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The Los Angeles Lakers have a two-game lead against the Denver Nuggets in the NBA’s 2020 Western Conference Finals and are gearing up for Game 3 on Tuesday. Game 2 went down the the wire, but Anthony Davis was able to seal the deal for his team with a game-winning shot from deep. Denver has made a habit of coming back from behind throughout the playoffs and should be ready to put up a fight to avoid going down 3-0. We’ll go over the best bets to consider on DraftKings Sportsbook ahead of the opening tip here.
Prop bets
LeBron James over 2.5 3-pointers made (+104)
James had his usual feel out game in Game 1, when he tallied more assists (12) than shot attempts. He got much more aggressive in Game 2 and attempted 20 shots while spraying home 3-of-8 shots from beyond the arc. I anticipate Denver making Game 3 competitive to avoid going down 3-0, and James will have to be in attack mode to hold them off. James has made more than three three-pointers in six of his 12 playoff games this year, so it’s not hard to see James firing up more shots than usual from deep. The Nuggets would rather have James beat them from long distance than beat them at the free throw line or by getting easy buckets at the rim.
Anthony Davis to lead all players in points (+135)
Davis is averaging 34 points per game so far in this series and Denver has no answer for him defensively. Paul Millsap lacks the length to guard him while Nikola Jokic is lacking in the quickness department. Davis will benefit from a mismatch regardless of who’s standing in front of him and has taken more shots (44) than any player in the series.
Jamal Murray to score first field goal (+500)
After watching videos of the first couple opening tips in this series, it became apparent that Jokic’s quick hands have been able to overcome the reach of Lakers bigs to give his team possession first. I think he has a good shot at winning a third time straight against JaVale McGee, which makes the Nuggets opening up the game with a bucket more likely. Jokic has the fourth best odds at +700, but I like the odds of Murray creating off the dribble more than Jokic finishing among the trees. These bets are tricky, but I’ve gotten a few right in the past.
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