The Los Angeles Lakers avoided the sweep but are now tasked with staving off elimination on the road.

The pregame narrative: The Denver Nuggets have dominated the Lakers and one game isn't going to change my view on how this series will play out. Back Denver to win and cover an alternate spread at home but expect LeBron James and Austin Reaves to go down swinging.

Check out these Lakers vs. Nuggets SGP picks for Game 5 of their first-round series on April 29.

Lakers vs. Nuggets SGP picks

Parlay: Nuggets -3.5 + James over 23.5 points + Reaves over 11.5 points (+325)

Nuggets -3.5 (-200): A gentlemen's sweep seems unavoidable tonight.

The Lakers finally snapped their 11-game losing streak against the Nuggets but now have to play in Denver, where they've lost six straight by an average of 8.2 points.

Nikola Jokic and Co. went 33-8 at Ball Arena this season with a +10.1 net rating (third-best in the NBA). Los Angeles, on the other hand, was an underwhelming 19-21 on the road with a -3.5 net rating (20th in the NBA).

The Nuggets are 12-1 at home in the playoffs dating back to last postseason. They've covered a -3.5 spread in 10 of those wins. That includes three of four games against the Lakers.

Other parlay picks

James over 24.5 points (-190): LeBron won't be going down without a fight. The King has scored 25-plus in every game this series and had a team-high 30 points on Saturday night.

The Nuggets are a great defensive team but LeBron is a special player, even in his 21st season. He's shooting 57.7% from the field through four contests and should be the Lakers' No. 1 option with their backs up against the wall.

LeBron has consistently answered the bell in elimination games, too. He's scored 25-plus points in 24-of-27 games when facing elimination (89%).

Reaves over 11.5 points (-286): I took Reaves to clear his standard 14.5 scoring line in my NBA playoff prop bets. So needless to say, I love this teased-down total.

Reaves had a slow start to this series but has scored 22 and 21 points in his last two games.

He's gone over this line in 11 of 12 games versus Denver dating back to last year's Western Conference Final and he scored 15-plus points in eight of those games.

The Nuggets are going to do everything in their power to slow LeBron and Anthony Davis and that should open up plenty of looks for Reaves. The third-year guard is averaging 16.0 shots/game in his last two outings and shouldn't have a problem clearing this line.

Picks as of 11:49 a.m. on 04/29/2024.