Los Angeles Lakers vs Denver Nuggets Prediction, 1/20/2026 Preview and Pick

Game: Los Angeles Lakers vs Denver Nuggets

Date: Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Location: Ball Arena in Denver, CO

TV: NBC

Ball Arena is the location where the Denver Nuggets (29-14) will attempt to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers (25-16) on Tuesday.

The Lakers stepped onto the hardwood against the Raptors and earned the victory with a final of 110-93 in their last contest. Concerning personal fouls, the Lakers finished with 15 while the Raptors totaled 15 personal fouls. They converted 7 out of their 32 attempts from distance. Toronto finished 66.7% at the free throw line by making 10 of their 15 tries. Moreover, Toronto snagged 43 boards (10 offensive, 33 defensive) and had 6 rejections. Toronto recorded 30 dimes and had 7 steals for the game. Regarding defending, Los Angeles allowed their opponent to shoot 41.8% from the field on 38 of 91 shooting. They also recorded 25 dimes for the matchup while forcing 10 turnovers and earning 6 steals. In terms of rebounding, they earned 48 with 9 of them being of the offensive variety. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Lakers made 14 of 17 attempts for a rate of 82.4%. Los Angeles finished with a 48.2% FG percentage (41 out of 85) and made 14 of 36 3-point shots.

Deandre Ayton is a guy who played a role for this game. Ayton ended up going 100.0% from the field and dished out 1 assist. He saw the court for 33 mins and also totaled 13 boards. He scored 25 points on 10 of 10 shooting.

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Los Angeles heads into this contest with a win-loss mark of 25-16 for the season. They are averaging 116.3 points per contest (16th in the league) while shooting 49.6% from the floor. The Lakers are hitting 34.8% on shots from distance (489 of 1,407) and 78.1% from the free throw line. As a team, Los Angeles is snagging 41.1 rebounds per contest and has 1,023 dimes this season, which is 26th in the league in terms of passing the rock. They cough up possession 15.2 times per contest and as a team are committing 19.6 personal fouls per contest.

When they are on the defensive end, the Lakers are forcing 14.8 turnovers every game and they draw 22.0 personal fouls. They rank 18th in the NBA in giving up assists with 1,131 conceded on the season. The Lakers are allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 48.7% (1,750 of 3,590) and they surrender 40.6 boards per contest as a squad. They give up 37.0% on 3-point attempts and they are 18th in the NBA in PPG allowed (116.7).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Nuggets took a defeat with a final score of 110-87 when they faced the Hornets. Regarding team rebounding, Denver allowed Charlotte to snag 52 in total (16 on the offensive glass). They finished shooting 32.4% from 3-point land by shooting 11 out of 34 and finished the game at 11 out of 13 at the free throw line (84.6%). The Nuggets permitted the Hornets to bury 44 of 89 tries from the field which had them shooting 49.4% for the contest. When the final whistle blew, the Nuggets ended up shooting 32 out of 79 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 40.5%. In regard to 3-pointers, Denver converted 8 out of their 38 tries (21.1%). They were able to knock down 15 of them for a clip of 83.3%. The Hornets had 19 personal fouls for this game which took the Nuggets to the charity stripe for 18 shots. They gave up possession of the ball 8 times, while getting 7 steals in this contest. The Nuggets collected 21 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 29 in the game.

Jamal Murray was important for the Nuggets in this matchup. Murray racked up 16 points in his 25 mins on the court and tallied 2 assists in the game. He converted 7 out of 12 for the contest for a rate of 58.3%, and had 1 rebound.

Denver has a mark of 29-14 this season. As an offensive team, the Nuggets are connecting on 50.0% from the field, which has them ranked 1st in the league. Denver has earned 5,234 pts on the campaign (121.7 per contest) and they pull down 42.4 boards per contest. They are assisting teammates 28.3 times per contest (9th in basketball) and they turn the ball over 12.8 times per contest. The Nuggets are responsible for committing 19.2 fouls per contest and they shoot 81.6% from the charity stripe.

The Denver defense concedes 35.2% on shots from 3-point land (566 of 1,609) and their opposition knocks down 77.1% of their free throw attempts. They surrender 27.1 dimes and 43.0 boards on a nightly basis, which is ranked 19th and 9th in the NBA. The Nuggets on the defensive side of the court are 19th in basketball in points allowed per game with 117.0. They are forcing 12.2 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 47.1% from the field (18th in the league).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Los Angeles

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