The reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets can take a commanding 3-0 series lead and push the Los Angeles Lakers to the brink of elimination when the two teams collide in Game 3 of their Western Conference playoff series on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. On Monday, the Nuggets took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven first round series after Jamal Murray hit a buzzer-beating jumper, giving Denver a 101-99 victory.

Tip-off is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET. Los Angeles is listed as a 1-point favorite in the latest Nuggets vs. Lakers odds, while the over/under for total points scored is 215.5. (See up-to-date odds for every game this week on our NBA odds page.)

Before making any Lakers vs. Nuggets picks or NBA predictions, be sure to check out what SportsLine's advanced computer 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 second week of the 2024 NBA playoffs on a sizzling 90-58 roll on all top-rated NBA picks this season, returning more than $2,800. Anyone following the model has seen huge returns.

The model knows that Denver has dominated the second halves of the series so far. The Nuggets have outscored the Lakers by 31 combined points in the second halves of Games 1 and 2. Dating back to last season's Western Conference Finals, Denver has outscored Los Angeles by a combined 54 points in the second halves of the teams' last six playoff games.

The model has also taken into account that LeBron James remains an elite player. From the All-Star break to the end of the regular season, the 39-year-old James averaged 27.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and 9.5 assists while shooting 58.4% from the field, 45.0% on 3-pointers and 76.9% from the free-throw line. So far this series, he is averaging 26.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 10 assists and shooting 54.5% from beyond the 3-point arc.

The model has simulated Nuggets vs. Lakers 10,000 times, and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Over on the point total, and it also says one side of the spread has all the value!

Who wins Lakers vs. Nuggets, and which side of the spread has all the value? ... Join SportsLine right now to find out which side of the spread you should be all over, all from the model on a 90-58 roll on top-rated NBA picks.