Month: March 2025

The Denver Nuggets (42-24) are hosting the Los Angeles Lakers (40-24) in a conference tilt on Friday. The Nuggets have lost two of their last three games. On Wednesday, Denver was blown out 115-95 by the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers are winless on this four-game road trip, dropping three games in a row. The Milwaukee Bucks beat Los Angeles 126-106 on Thursday. LeBron James (groin) and Luka Doncic (calf) have been ruled out for the Lakers. Aaron Gordon (ankle) is questionable for Denver, with Nikola Jokic (elbow) and Jamal Murray (knee) listed as probable.

Tipoff from Ball Arena in Denver is at 9:30 p.m. ET. The teams have split two meetings this season, with the road team winning each time. The Nuggets are 14.5-point favorites in the latest Lakers vs. Nuggets odds from SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 227.5, a decrease from opening at 232. Before locking in any Nuggets vs. Lakers picks, make sure to check out the NBA predictions and betting advice from the SportsLine Projection Model.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in betting profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past six-plus seasons. The model enters Week 21 of the 2024-25 NBA season on a sizzling 148-107 roll on all top-rated NBA picks dating back to last season, returning nearly $4,000. It’s also an outstanding 19-10 (65%) on top-rated spread picks this season. Anyone following at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen huge returns.

Now, the model has simulated Lakers vs. Nuggets 10,000 times and just revealed its coveted NBA picks and betting predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model’s picks. Here are several NBA odds and NBA betting lines for Lakers vs. Nuggets:

Lakers vs. Nuggets spread: Denver -14.5
Lakers vs. Nuggets over/under: 227.5 points
Lakers vs. Nuggets money line: Denver -1124, Los Angeles +710
LAL: Lakers are 35-28-1 against the spread this season
DEN: Nuggets are 32-32-1 against the spread this season
Lakers vs. Nuggets picks: See picks at SportsLine
Lakers vs. Nuggets streaming: FuboTV (Try for free)
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Why the Lakers can cover
Rookie Dalton Knecht is in line for a heavy workload with the various Lakers injuries, but he’s shown that he’s up to the task. Across nine games in which he’s played 30-plus minutes, Knecht is averaging 20.3 points and 5.0 rebounds. He’s also scoring efficiently with these increased opportunities, with shooting percentages of 53.6% from the field and a blistering 50% from beyond the arc across these nine contests.

Guard Austin Reaves provides this team with another three-level scorer who can facilitate. Reaves logs 18.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists per contest. In the March 10 loss to the Nets, Reaves had 17 points and 10 assists. This was his fifth double-double this season with 10-plus assists. See which team to back at SportsLine.

Why the Nuggets can cover
Center Jokic (probable) continues to be an impactful playmaker for Denver. Jokic currently ranks third in the NBA in points (29) and rebounds (12.9) while being second in assists (10.4). He’s also 10th in the league in field-goal percentage (57.7%). In his last outing, Jokic racked up 34 points, eight boards and four assists. He’s scored at least 30 points in three of his last four games.

Forward Michael Porter Jr. is able to stretch the floor as a shooter and has a solid mid-range game. Porter Jr. averages 18.3 points, seven rebounds, and shoots 40% from downtown. On March 9 against the Thunder, he finished with 24 points and 15 boards. That marked his 12th double-double this season. See which team to back at SportsLine.

How to make Lakers vs. Nuggets picks
SportsLine’s model has simulated Lakers vs. Nuggets and is leaning Over the total, projecting 229 combined points. The model also says one side of the spread hits in almost 70% of simulations. You can head to SportsLine to see the model’s NBA picks.

So who wins Lakers vs. Nuggets on Friday, and which side of the spread hits in almost 70% of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Lakers vs. Nuggets spread to back, all from the model that has returned well over $10,000 on top-rated NBA picks, and find out.

Where to bet on NBA games
Here are some of the sportsbooks to bet on NBA games today, along with the various NBA sportsbook promos they currently offer.

Don’t look now, but the Minnesota Timberwolves, who have been largely written off for the better part of this season, are looking like a team that could once again pose real playoff problems a year after making their Western Conference finals run.

With a 118-111 win over the Magic on Friday, the Wolves have now won seven straight games as they set their sights on a top-six playoff seed. With 14 games remaining, Minnesota currently owns the No. 7 seed but is just one game back of the No. 6 Warriors.

The Warriors do own the tiebreaker, however, so that lead is effectively two games.

