I’m isolating DRussell as someone who should play less and not fill it tonight. But why stop there? If we push who will pull? Who is the yang to my yang? Pouring over game information leads me to find AReaves (I call him “little country”) to have more opportunities.

Austin Reaves should play upwards of 40 minutes tonight and we're getting a fairly significant discount on his PRA line. Reaves showed last year that he was a capable playoff performer and played very well against the Nuggets and carried that momentum into a nice payday in the offseason. Reaves has been a plus starter and the Lakers will need him to perform similarly to last season to give them a shot against the reigning champs.

Here should be another proper test of the NBA zig-zag to see if it might work as well this spring as it did in the playoffs a year ago. Home teams have yet to lose outright in this year's playoffs, and the Nuggets have now won nine straight vs. the Lake Show, but many of those wins were not easy, including three of the four last spring that landed within six points, and the Nuggets needed a late spurt to extend the margin to 11 in Saturday's Game One. As last season, expect LeBron and AD to fuel a spirited Lakers fight in Game Two that might again fall short, but reward backers who take the available points. Play Lakers

Only two Denver reserves played more than 10 minutes in Game 1, with four starters playing at least 37 minutes apiece. Jamal Murray tied with Nikola Jokic at a team-high 39 minutes and the point guard delivered 10 assists and six rebounds. He combined for 17 and 18 rebounds-plus-assists in his two previous matchups with LA this season. He also exceeded this prop in 13 of 20 playoff games (65 percent) last season. Look for another night of heavy usage and go over 11.5.

D’Angelo Russell was just six for twenty in game one against the Denver Nuggets. In last year’s Western Conference Finals he had a disaster series against Denver in which he averaged just six points, and saw a huge minutes reduction. Look for Russell’s value to be more as a facilitator in game two, as he tones down his shots attempts. Take Russell’s under points.

The Joker goes for 30 vs the Lakers when it matters. Did it last year in the conference finals, did it in Game 1 after a slow start and will do it here, too. They can't really guard him and he didn't get the to the rim as much as usual in game one or get to the line, either, but still had this pretty much wrapped up after three quarters. My only fear is this game gets way out of hand and he sits more in second half, but Lakers have pride and LBJ will stay on them. But man, if Joker gets AD in any early foul trouble, look out. Could get sideways fast

We projected this for 45 for Game 1, when the market was set at this same total, and Joker finished with 44 in 39 mins. Things were a bit clunky early with so much time off, and Lakers brought all they had in the first quarter and Joker still dominated in the end. And he went over with room to spare despite making just 1 foul shot. That's going to change and Nuggets staff will work over the officials. The open three point looks from late in the game will be there whenever he wants it. Expect him to be even more assertive on the boards here to grab that 2-0 at home

When DEN opened -6 for G1 it looked fishy to me. I projected them 10-12 point winners. I played it at 7. My only trepidation was a slow start after a week off, and I was right, falling behind by 12 in first half. Still covered with minimal sweat. LAL backcourt is a problem, LBJ hurting his wrist at end of game was a problem. Even with an A-Game from AD (like Sat) they are going to lose at DEN most nights by 10+. Nuggets covered G1 w/o a triple double from The Joker, but that's coming. LAL worst defensive rating ream remaining in playoffs and gave up 64 in the paint G1 and lost by 11 despite only 6 foul shots from Nuggets.