02:20 PM ET  12.05 | The Nuggets and the Lakers play tonight on ESPN.  Carmello Anthony is starting to heat up lately.  He likes that jump shot on the right wing and he is starting to knock it down with ease.

When he gets that jump shot dropping, it sucks the defenders out close to him and then he can blow by them to the hole.  Anthony's entire game, offensively, is based off the threat of that jump shot and his quick little jab step.  

Watch specifically for that jumper in the first quarter.  If he hits a couple in a row, the Lakers will be in for a long night.

Normally, Denver is not a team I like to rest my money on.  The danger of betting on them is low percentage plays.  They don't have a post game of any kind.  Allen Iverson, far and away the quickest guard in the league, can create shots for himself, but often he takes low percentage shots in attempts to draw fouls and such.

That is why it is so important that Carmello's jumper is dropping for Denver.  If that jumper is dropping, they have a high percentage play to go to, because when he is on, he is really on.

Defensively, I like the match-up against the Lakers.  Marcus Camby is a great defender in the paint and will give Bynum a lot of trouble, which will force the Lakers to shoot outside.

If the Lakers try to drive to the hoop with Kobe Bryant and the rest of the guards, Camby is very good at chasing those guards down and making them take tough shots.

The other way the Lakers might try to get high percentage shots near the rim is by creating an up-tempo, fast break kind of game.  If this happens, advantage Denver.  The Nuggets prefer the up-tempo game and are more accustomed to it.  You should see more mistakes in the form of Denver steals and easy dunks at the other end.  Not to mention, the game is in Denver and the Lakers will run into fatigue problems at the high altitude.  

If I were a bettin' man, I would take the Denver Nuggets tonight to cover the spread of 8.5 points.  The spread started at 7 and has moved a full point and a half, which is a big move.  A lot of people like Denver in this one.