Los Angeles Clippers vs. Denver Nuggets Game 1 Preview, Prediction & Odds | April 19, 2025

The Los Angeles Clippers travel to take on the Denver Nuggets for the first game of a highly anticipated playoff series. The Clippers have been red hot lately. Since early March, they have held a record of 18-3. Kawhi Leonard and coach Ty Lue have the experience and playoff pedigree needed to pull off an upset here. On the other side of this contest is a Denver Nuggets team that is trying to gain steam entering the playoffs. The Nuggets shocked the league by firing both their head coach and general manager with only three games left in the season. However, Denver won all three of those final games, including matchups against some top-tier Western Conference talent. 

Los Angeles Clippers vs. Denver Nuggets Odds

Los Angeles Clippers vs. Denver Nuggets Match Details

• Date and Time: Saturday, April 19, 2025 @ 3:00 PM EST
• Location: Ball Arena – Denver, CO

Clippers Aim To Steal Game One On The Road

The Clippers’ big man, Ivica Zubac, has been one of the league’s best centers this year. He will face his biggest challenge of the season in this series, as all eyes will be on him in this matchup against Nikola Jokic. Even though Jokic has had an MVP-caliber season this year, it will be Zubac’s responsibility to contain the NBA’s premier low-post threat. If Zubac can frustrate and somewhat stifle Jokic, the Nuggets’ offense has a small chance to get going.

Overall, through the last 15 games of the season, the Clippers have finished with the number one-rated offense and the number three-rated defense during that period.  Leonard has averaged 24.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.9 steals in 35.5 minutes per game since early February. The Clippers have a top-five offense in that span and a top-three defense for the season.

Denver is Still Looking For Identity Under New Head Coach

The Denver Nuggets certainly have a lot of questions surrounding them, especially after parting ways with head coach Mike Malone. Let’s not forget that at the same time, Nikola Jokic just finished putting together one of the greatest individual seasons of all time. He became one of three players to average a triple-double for an entire season. It’s always hard to say what we will get out of Russell Westbrook in the playoffs, another one of those season triple-double players, albeit that was some number of years ago.

However, during the final three games of the season, the Denver Nuggets looked to adjust to the coaching change well. It’s always difficult to trust a team that just changed head coaches this recently and is now thrown into a seven-game series against a team with a former champion at head coach. When Jokic has shared the floor with Murray, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., and Christian Braun this season, the Denver Nuggets have looked like a tough out in a playoff series. They need to win this one at home and keep building on the momentum if they hope to make a deep playoff run, though.

Final Pick

Clippers to win and point total under 225 (+300).