Denver Nuggets vs Los Angeles Clippers 02/28/20 NBA Betting Odds and Prediction

The Denver Nuggets travel to the City of Angels to take on the L.A. Clippers at the Staples Center on Friday night.

The Nuggets and Clippers are battling it out for the 2nd seed in the Western Conference behind the L.A. Lakers. Denver is 40-18 on the year and they are five games behind the Lakers in the team standings. The Nuggets 26-10 against their conference this season. The Clippers are in third place, one game behind the Nuggets and six away from the Lakers. L.A. is 23-13 against Western Conference foes. Denver beat L.A. 114-104 in their first meeting of the year last January 20, 2020.

Grant’s Career Night

The Denver Nuggets routed the Detroit Pistons 115-98 last Tuesday night behind a career night from Jerami Grant. The Nuggets finally played at full strength for the first time in a long while and they picked up their second consecutive win. At 40-18, this healed-up team is tied for the best start in franchise history after 58 games.

Grant scored 29 points to lead the Nuggets against the Pistons. Nikola Jokic added 16 points and a season-high 4 steals for Denver while Jamal Murray also pumped in 16 points and issued 8 assists. Michael Porter Jr. had a good game with 13 points and 8 rebounds in 22 minutes of action off the Denver bench.

The Nuggets rank 19th in the league in scoring at 110.7 points per game on the season. They are 20th in rebounding at 44.6 boards grabbed per contest and are 4th in passing at 26.5 assists per game. Denver has the 5th best scoring defense in the league at 106.8 points per game allowed.

New Faces Come up Big

One day after their fearsome offensive display against the Memphis Grizzlies, the L.A. Clippers saw their new faces come up big against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night. Marcus Morris and Reggie Jackson each made key three-pointers in the fourth period to help the Clippers pull away for good against the Suns.

Morris finished with 18 points while Jackson added 14 on 4-6 shooting from the field. Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 24 points and 14 rebounds. Paul George and Patrick Beverley each scored 11 points for the Clippers who won their second straight game after suffering their only three-game losing streak of the season.

The Clippers are the 6th highest scoring team in the league this season at 115.6 points per game this season. They are 3rd in rebounding at 48.1 boards grabbed per contest and aere 17th in passing at 23.9 dimes issued per outing. L.A. is ranked 13th in scoring defense at 109.8 points per game allowed.

Who Wins?

Denver is 6-2 SU in their last eight games played. The Nuggets are 3-2 SU in their last five games played on the road, and 12-4 SU in their last 16 games against the Western Conference. The L.A. Clippers are 12-6 SU in their last 18 games played. L.A. is 4-1 SU in their last five games played at home, and 15-5 SU in heir last 20 Friday games. Head to head, the Nuggets are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games played against the Clippers.

The Nuggets are finally healthy after a long time and they have won back to back games. Denver is on pace to have the best season in franchise history and with all their pieces back, they have a legit shot at achieving that. Nikola Jokic has carried this team with his teammates hurt but now that everyone’s back, he can concentrate on doing the many things he does for the Nuggets.

The Clippers also have all their pieces back at this stage of the season. L.A. is neck to neck with the Nuggets in the Western Conference team standings and every game is important to them right now. They are still trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together but as we saw in their last game, their new players can deliver in the clutch when needed.

This is going to be an exciting matchup between two of the best teams in the West and it’s only right that we’re going to see both play at full strength on Friday night. Man for man, I think that the Clippers have the deeper lineup but I think the Nuggets play better as a team. The home court edge should be the difference maker here though as the Clippers have played better at home than on the road this season.

Prediction: Los Angeles Clippers

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Other Bets to Make

The Nuggets are 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games played. Denver is 3-2 ATS in their last five games played on the road, and 3-6 ATS in their last nine games played against the Pacific Division.The L.A. Clippers are 5-5 ATS in their last 10 games played. L.A. is 3-2 ATS in their last five games played at home, 4-8 ATS in their last 12 games played against the Western Conference, and 1-4 ATS in their last five games played against the Northwest Division. Head to head, the Nuggets are 5-1 ATS in their last six games played against the Clippers.

Both these teams are now playing at full strength and when the Clippers are complete, you know they are an offensive juggernaut. We saw how good they could be on offense when they played the Grizzlies last Monday. The Clippers put up 40 points in the first quarter and took a 26-point lead at the end of one. We didn’t saw that against Phoenix but it wasn’t needed. I expect the L.A. offense to show up against a fellow contender in Denver.

Prediction: Clippers -5.5

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The total has gone over in seven out of the last 10 games played by the Nuggets. The under is 6-3 in Denver’s last nine road games. The total has gone under in five out of the last six games played by the Clippers. L.A. has seen the total go under in four out of their last five games played at home. Head to head, the total has gone under in four out of the last five meetings between these two teams. The under is also 13-5 in their last 18 meetings at Staples Center.

These teams have combined to score an average of 219.33 points per game in their last three meetings including 218 in their first meeting of the season last January 12, 2020. Denver has gone over 220 in seven out of their last 10 ball games but they have the 5th best scoring defense in the league this season. Meanwhile, the Clippers have allowed 97 or fewer points in half of their last six games played but have the 6th best offense in the NBA this season. I think 220 is to small a total the way these teams are playing right now. The over is 3-2-1 in the last six games when the total is set at 220 for the Nuggets.

Prediction: Over 218.5

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