Denver Nuggets at LA Lakers Game 2 Preview

Game 1 of the Western Conference NBA Playoff betting Finals between the Denver Nuggets (62-31, 55-37-1 ATS) and Los Angeles Lakers (74-21, 49-46 ATS) was an absolute gem, and both teams will take to the Staples Center floor for Game 2 this evening. The Lakers held a one-point lead at the half on Tuesday night, but the Nuggets outscored Kobe and company 22-19 in the third quarter to take a two-point lead into the final quarter of play. Denver extended its lead to as much as seven in the fourth, but Kobe Bryant took the game over late by converting six free throws to allow the Lakers to gut out the Game 1 victory. A very bad foul committed by Nuggets F Kenyon Martin allowed the Lakers to salt the win away from the free throw line in the last minute of play. Though Denver failed in its attempt to cash $$$-Line backers tickets, they did cover the spread for an unimaginable 11th straight time in the post-season.

Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals finds the host Lakers installed as 5.5-point home favorites with the game ‘total’ set at 211-points; both numbers released for game 2 by the oddsmakers are down from where they went off the board in G1 (LA -6.5, 215).

Carmelo Anthony had the game of his life in Game 1. He dropped 39-points on the Lakers defense, and was very physical throughout the entire game. He converted 14 of his 20 shots from the field, which included a 4-of-5 effort from beyond the arc. Chauncey Billups added 18 points to go along with eight assists, and Kenyon Martin and Nene combined for 29 points and 13 rebounds. Where Denver failed miserably was at the charity stripe. They made just 23-of-35 overall attempts (65.7%). Their failure at the free throw line cost them dearly in Game 1. Head Coach George Karl hopefully had them fine tuning their strokes for Wednesday night…

The Lakers shot wretchedly from the floor on Tuesday night converting just 37-of-90 overall attempts (41.1%), but they did hit 11-of-25 attempts from beyond the arc. They also took care of business from the charity stripe hitting 20-of-24, and won the battle of the boards outrebounding Denver 46/37. Kobe led the team in scoring with 40 points with 12 of them coming from the free-throw line. Pau Gasol was held to just 13 points, but he was a monster on the glass pulling down a game high 13 rebounds. Lamar Odom was invisible on the offensive end of the court throughout his 33+ minutes of floor time scoring just seven points, but he added to the Lakers rebounding dominance by pulling down eight boards.

Los Angeles has owned Denver for a number of years now going 9-1 SU and 7-3 ATS the L/10 overall meetings. They hold a 4-1 SU advantage over Denver this season, but the Nuggets have gotten the best of them against the spread (3-2 ATS). The ‘under’ has been the way to go in this series as well with it cashing in 8 of the L/10 overall meetings and in 4 of their 5 meetings this season.

NBA bettors were witness to a pair of fantastic Game 1 match-ups in both the Western and Eastern Conference Finals. Don’t miss out on anymore of the action! Open up an account at Bookmaker Sportsbook today and get in on all the NBA Playoff betting madness!

Article courtesy of BookMaker.