Lakers vs. Nuggets SGP picks Game 1: Bet Denver to win and LeBron to fill the stat sheet
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LeBron James averaged 27.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 10.0 assists in last year's playoff series against the Nuggets. Photo by Jack Dempsey/AP.
Jordan Horrobin
@JordanHorrobin
April 18, 2024

The defending champion Denver Nuggets begin their title defence in earnest on Saturday with an opening-round matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The pregame narrative: Denver swept L.A. in the Western Conference Finals a year ago, and its dominance in this head-to-head matchup goes back even further than that.

Check out the full Lakers vs. Nuggets SGP picks for Game 1 of their first-round matchup on April 20.

Lakers vs. Nuggets SGP picks

Parlay: Nuggets -4.5 + LeBron over 39.5 points/rebounds/assists + Murray over 5.5 assists (+370)

Nuggets -4.5 (-167): Denver is a superb home team that has dominated the Lakers in recent history. This should be a comfortable number for the Nuggets in Game 1.

The Nuggets have won eight straight games against the Lakers dating back to January 2023, and they've covered this number in each of those matchups.

Denver also went 33-8 at Ball Arena during the regular season. The team posted a +10.1 net rating at home, which is the third-best in the NBA.

Between the Lakers' recent futility against Denver and their suspect 20-21 road record this year, I'm not expecting them to cover this alt line.

Other parlay picks

LeBron over 39.5 PRA (-182): LeBron is always at the centre of the Lakers' offensive schemes. But his usage ratchets up even more this time of year.

The King went under this line in two of three regular-season matchups against the Nuggets, but that won't dissuade me. He hit the over in each game of last year's playoff series, averaging 47.3 PRA.

In L.A.'s play-in matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans, LeBron had a dreadful shooting performance (6-of-20) but still finished with 41 PRA.

Murray over 5.5 assists (-180): Murray's season average is 6.5 assists, so this line already looks good up front.

Digging deeper, this number starts to look even better. The point guard has gone over 5.5 assists in 10 of his past 15 games, averaging 7.1 APG in that span.

Murray finished with six-plus assists in all three matchups against the Lakers this year — reaching double digits twice. The Lakers allow the fourth-most assists per game to opposing PGs, per Fantasy Pros.

Picks as of 4:00 p.m. on 04/18/2024.

NorthStar Bets editorial Insiders have no influence, direct or otherwise, over the setting of odds advertised on our platforms.