Denver Nuggets vs. LA Clippers Game 1 Betting Odds - September 3
Most of the money line action was on LA in Game 1 of the Nuggets-Clippers Western Conference Semifinals.
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Heavy 65% action was also seen on the Clippers spread.
The books have moved this line up fast, from LA -7.5 to -9.
We would be careful backing Denver in this one but that -9 line doesn't appeal to us either.
While the Clippers have won the last two head-to-head matchups, Denver won the previous three games.
The third-seeded Nuggets rallied from the brink of elimination and advanced with an 80-78 victory in Game 7 of their first round series against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday.
Nikola Jokic's bucket in the lane with 27.8 seconds remaining was the difference. Utah guard Mike Conley's 3-pointer at the buzzer rimmed out, allowing Denver to become the 12th team in NBA history to rally from a 3-1 hole and win a playoff series.
Jokic finished with 30 points and 14 rebounds, while Jamal Murray experienced a sluggish outing with 17 points on 7-of-21 shooting from the field and 1 of 6 on 3-pointers. Murray, who seemed to be slowed in the second half after taking a knee to his thigh from Utah's Joe Ingles, scored 50, 42 and 50 points in the three previous games.
The second-seeded Clippers advanced Sunday with a 111-97 win in Game 6 over the Dallas Mavericks. Leonard led the way for Los Angeles with 33 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and five steals.
Ivica Zubac added 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Paul George contributed 15 points, nine boards and seven assists. Reggie Jackson scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.
"I thought these last few games we kind of figured out for us to be a successful basketball team the things that we need to do on the basketball floor, and we just got back to that," said Clippers guard Lou Williams, according to the Los Angeles Times. "We got back to the basics of knowing what we need to do to win, and we bottled that up."
- Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com (Field Level Media was also used for this piece)