Denver Nuggets vs Los Angeles Lakers Odds, Picks, Predictions & Props for Game 3 (April 25)

• The Denver Nuggets can take a 3-0 lead on the Los Angeles Lakers in their best-of-seven series on Thursday night (April 25)
• The Lakers blew a 19-point lead on Monday and have now lost 10 straight to the Nuggets overall
• See the Game 3 Nuggets vs Lakers odds, picks, predictions, and player props, below

The Los Angeles Lakers (48-37, 28-14 home, 40-46 ATS) blew a huge opportunity to level their best-of-seven first-round series with the Denver Nuggets (59-25, 24-17 away, 38-45-1 ATS) on Thursday. Los Angeles led by as many as 19 in the third quarter before ultimately falling by a bucket (101-99).

Now the Lakers have to regroup as they head back home to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Thursday night at 7:10 pm PT/10:10 pm ET at crypto.com Arena. Despite losing ten straight to the Nuggets head-to-head, the Lakers are listed as one-point favorites to win Game 3.

Game 3 Denver Nuggets vs Los Angeles Lakers Odds

On the moneyline, the Lakers are slight -115 favorites while the Nuggets are -105 to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The game total is sitting at just 216.5. The total for Game 1 was 226, which dropped to 223.5 for Game 2, and is now nearly ten points lower as Game 3 gets set to tip-off.

The first two games of the series averaged just 208.5 points per game (217 in Game 1 and 200 in Game 2).

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Odds as of April 25 at DraftKings. See the full list of DraftKings legal states.

The Nuggets, who opened as -310 favorites to advance in the NBA playoff bracket, are now prohibitively short -1100 chalk to eliminate the Lakers for the second straight season. LA’s odds have faded from +250 to +700. The winner of the Lakers/Nuggets series will face the winner of the Suns vs Timberwolves series, which Minnesota currently leads 2-0 as it shifts back to Phoenix for Game 3 tomorrow.

Nuggets Mount Epic Comeback to Take Game 2

Trailing 74-55 with 7:15 remaining in the third quarter on Monday, the Nuggets came all the way back to earn a hard-fought 101-99 victory, taking a 2-0 series lead in the process. Presumptive NBA MVP Nikola Jokic led the way with a monster triple-double (27 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists) while Jamal Murray added 20 points including the game winner, which went through with just 0.1 seconds on the clock.

Both Anthony Davis (32 points on 14-of-19 shooting, 11 rebounds, two assists, one steal, one block) and LeBron James (26 points of 9-of-19 shooting, 12 assists, eight rebounds) were great for Los Angeles in Game 2, and D’Angelo Russell (23 points, six assists) chipped in valuable secondary scoring, but the Lakers still lost the turnover battle (14 to 9) and were out-rebounded (45-38) for the second straight game.

DEN vs LAL Player Props

NBA player prop odds as of Apr. 25 at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Jokic once again has the highest point total of the night but at 27.5, is a point lower than he was in Game 2. Both Davis and James have point totals of 25.5 to lead the Lakers. On the rebounding front, both Davis and Jokic have totals of 13.5 and are the only players listed in double-figures.

Nuggets vs Lakers Predictions for Game 3

As good as they’ve been at home this season, it’s extremely hard to back the Lakers during a ten-game head-to-head losing streak against Jokic and the Nuggets. That said, Los Angeles have held the lead at halftime in both games so far, and teams coming back home down 2-0 have a long history of strong starts. That’s been factored into the odds, and the halftime line lists the Lakers as -2.5 against the spread and -155 on the moneyline, but I’m still going to back Los Angeles to take the early lead.

DEN vs LAL picks: Lakers first-half -2.5 (-105)