In his coaching debut, new Denver Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw won his first preseason game, 97-88, over the Los Angeles Lakers, his former team both as a player and as an assistant coach. On Tuesday, his Nuggets hope to make it back-to-back wins as both teams continue their preparation for the 2013-2014 regular season.

Promising to play “smashmouth” basketball, a term used which means aggressive, in-your-face defense, Shaw’s crew limited the Lakers to 32.3 per cent field goal shooting (30-of-93 FG) during the first preseason meeting.

On offense, the Nuggets were led by spitfire point guard Ty Lawson's 15-point, 10-rebound performance. Others who impressed for Denver were shooting guard Jordan Hamilton (15 points in 16 minutes), new acquisition J.J. Hickson (10 points and 6 rebounds) and starting center Javalee McGee (12 points and 7 rebounds).

For the Lakers, head coach Mike D'Antoni is obviously still in search of the right players to fill-in the Lakers roster. Both veterans Jordan Farmar and Chris Kaman were rested for the game as well as Kobe Bryant, who's still missing time because of the Achilles injury he suffered last season.

Pau Gasol had 13 points and 4 rebounds and Steve Nash went scoreless but had 6 assists and 5 rebounds.

Who starts in lieu of Bryant or who plays alongside him is still unknown for the Lakers, but new acquisitions like Nick Young (9 points and 3 steals) and Marcus Landry (13 points) made good impressions in their Lakers debut.

Game Odds: Denver Nuggets (-5.5) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (O/U 195.5)
Game time: 12:00 noon (Australian Eastern Standard Time)

Key Betting Trends (Against the Spread or ATS):
- The Nuggets have won 3 of 4 games vs. the Lakers last season
- The Nuggets were 3-1 ATS in 4 games vs. the Lakers last season
- The Nuggets are on a 4-game winning streak vs. the Lakers
- The Lakers only win against the Nuggets last season was via a 19-point blowout

Nuggets vs. Lakers Live Streaming LINK 1 | LINK 2