As the Lakers and Nuggets square off in Game 3, Greg Frank thinks the best play is betting the over/under

Lakers (-6.5) @ Nuggets (214)

Pick: Over 214

I’ll start by saying I have no feel for the side in this one. It’s entirely possible that the game-winner at the buzzer from Anthony Davis on Sunday night in Game 2 was the nail in the coffin for the Nuggets and this series is over. However, if there’s ever a spot for Denver to rally the troops and attempt to find a way into the Western Conference Finals, it’s tonight as the Lakers enter with a 2-0 series lead. It’s probably one of those high-variance games where you should not hesitate to lay the points if you like the favorite and if you like the underdog, the money line is a smarter investment than taking the points.

But, I do think we’ll get enough points to go over the total in Game 3 tonight. If Denver does check out, then that would likely include more defensive lapses and could potentially allow the Lakers to score in the 120s like they did in Game 1. If the Nuggets are to win, it’s going to take more of a team effort offensively. In Game 2, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray combined for 55 out of 103 Denver points. Considering both Davis and LeBron James are playing at such high levels for Los Angeles, the Nuggets simply aren’t going to win games dominated by the superstars in this series. They’ll need Jokic and Murray to be just as good and some more outside shooting from players like Gary Harris, Jerami Grant and Paul Millsap. In either scenario, I would expect the winning team to score in the 115-120 neighborhood tonight which gets us over this total.