It’s a winner-take-all Game 7 between the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets.
The pregame narrative: This has been an exciting matchup. The Clippers fought off elimination in Game 6 but will need to do so again on the road to reach the next round.
It’s hard for me to pick a side here, so I am instead backing three players — Kawhi Leonard, Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon — to produce in Game 7 of the NBA first-round playoff series.
Clippers vs. Nuggets predictions
Parlay: Leonard 8+ rebounds | Jokic 8+ assists | Gordon over 13.5 points (+360)
Leonard 8+ rebounds (-120): The board man gets paid, and that’s been on full display in this series.
Leonard fell under this mark in the first couple of games, then turned the intensity up on the glass as the games got more important.
The Klaw snatched nine-plus rebounds in each of the last four contests.
According to NBA.com, he’s hauling in 69.6% of his rebound chances over that span. That shows his hustle and potential as a vacuum for boards.
Leonard averages 9.3 rebounds in six career Game 7s.
NBA SGP legs
Jokic 8+ assists (-265): This is the most juiced leg of the parlay, but for good reason.
Jokic is already the best passing big man of all time, and he continues to showcase his incredible basketball IQ in the playoffs.
In this series, he is averaging 10.5 assists on 18.3 potential assists. He sits at the top of these categories with the likes of Cade Cunningham and Tyrese Haliburton, who are point guards.
Jokic is unsurprisingly 6-0 against this line. He should continue to find teammates as the Clippers will be forcing the ball out of his hands.
He’s not just an elite passer, but he’s a great scorer, too (29.6 PPG this season), so Los Angeles will need to pick its poison.
And it’s fair to assume the Clippers will want anyone else to beat them besides the three-time MVP.
Gordon over 13.5 points (-141): The high-flying forward has had a very solid floor as a scorer in this series.
- 18.3 points per game
- 50.6 field goal %
- 6-0 against this line
Gordon should continue to get easy looks as a cutter in this pass-first offence.
It was a strong second half of the season for the 29-year-old. He averaged 18.9 points since the all-star break and went 13-6 on this wager.
Clippers vs. Nuggets predictions made at 9:00 a.m. ET 05/03/2025.
Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.