Lakers, Nuggets begin their Best of 3 for West
Lakers, Nuggets begin their Best of 3 for West
With their series knotted at two games apiece, the Lakers and Nuggets make their way back to Los Angeles for Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals tonight. At 8-2 in the Staples Center this postseason (5-5 ATS), the Lakers have the home-court advantage, but Denver appears to have the fresher legs and deeper bench at this stage of the series. ESPN begins their broadcast at 9:00 p.m. (ET).
Apparently the Denver Nuggets have a new player called Smitty.
That’s the hockey-appropriate nickname that basketball analyst and former coach Jeff Van Gundy gave J.R. Smith after a 24-point performance in Monday night’s 120-101 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Van Gundy drew a sharp distinction between “Smitty” and the version of Smith we saw score a combined 23 points in the first three games of this Western Conference Finals. The fate of Wednesday’s Game 5 hinges on which version shows up.
Not that Smith is the be-all and end-all of this series – there are 23 other players involved, many of them more talented than the fourth-year guard. But as we discussed in this space heading into Game 4, the Nuggets have already demonstrated they have the superior frontcourt at this moment. Chauncey Billups is the best point guard in this series; from an offensive standpoint, that leaves Smith to finish the championship puzzle.
Monday was a big step in the right direction. Smith had his first quality game since straining his calf in the opener, and the Nuggets extended their amazing playoff run to 13-1 ATS. Yet the Lakers are continuing to get the benefit of the doubt. They’re 6-point home favorites with a total of 209½, and once again, the linesmakers have done a masterful job with the betting odds, splitting the action right down the middle on the pointspread in the first day of trading.
You can also get Denver at a healthy +220 on the moneyline, the Nuggets being the preferred pick according to market reports at nearly 65 percent support. They made the ML profitable by splitting the first two games at Staples Center; however, Denver made more money at 2-0 ATS, and the Nuggets didn’t win either of their regular season games against the Lakers in Los Angeles.
We’ve seen the Lakers go through this self-diagnosed Jekyll-and-Hyde act throughout the playoffs. They’re 8-2 at home (albeit at 5-5 ATS) and 3-4 SU and ATS on the road. The importance of home-court advantage to the emotional Lakers is difficult to overstate here. Their defensive effort is much better, and the officiating crews are more likely to give L.A. the benefit of the doubt – just as they did for the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center, where the home team had 49 free-throw attempts to 35 for Los Angeles.
All those freebies and clock stoppages helped the over cash in Monday for the first time this series. The under was 7-0 for the Lakers going into that contest and 9-1 in their previous 10 games against Denver. Wednesday’s total of 209½ is down from the first two games (214, 212) at Staples, and roughly 80 percent of the action is on the over for Game 5. It’s highly unlikely we’re going to see 84 free-throws attempts again – that was the most of any NBA playoff game this year – so the public fascination with the over appears as misplaced as ever. The under is well in the black at 27-20 (57.4 percent) this past month.
The questionable health of the players on both teams gives the under added value at the pay window. Carmelo Anthony hobbled though Game 4 with a sprained ankle while also dealing with a stomach virus; he was very quiet on the evening before taking intravenous fluids at halftime and scoring eight important points late in the fourth quarter. Anthony’s opposite number, Kobe Bryant, has a swollen pinkie finger and appears to be running out of gas after shooting 2-of-10 from long range in Game 4. And Trevor Ariza is playing with a bruised hip and a strained groin.
The Lakers as a team are starting to drag their feet after a protracted seven-game series against Houston. With Andrew Bynum already limited because of his post-knee injury conditioning, the fresher legs and deeper bench of the Nuggets are in prime position to cash in.
With their series knotted at two games apiece, the Lakers and Nuggets make their way back to Los Angeles for Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals tonight. At 8-2 in the Staples Center this postseason (5-5 ATS), the Lakers have the home-court advantage, but Denver appears to have the fresher legs and deeper bench at this stage of the series. ESPN begins their broadcast at 9:00 p.m. (ET).
Apparently the Denver Nuggets have a new player called Smitty.
That’s the hockey-appropriate nickname that basketball analyst and former coach Jeff Van Gundy gave J.R. Smith after a 24-point performance in Monday night’s 120-101 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Van Gundy drew a sharp distinction between “Smitty” and the version of Smith we saw score a combined 23 points in the first three games of this Western Conference Finals. The fate of Wednesday’s Game 5 hinges on which version shows up.
Not that Smith is the be-all and end-all of this series – there are 23 other players involved, many of them more talented than the fourth-year guard. But as we discussed in this space heading into Game 4, the Nuggets have already demonstrated they have the superior frontcourt at this moment. Chauncey Billups is the best point guard in this series; from an offensive standpoint, that leaves Smith to finish the championship puzzle.
Monday was a big step in the right direction. Smith had his first quality game since straining his calf in the opener, and the Nuggets extended their amazing playoff run to 13-1 ATS. Yet the Lakers are continuing to get the benefit of the doubt. They’re 6-point home favorites with a total of 209½, and once again, the linesmakers have done a masterful job with the betting odds, splitting the action right down the middle on the pointspread in the first day of trading.
You can also get Denver at a healthy +220 on the moneyline, the Nuggets being the preferred pick according to market reports at nearly 65 percent support. They made the ML profitable by splitting the first two games at Staples Center; however, Denver made more money at 2-0 ATS, and the Nuggets didn’t win either of their regular season games against the Lakers in Los Angeles.
We’ve seen the Lakers go through this self-diagnosed Jekyll-and-Hyde act throughout the playoffs. They’re 8-2 at home (albeit at 5-5 ATS) and 3-4 SU and ATS on the road. The importance of home-court advantage to the emotional Lakers is difficult to overstate here. Their defensive effort is much better, and the officiating crews are more likely to give L.A. the benefit of the doubt – just as they did for the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center, where the home team had 49 free-throw attempts to 35 for Los Angeles.
All those freebies and clock stoppages helped the over cash in Monday for the first time this series. The under was 7-0 for the Lakers going into that contest and 9-1 in their previous 10 games against Denver. Wednesday’s total of 209½ is down from the first two games (214, 212) at Staples, and roughly 80 percent of the action is on the over for Game 5. It’s highly unlikely we’re going to see 84 free-throws attempts again – that was the most of any NBA playoff game this year – so the public fascination with the over appears as misplaced as ever. The under is well in the black at 27-20 (57.4 percent) this past month.
The questionable health of the players on both teams gives the under added value at the pay window. Carmelo Anthony hobbled though Game 4 with a sprained ankle while also dealing with a stomach virus; he was very quiet on the evening before taking intravenous fluids at halftime and scoring eight important points late in the fourth quarter. Anthony’s opposite number, Kobe Bryant, has a swollen pinkie finger and appears to be running out of gas after shooting 2-of-10 from long range in Game 4. And Trevor Ariza is playing with a bruised hip and a strained groin.
The Lakers as a team are starting to drag their feet after a protracted seven-game series against Houston. With Andrew Bynum already limited because of his post-knee injury conditioning, the fresher legs and deeper bench of the Nuggets are in prime position to cash in.