Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets, Game 3 Western Conference Finals. The Nuggets are in a similar situation for the third time. It is the third time in the playoffs that the Nuggets are down with two losses. The Lakers are not lethal, but what if they suffer the same fate as the Clippers and Jazz. That’s the million dollar question.
Los Angeles Lakers: Patience first.
The Lakers know this advantage is good against the Nuggets. But at the same time, the team knows the capabilities of the Nuggets in the playoffs. The two wins in this series were 126-114 and 105-103. In the last win, the Nuggets were stronger on defense. Also the numbers were almost the same. Field goal 52.7% against 52.4% of the Lakers. Only in offensive rebounds were the Lakers superior.
The Lakers’ offense is number one in the postseason taking out the Mavericks who are no longer present. The team is scoring an average of 114.3 points per game, 41.8 FG points, 12.1 three pointers, 74.1% free throw shots, 10.9 offensive rebounds, 26.2 assists, 8.5 steals and 16.4 turnovers. The defense allows just 105.8 points per game and 12.5 three pointers.
LeBron James in this series is scoring less than 30 points per game. Anthony Davis is averaging 34 points in two games against the Nuggets. In the second game the bench scored 20 points with Caruso and Kuzma as leaders. Much less compared to the first game when the team scored 98 points from the bench.
Denver Nuggets: Two losses is nothing.
The Nuggets are down two games. But this same situation occurred against the Jazz and recently against the Clippers. It seems to be a kind of strategy. The Nuggets make the opponent feel like they have won the series. And when they relax, the team takes advantage to win several consecutive games. Players like Murray show poor performance the first three games of the postseason.
The team has a good offense with 107 points per game. 38.8 FG points, 80.9% free throw shots, 12.8 three pointers, 22.3 assists, 9.5 offensive rebounds and 4.3 blocks. So far the Nuggets have played 16 games (4 fewer than the Lakers) in the playoffs. The defense is the sixth best of the postseason allowing only 109.2 points and 12.9 three pointers.
For now Jokic and Murray are doing the work of scoring the points. In the last game Murray scored 25 points and Jokic only 30 points. But from the bench the team scored 32 points. But if we compare what the Lakers did in the first and second games. bench work was similar with the Nuggets. Porter led the bench in the second game with 15 points.
My Free Pick & Prediction for Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets 09/22/2020 is: OVER 213.5 (TOTALS).
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