The Denver Nuggets begin defense of their first-ever NBA Championship when they take on the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2023-24 season opener on Tuesday. The Lakers (43-39 in 2022-23), who were the seventh seed in the West last year, had their season come to an end when they were swept by Denver in the Western Conference Finals. The Nuggets (53-29), who reached the NBA Finals for the first time a year ago, will be looking to reach the postseason for the sixth consecutive year.

The game from Ball Arena in Denver is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. Denver is a 5-point favorite in the latest Lakers vs. Nuggets consensus odds, while the over/under for total points scored is 228.5. (See up-to-date lines for every game on our NBA odds page.) Before you make any Lakers vs. Nuggets or NBA 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 seasons. The model finished the 2022-23 NBA season on a 72-39 roll on all top-rated NBA picks, returning nearly $2,800. Anyone following it has seen HUGE returns!

The model knows Denver is led by eighth-year center Nikola Jokic. In 69 games played last season, he averaged 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, 9.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He has registered 105 career triple-doubles, including one during the regular season. Jokic had three triple-doubles against the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals this past May. He had two triple-doubles and averaged 30.2 points per game during the NBA Finals.

The model is also is aware Los Angeles is led by 20-year veteran LeBron James. The 6-9 small forward started 54 of 55 games in which he played in in 2022-2023, averaging 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists. He was a dominant force in the Western Conference Finals series against the Nuggets, scoring no fewer than 22 points in a game, and registering four double-doubles.

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 on the total, and it also says one side of the spread hits well over 50% of the time!

Who wins Lakers vs. Nuggets, and which side of the spread hits well over 50% of the time? And which team is a MUST-BACK? ... Join SportsLine right now to find out who you should be all over on Tuesday, all from the model on a 72-39 roll on top-rated NBA picks!