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• Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets
• Saturday, March 2 at 10 p.m. ET
• Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California
This is easily one of the best matchups of the week. In the Western Conference, there are few teams who have looked better than the Denver Nuggets over the past year. With that said, there are always going to be a ton of eyes on the Los Angeles Lakers, especially with LeBron James closing in on the later stages of his career. That’s why Hollywood will be buzzing this weekend, as the Nuggets are favorites over the Lakers on Saturday night.
Denver has been brilliant this year and the team’s confidence remains high after they were able to win the 2023 NBA Finals. The Nuggets hold strong NBA Finals betting odds to repeat as the champions and Nikola Jokic is surely a big reason for that. Known as ‘The Joker,’ Jokic is able to get things done on both ends of the floor and he’ll be ready to give the Lakers issues on both offense and defense. He truly is a fantastic talent.
| Denver vs LA odds |  |  |  |
| Nuggets to win | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Lakers to win | +125 | +125 | +125 |
| Over 220 points | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Under 220 points | -110 | -110 | -110 |
The Lakers have been pretty inconsistent this year, with their season highlighted by the in-season tournament win. However, due to their inconsistent play, the Lakers would currently be set to play in the play-in tournament if the season were to end today. That’s not what fans are hoping for, as the goal is for James, Anthony Davis and others to elevate their play and lock in a postseason spot in the coming months. This will be tough, but the star power sure is there.
According to the best-rated sportsbooks, which includes the reliable Bovada review, the Nuggets hold -110 NBA betting odds to post a road win in California, while the Lakers have been set at +125. While we would love to have faith in James and the rest of the Lakers players, we think that Denver is going to prove to be too dominant in this case. We’re going with the Nuggets as our pick in this monster showdown.
Another Jok stat graphic just dropped ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/uXFlfpvraV
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) February 27, 2024
Nuggets are neck in neck with the Celtics for NBA Finals odds
Looking at things overall, the Nuggets are neck in neck with the Celtics for NBA Finals odds. As we mentioned above, Denver was able to win the title last year and it came as a huge surprise. While the Nuggets are a fantastic team, they didn’t even make the 2023 postseason with the best odds to get the job done. Despite that, they silence countless haters by winning it all and doing so in thrilling fashion.
Will that be the case in 2024? The Celtics, and other teams, are hoping to prevent that from happening. Boston has been on a total tear this year and they’re showing no signs of slowing down. Over the weekend, Boston traveled to New York City to take on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden and they sent quite the message to Denver. From start to finish, the Celtics dominated play and reminded everyone that they have the best record in the league.
.@stephenasmith says the Knicks are the biggest threat to the Celtics in the East if Julius Randle comes back healthy 👀 pic.twitter.com/YqsgNECNiO
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 27, 2024
With how sharp the Celtics and Nuggets have looked, people have been dreaming of them facing off in the Finals. This would be a tremendous series and the drama would be through the roof if things went the full seven games. There’s still plenty of time before the postseason even gets here, but there’s no question whatsoever that both the Nuggets and Celtics will be two teams to keep a close eye on the rest of the way.
Per the oddsmakers, the Celtics hold the No. 1 NBA Finals betting odds at +300, while the Nuggets are right behind them in the No. 2 spot with +350 odds. For the rest of the season, the odds could go back and forth between the two powerhouses. Only time will tell how things go down here, but Denver and Boston will look to keep this rivalry going all the way to the end. It’s tough, but if we had to make a pick, we’d go with the Celtics to be named the champs this year.
LeBron James has made it seem like he won’t retire at the end of the season
While rumors continue to fly around, LeBron James has made it seem like he won’t retire at the end of the season. With James inching closer to 40 years old, there’s no doubt that he’s getting close to the end of his career. However, plenty of Lakers fans think that he’ll be around for at least one more season, with a potential multi-year extension being an option too.
Regardless of what he decides, the fact doesn’t change that the Lakers need to find a way to sneak into the playoffs this year. There are simply no excuses for this team the rest of the way and they have to shift things to a new level soon. James and Davis are the leaders of this team, but head coach Darwin Ham will ask the other starters to elevate things as soon as possible. We can only hope the Lakers can find a way to make the playoffs, but that’s totally up in the air right now.
