LA CLIPPERS @ DENVER (DEN -4.5, 225)
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CLIPPERS VS. NUGGETS 11/14/23
James Harden was acquired by the Los Angeles Clippers in the hopes that he would be the final component needed to win a championship, but so far, he has been far from spectacular. The Clippers have lost five straight with Harden starting in four of those losses. The Clippers now have a tough assignment in their second game of the NBA's in-season tournament tonight. Los Angeles travels to Denver to play the Nuggets, the defending NBA champions.
Denver defeated the Dallas Mavericks 125-114 in their opening game of West Group B play in the in-season tournament. Los Angeles dropped its first game of the in-season tournament, 144-126 at Dallas. The Nuggets will be well-positioned to advance to the knockout stage with a victory tonight. A Clippers loss will probably keep LA out of the knockout round.
The Clippers need to focus more on getting things going with Harden in the lineup. In his four games with the team, the 2018 MVP is only averaging 13.5 points per game. On Sunday night, he only scored 11 points in a 105-101 loss to Memphis. Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue believes Harden is being too courteous with basketball. Lue wants Harden to play more like himself.
Tonight would be ideal for a breakout performance from Harden. Following a loss at the hands of a surging Houston, Denver is reeling from a game that demonstrated just how much Jamal Murray's absence is impacting the Nuggets' rotations. Murray has a strained right hamstring and he is out indefinitely.
Reggie Jackson has taken over the role of the starting point guard with rookie Collin Gillespie serving as the backup. Murray probably won't return before the end of November, so the Nuggets will have to rely more on their reserves—which hasn't always been easy. The Denver bench was outscored 31-8 by Houston's reserves and finished a collective minus-40. That’s not good.
Despite this, coach Michael Malone has continued to use his young players. Plus, on Monday, he agreed to a contract extension. The Nuggets young guys will have to step up. It will help to relieve Nikola Jokic of some of the pressure, as he is playing at an MVP caliber so far this season. On Sunday night, he recorded his fourth triple-double of the year with 36 points, 21 rebounds, and 11 assists. Jokick leads the team in assists (8.3), rebounds (13.7), and scoring (29.8).
Denver is 17-3 SU in its last 20 games and the Nuggets are 7-0 SU in their last seven home games. They are 5-1 SU against the Clippers the last six times they faced them at home. The Clippers are 0-5 SU and ATS in their last five games. They are also 0-6 SU and 1-5 ATS in the last six games against the Nuggets. LA hasn’t fared well on the road either, losing their last seven straight away games.
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FREE PICK: UNDER 225
These are two of the top-11 scoring offenses in the NBA, but Denver is a top-3 defense and the Clippers are a mess as they try to figure out the whole James Harden situation. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be. LA has scored an average of 104.2 points per their last four games. Three of those went Under the total. The Under has cashed in 10 of Denver’s last 13 games. The Under is also 13-5 in the last 18 games between the Clips and the Nuggets. Over the last ten, the two teams have averaged a combined 219 points.
