LeBron James, Lakers Open as Betting Underdogs to Nikola Jokić, Nuggets in West Final

It's rare to consider LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers as underdogs, but that's how the betting markets see things heading into the Western Conference Finals.

FanDuel has the Denver Nuggets as a -140 favorite (bet $140 to win $100) to beat the Lakers (+120; bet $100 to win $120) and advance to the NBA Finals.

The implied probability of a Nuggets victory is 58.3 percent based on the current odds.

The Lakers are the first No. 7 seed to reach the conference finals since the 1986-87 Seattle SuperSonics. They can become the first seventh seed to reach the NBA Finals in league history by defeating the Nuggets.

There have only been three teams outside of the top four seeds to reach the Finals. The last time it happened was in 2020 when the Miami Heat lost to the Lakers in six games. The Heat are also looking to make history as the second No. 8 seed to reach the Finals (1998-99 New York Knicks).

Denver has almost quietly gone about its business all season to reach this point. Nikola Jokić had another fantastic year that nearly earned him a third consecutive MVP award, but the entire franchise is so unassuming it was easy to overlook how good this group has been.

The Nuggets were tied or outright led the Western Conference standings every day since Dec. 20. They were underdogs going into their second-round series against the Phoenix Suns before winning in six games with four victories coming by an average of 17.3 points.

Jokić is nearly averaging a triple-double this postseason with 30.7 points, 12.8 rebounds and 9.7 assists per game in 11 starts. He and Anthony Davis have arguably been the two best players in the Western Conference playoffs so far, and their individual matchup will go a long way toward deciding the outcome of this series.

James may not be capable of taking over an entire series like he once was, but the NBA's all-time leading playoff scorer can turn it on when necessary. He went off for 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting with nine rebounds and nine assists in Friday's Game 6 win over the Golden State Warriors. It was his first 30-point game of this postseason.

Game 1 between the Lakers and Nuggets will be played on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. ET at Ball Arena.