Posted at 10:00 AM EST. Odds subject to change.

Pinnacle  +6 -110 BET365 +6 -110 Sportsinteraction +6 -110 888Sport +6 -110

Denver +6 over L.A. Lakers

10:30 PM EST. The Nuggets took the first two games of this series in Denver, winning Game 1, 132-126, and Game 2, 108-103. However, it was the ankle of LeBron James that garnered most of the headlines, as he twisted his left ankle late in that game. James says he is good to go tonight, adding, "A little ankle isn't going to stop me."

We're not going to spend a lot of time breaking down those two games in Denver or discussing what the Lakers need to do to adjust here and get back into this series. Instead, we are going to point out that the Play-In Lakers are favored in the same range in Los Angeles as the #1-seeded Nuggets were in Denver. For some perspective, the Nuggets were a +4-point underdog in Game 4 of the last round versus the Suns, and then they were a +1-point underdog in both Games 5 and 6.

If that wasn't enough, the Lakers were favored in the -3½-point range in their home games against the Warriors, and now they are giving more points to the superior Nuggets. How can that be? There is an expectation in the market that the Lakers are going to take care of business at home and in this series, but that is not guaranteed. The prudent play here is to scoop up the inflated points that we are being offered on the best team in the West, which is precisely what we are going to do.

Finnie

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