Lakers vs. Nuggets Game 3 picks, best bets: Look for Denver to cover despite Los Angeles dominance at home

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By Webdesk


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Now that we are in the heat of battle NBA playoffs, the basketball betting market is hotter than ever. CBS Sports will make daily picks during the postseason. Sam Quinn will make at least one pick for every game between now and the NBA Final. All rules courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.

Recommended game | Los Angeles Lakers v Denver Nuggets

We’ve played two games so far in the Western Conference Finals. The first was decided by six points. The second was decided by five. That makes the 5.5-point spread a perfect representation of what we’ve seen so far. The Lakers were dominant at home this postseason, with a 7-0 record and a plus-116 point difference. The Nuggets are 2-3 on the go. But given the proximity of these games, I’m inclined to take Denver on the points in Game 3. In Game 2, the Lakers were outscored by nine points during the eight minutes LeBron James spent on the bench. That’s a perfect encapsulation of the difference between these teams at the moment. The Lakers are at their best with the Nuggets. But they have so few players they can rely on that they’re in danger the moment one of them is down. The Lakers can still win this game, but I don’t expect a blowout. The choice: nuggets +5.5

Game 2 of this series looked like a rock fight. For a long time, both teams struggled to generate anything offensively. Still, the final score was 211 points. Even in a game where the two sides shot a combined 32.4% from 3-point range, they still managed to score quite a few points. The offensive floor in this series is just too high to choose below this low level. If Anthony Davis starts scoring again, or if the shooting picks up again, or just one or two of the five or six other factors that led to Thursday’s Game 3 scoring drop shift, it will be an easy over . The choice: over 222.5

We picked the D’Angelo Russell under in Game 2, and we pick him again in Game 3. The Lakers are minus-41 in the 59 minutes he played in this series and plus-30 in the 37 minutes he was out . This is just not a series where he can survive defensively, so his minutes will dwindle. The books haven’t caught on yet, but we can take advantage of that until they do. The pick: Russell under 13.5 points





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