEY STAT
Denver has beaten Los Angeles nine straight times, dating to the final regular-season game between them in 2022-23.
THE NEWS
Los Angeles didn’t have an answer in Game 1 for Nikola Jokic, who finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, despite throwing multiple looks at him.
Rui Hachimura started out defending Jokic, Davis and James also spent time guarding him and the Lakers tried doubling him, but nothing worked. Jokic had no turnovers and two steals in his 39 minutes and was 15-for-23 from the field.
Los Angeles coach Darvin Ham said after the loss there were adjustments he didn’t use Saturday night that he will try.
“We didn’t want to go too deep into the in-game adjustments. It’s still that ultimate chess game,” he said. “So we were comfortable with the results. … If we need to go back to it, it’s there.”
The Lakers could use more from their bench, which was outscored 17-11 in Game 1, with all of Los Angeles’ points coming from Taurean Prince. Getting Christian Wood back from a knee injury would help, especially patrolling the paint, but he isn’t expected to return until the series shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 Thursday night.
The Nuggets don’t need to fix much other than getting off to a faster start and hitting more shots. Among the starters, only Michael Porter Jr. (8 of 15) and Jokic hit more than 50 percent of their shots, with Jamal Murray going 9-for-24 from the field, but he still managed to put up 22 points and 10 assists.
“Not just me — I think we’ll all shoot better next game,” Murray said.
One thing Denver did well Saturday night — and in the past five playoff games against Los Angeles — is contain the Lakers’ role players. James and Davis combined for 59 points, 20 rebounds and 13 assists in Game 1, but the rest of the team had little impact.
D’Angelo Russell again struggled against the Nuggets’ defense, shooting 1-for-9 from 3-point range and 6-for-20 overall in scoring 13 points. It was a continuation of last year’s postseason, when Denver swept Los Angeles in the Western Conference finals. Russell was 2-for-15 from long range in the four games and was benched later in Game 4.
The Nuggets can expect a bounce-back game from the Lakers, and a more aggressive James. After scoring 19 points in the first half on Saturday, he had just eight in the second half and didn’t attempt a shot in the fourth quarter until the final 1:20.
THEY SAID IT
Denver is impressed at what James is doing in his 21st NBA season.
“I’m 21 years old. He’s been playing for as long as I’ve been alive. I definitely tried to talk to him a little bit, get a feel for him.” –Nuggets forward Peyton Watson on James.
