The seventh-seeded Los Angeles Lakers go on the road to play against the second-seeded and defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of their Western Conference series in the 2024 NBA playoffs on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET at Ball Arena in Denver. For this game, SportsLine consensus lists the Nuggets as 7-point favorites, while the over/under is 223.5 points (see up-to-date odds for every game this week on our NBA odds page). 

Before you make any Lakers vs. Nuggets picks, you NEED to see what the SportsLine Projection Model has to say.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past five-plus seasons. The model enters the 2024 NBA playoffs on a sizzling 88-58 roll on all top-rated NBA picks this season, returning more than $2,600. Anyone following it has seen HUGE returns!

The model knows Denver veteran center Nikola Jokic continues his dominance. The eighth-year pro nearly averaged a triple-double with 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and nine assists per game in 79 appearances, all starts. He posted an amazing 68 double-doubles and 25 triple-doubles on the year. He reached double-digit scoring 75 times, including 28 games with 30 or more. In a 116-107 win over Minnesota on April 10, he scored 41 points, while grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out seven assists.

The model also knows Lakers small forward LeBron James nearly had his second triple-double in a row on Tuesday in the play-in game win over New Orleans. In that game, James scored 23 points, while adding nine rebounds and nine assists. He had 28 points, 17 assists and 11 rebounds in Sunday's 124-108 win over the Pelicans. In 71 games, all starts, James is averaging 25.7 points, 8.3 assists, 7.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 35.3 minutes. He has been productive against the Nuggets this season. In three games, he is averaging 24 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and 1.7 steals.

The model has simulated Lakers vs. Nuggets 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Over, and it also says one side of the spread hits in well over 50% of simulations!

Who wins Lakers vs. Nuggets, and which side of the spread hits in well over 50% of simulations? ... Join SportsLine right now to find out which side of the spread you should be all over, all from the model on an 88-58 roll on top-rated NBA picks!