The Los Angeles Clippers got a scare in the first round versus Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. Fortunately for Doc Rivers’ squad, injuries were simply too much for the Mavs to overcome which allowed LA to seize control of the series once Dallas tied it up at two games apiece. After being forced to deal with Doncic’s scoring prowess in the opening round, the Clippers will now have to contend with arguably the hottest player in the league in the form of Jamal Murray. It almost didn’t come to pass; the Nuggs lucked out after missing a lay-up when they should’ve been shooting free throws and then helplessly watched as Mike Conley’s 3-ball rimmed out at the buzzer of Game 7. These teams met twice in the regular season and then once in the seeding games; LA went 2-1 SU and ATS in those tilts with the over cashing in twice.
This series will take place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, FL. Tip-off is scheduled for Thursday, September 3, 2020 and go to Tuesday, September 15 should a seventh game be required to crown the victor. All games will be aired live on TNT and ESPN. You can bet on NBA Odds at BookMaker.eu the remainder of the playoffs.
NBA Series Prices
Denver Nuggets +1058
Los Angeles Clippers -1800
Nuggets vs Clippers Series Schedule
Game 1: Thur, Sept 3 Denver vs. Los Angeles, 9 p.m. ET TNT
Game 2: Sat, Sept 5 Denver vs. Los Angeles, 9 p.m. ET TNT
Game 3: Mon, Sept 7 Los Angeles vs. Denver, 9 p.m. ET TNT
Game 4: Wed, Sept 9 Los Angeles vs. Denver, 9 p.m. ET ESPN
Game 5*: Fri, Sept 11 Denver vs. Los Angeles, TBD TNT
Game 6*: Sun, Sept 13 Los Angeles vs. Denver, TBD ESPN
Game 7*: Tues, Sept 15 Denver vs. Los Angeles, TBD ESPN
Futures Odds Analysis
A quick look at the Clippers Western Conference odds tracker shows Kawhi Leonard and company as consistent as they come. Never once straying higher than +250, the Clippers hit the board at +178 and enter the Western Conference semifinals +110 favorites to represent the conference in the NBA Finals where they’re also the +260 favorite to be the last team standing. As for Denver, it opened as 11-1 choices to win the West, but now check in at better than 20-1 after outlasting the Jazz in seven games. In terms of winning it all, Denver +3000 is the biggest underdog currently on the board save for the Oklahoma City Thunder +6500.
Head-To-Head Results
These teams have run up against one another three times in 2020. The first skirmish occurred back on January 12 when the Nuggs logged the 114-104 win and cover as 1-point home favorites. Denver shot a blistering 44 percent from beyond the arc and won the battle of the boards 44-42 by way of Nikola Jokic ripping down a game-high 15 caroms. The second showdown in Tinseltown was a completely different story. LA’s defense held Murray to a total of 11 points while the offense shot a scorching hot 54 percent from the field to secure the one-sided 132-103 win and cover as 7-point home chalk. The lone bubble meeting saw the Clippers explode in the second half to outscore the Nuggets 74-53 and tally the 13-point win as 5.5-point favorites.
Nuggets Player to Watch
Jamal Murray: Pretty easy choice here. Murray was simply sensational against Utah after going down 2-1 in the series. Though his 50 points went for naught in Game 4, he still went on to score 42, 50 and 17 points in the final three games. That type of scoring will be sorely needed throughout this series. In the Nuggs lone win over the Clippers this season, Murray went for 19 points but scored 10 of them at the free throw line. In the two defeats, he was limited to an 8-of-20 showing from the field and scored a grand total of 21 points. Denver needs their alpha to step up bigtime to have any sort of puncher’s chance to advance.
Clippers Player to Watch
Paul George: It’s widely known that Kawhi Leonard is going to get his. He was the only player worth his weight in salt throughout the series with the Mavericks coming one point short of scoring at least 30 points in all six games. LA ultimately needed every single one of those points to advance mostly due to the fact that George was nothing but hot garbage save for Game 1 and 5. He went for 27 and 35 points in those games, but the other four averaged a grand total of 12.3 points per game. That’s simply not going to cut it; especially if Patrick Beverly is unable to fill his role as the team’s defensive stopper due to the calf injury that only allowed for him to play in one game against the Mavs.
NBA Odds Pick
With Beverly possibly out of the mix, you can’t help but think the Clippers trend of playing to high scoring games continues throughout this series. With him out of the lineup, the over has cashed at an 8-2 clip! On top of that, the Nuggs defense has been nothing short of wretched since the restart. It conceded an average of 123.3 points in the eight seeding games, and followed it up by allowing Donovan Mitchell and company to gouge them for just under 120 points per game before only giving up 78 in Game 7. With that, I find it hard to envision the Nuggets finding a way to stop the Clippers if and when they need a bucket in crunch time. Leonard is the most clutch player in the game right now, and I got a feeling LA gets out to a fast start in this series and makes quick work of Murray and company.
Prediction: Clippers in 5
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