It's the NBA Playoffs continuing on Saturday night in Game 7 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets. The NBA Playoff odds for the game have the Lakers favored by 5.5 points. The game is scheduled for a 10:30 pm start time and it will be televised live on TNT. The spread shows that bookmakers have a prediction of a win for the Lakers.

Picks: The Lakers have continued to play tough in stretches only to see the Nuggets combat them with an up-tempo style of play. Now the series shifts back to Los Angeles for the seventh and final game. If Denver picks up a win tonight, it will be their third straight over the Lakers. That will make them just the ninth team in NBA history to have won a playoff series after trailing 3-1. The prize for either team winning tonight's contest? A matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night. The Lakers haven't played well in either of the last two games and that's a pretty good indicator of why they lost both of them. Metta World Peace will start tonight's game, giving the team a better defensive presence on the perimeter and you know Kobe Bryant lives for these types of environments. Bryant has been a part of four winnings Game 7s while losing only once. That loss was to the Phoenix Suns back in 2006, which saw the Suns come back from down 3-1 in the series to win. World Peace will have the job of trying to slow down Danilo Gallinari, who has been vital for the Nuggets success the past two games. The Nuggets connected on 51.6 percent of their shots and outrebounded Los Angeles 47-42 in Game 6, also making 10 triples in the win. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, who managed just three points in the last game, will have to step up if the Lakers are going to win. I think they will at home.

Prediction: I like the Lakers to win this game and cover the spread. The Nuggets have used up a lot of energy even forcing a Game 7 and I think playing in Los Angeles is going to be huge. Kobe doesn't lose these types of games and I think he'll have a monster performance, propelling his team to the second round. Lakers 100, Nuggets 92.

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