The NBA has seven games spread throughout Saturday, but the spotlight matchup on Saturday night in primetime is a showdown between the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers at the crypto.com Arena. Both teams are squarely in the playoff hunt and looking to push to the postseason, so it should be a playoff atmosphere in L.A. Let’s dive into the matchup and find a few strong player prop bets to build around for this Nuggers-Lakers clash.
In the big picture of this matchup, the Nuggets are slight 2.5-point road favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, with a game total of 244.5 points. That is well above league average, so it looks like a high-scoring game could be on tap.
The two teams met just over a week ago, with the Nuggets winning 120-113 in Denver. The Lakers have won seven of their last eight games, with that contest their only defeat since the calendar flipped to March. The Nuggets have won four of their last six, including their win over L.A., and they just knocked off the Rockets and Spurs in a tough back-to-back earlier this week. The Nuggets, Lakers, Rockets and Timberwolves all have 41 wins this season and are battling for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
On the injury report, the Nuggets listed Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray as probable, while Peyton Watson remains out. For the Lakers, Jaxson Hayes is probable, and Maxi Kleber is out.
Nuggets at Lakers Best Prop Bets
Luka Doncic o41.5 Points + Assists (-111)
Doncic is coming off his first 50+ point game of the season after lighting up the Bulls on Thursday for 51 points and adding nine assists to smash this prop. He had 27 points and seven assists in Denver last week, coming up short of this prop, but overall, he has gone over it in four of his last five games since that loss to the Nuggets.
With Murray playing through an ankle injury, look for Luka to be extremely aggressive and look to help his team get a statement win. He has the potential to go off and post a huge number in any matchup, as he did against the Nuggets at the end of January with 38 points and 10 assists.
Doncic is averaging 41.4 points plus assists this season and 41.6 points plus assists in his 29 games at home. As he ramps up his usage and production down the stretch, I think he’ll put together another huge game on Saturday night.
Christian Braun o19.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists (-118)
The Nuggets were counting on Christian Braun to step up after they traded Michael Porter Jr. to the Nets, but that hasn’t exactly happened this season. Braun is averaging only 18.7 PRA (points, rebounds and assists) and hasn’t been able to really build much on his strong 2024-25 campaign. He has been limited by injury to 31 games, and the 24-year-old is starting to show some signs of coming around.
This line of 20 PRA is very reachable if he’s at his best, and he has gone over it in six of his last eight games, including each of his two games this week, when he had 26 and 22 PRA. Braun has scored double-digit points in 11 of his last 15 games, averaging 21.7 PRA per contest over that stretch.
Against the Lakers last week, Braun had 15 points, five rebounds and four assists to cruise past this PRA prop line.
Austin Reaves o2.5 3PM (+146)
Reaves is back to almost full strength after missing a month with a calf injury. His averages were hurt a little by fewer minutes when he first returned, but he has played over 36 minutes in five of his last six games.
Reaves is averaging 2.5 3PM (three-pointers made) and 6.0 three-point attempts over those six games and he knocked down four 3PM in each of his last two games. He has gone over this prop in three straight games and has at least two 3PM in nine of his last 12 contests.
He had only one 3PM against the Nuggets last week, but at home with his shot back in form, I love getting him to make at least three three-pointers for plus-money in this matchup.
Bonus Parlay Pick: Aaron Gordon o2.5 Assists (+114)
If you’re building an SGP (Same Game Parlay) from this Saturday night showdown, one way to boost the odds even higher is by adding the over on Gordon’s assists. Adding that prop into the mix boosts the SGP all the way up to +1400 for these four Nuggets-Lakers bets.
I covered the reasoning behind this pick on Gordon’s assists in my best player props for the day, and I’m including here to flex these SPG odds even higher.
