The top-seeded Denver Nuggets will take on the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of their best-of-seven Western Conference Finals series on Tuesday. The Lakers (43-39), who are 8-4 in the postseason, are looking to reach the NBA Finals for the second time in four years after disposing of the defending champion Golden State Warriors in six games in the second round. The Nuggets (53-29), who finished No. 1 in the conference for the first time, are 8-3 in the playoffs. Denver, which defeated Phoenix 4-2 in the Western semifinals, has never made it to the NBA Finals.  

The game from Ball Arena in Denver will tip off at 8:30 p.m. ET. Before you make any Lakers vs. Nuggets picks or any other NBA predictions, you NEED to see which side Larry Hartstein is on. 

A former lead writer for Covers and The Linemakers, Hartstein combines a vast network of Vegas sources with an analytical approach. Hartstein also excels in the NBA, especially when picking Denver Nuggets games. Over the past 93 Denver matchups, he is 55-35-3 against the spread, returning $1,655 for $100 players. Anybody following those picks has seen HUGE returns!

Now, he has set its sights on Lakers vs. Nuggets.

The expert knows Denver is led by center Nikola Jokic, who nearly averages a triple-double during the postseason. In 11 games, Jokic is averaging 30.7 points, 12.8 rebounds and 9.7 assists. 

He also knows Los Angeles small forward LeBron James narrowly missed a triple-double in Friday's close-out game victory over the Golden State Warriors. In the 122-101 win, James scored 30 points, while adding nine rebounds, nine assists, two steals and one block. 

Now, Hartstein has locked in another confident against the spread pick for Lakers vs. Nuggets. We can tell you he's leaning Under on the point total, but he knows a crucial X-factor makes one side of the spread a MUST-BACK! You ABSOLUTELY need to see what it is before locking in any picks of your own.

Who wins Lakers vs. Nuggets on Tuesday? And what critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? ... Join SportsLine right now to see which side of the Lakers vs. Nuggets spread to jump on, all from the expert who's an outstanding 55-35-3 against the spread (plus $1,655) over the past 93 Denver picks!