Golden State is also one of the hottest teams in the league, but Minnesota is keeping it from creating any distance for that last guaranteed playoff spot by shooting the leather off the ball. During this seven-game win streak, the Wolves are pacing the league with over 18 made 3-pointers per game at better than a 42% clip (also tops in the league).

Anthony Edwards has been making 3s all season, and he has continued to do so at better than 40% on almost 10 attempts per game during the streak, but it’s the support staff that has really caught fire. Check out these 3-point numbers in March:

Mike Conley: 58% (14 for 24)
Donte DiVincenzo: 51% (27 for 53)
Jaden McDaniels: 45% (13 for 29)
Nickeil Alexander-Walker: 42% (11 for 26 over last six)
Naz Reid: 42% (18 for 43 over last six)
Conley was basically categorized as washed six weeks ago. DiVincenzo, who was seen by many as the key to the Karl-Anthony Towns trade working because of the spacing he could help replicate, couldn’t make a thing to start the season but has now cashed at least three 3s in 11 of his last 13 games and multiple 3s in all 13. He’s averaging over four per game in March, and that’s the kind of weaponry he was supposed to provide all along. It makes Minnesota an entirely different team.

And we still haven’t gotten to Julius Randle, who, if you’re sensing a theme here, was also derided for his play for much of the season. But lookie here … the Wolves have won 12 consecutive games with Randle in the lineup. He’s 16 for his last 25 from the field and is shooting well over 50% during this streak.

More importantly, Randle is connecting the Wolves. He’s always been a better passer than his isolation-scorer reputation has suggested, and he’s really doing damage getting into the paint and facilitating to shooters at over six assists per night in March.

It’s true, Minnesota’s schedule has been quite soft during this run with wins over Phoenix, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Miami, San Antonio and now Orlando. But mixed in there is a 20-point win over the Nuggets, whom the Wolves eliminated from last year’s playoffs and have gone 3-0 against this season.

Minnesota also took two out of three against Oklahoma City last month. This is a team that can really bottle you up defensively; Rudy Gobert is still a nightmare to finish over for opposing guards, and we know about the first line of defense with Minnesota’s wings. That kind of defense with a 1A scorer like Edwards is going to equal a playoff problem for someone.

If the offense continues like this around Edwards, the Warriors are going to have to remain smoking hot to fend off the Wolves down the stretch, and even if they have to play their way into the No. 7 seed, as of Saturday that would mean a first-round matchup with the Nuggets, who, again, we know they can handle. Indeed, things are looking up for Minnesota.

Jamal Murray has been back to his typical All-Star ways (even if he’s never actually made the team) for a while now, and there can be no greater evidence of that than yet another game-winning shot against the Lakers.

On Friday night, the Lakers played the Nuggets better than anyone could have expected with both LeBron James and Luka Dončić out, but in the waning seconds Murray broke a 126-all tie with a 3-pointer made possible by Nikola Jokić taking out two defenders with one screen.

Lakers fans don’t have to think back too far to recall the last two game-winners Murray hit on them, with both of them coming in last year’s playoffs. First, Murray closed Game 2 with a rainbow fall-away jumper over Anthony Davis. Then he ended the Lakers’ season in Game 5.

These are daggers in every sense. No, Friday’s shot wasn’t in a playoff game, but it could have big-time implications on the playoff race as the Nuggets and Lakers both continue to jockey for seeding.

Denver holds onto the No. 2 seed with the win, one game up in the loss column on No. 3 Houston, No. 4 Memphis and the Lakers at No. 5. Had the Lakers won this game, they would’ve moved into the 2-seed. Below Oklahoma City, that’s how tight things are in the Western Conference. Almost every game swings something.

Instead, the Lakers have lost four straight, three without LeBron, and are now just three games up on the No. 6 Warriors, who are smoking hot and have one of the easiest schedules down the stretch. Yes, that three-game lead should be pretty safe considering the Lakers have clinched the tiebreaker over Golden State, making the lead an effective four games with 17 to play, but nothing can be certain until LeBron makes his way back onto the court.

Until then, the Lakers are just trying to tread water to at least keep themselves in the hunt for a top-four seed and home-court advantage in the first round. They still have one more game against the Nuggets next Wednesday, which could literally decide whether or not they match up in the first round depending on how this all finishes up.

It’s unlikely that LeBron will be back by then, meaning the Lakers will have another uphill fight on their hands. If they are able to keep it close again — perhaps due to another brilliant performance from Austin Reaves, who finished Friday’s loss with 37 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds and four steals — all they can hope for is to keep the ball the hell out of Murray’s hands in the final seconds. They’ve officially seen that movie too many times.