Tonight, your 15-11 Los Angeles Lakers return to Crypto.com Arena, where they’ll host the 14-11 New York Knicks in a battle of mid-level playoff contenders… at least, by record.
The Lakers are a better team than their disappointing season start (and their disappointing, albeit shorthanded, 129-115 defeat against the San Antonio Spurs Friday) might suggest, and certainly have the trade assets to get even more intriguing in the Western Conference.
Here are our expert predictions for the matchup. All betting numbers are via sports book aggregator The Action Network
Who will be the game’s top scorer?
The over/under for All-NBA LA forward LeBron James outpaces anyone else tonight, as his line of 27.5 points is two points ahead of the next-closest contender, Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson. The line for New York’s best player is set at 25.5 points. No odds have been set for LA superstar center Anthony Davis, who as of this writing is questionable to suit up. To be fair, so is LeBron James. Knicks All-Star power forward Julius Randle’s over/under is listed at 23.5 points. This is a tough one to predict, as Davis could make mincemeat out of a Knicks club missing its starting center Mitchell Robinson. For now, I’ll predict James does indeed get the job done.
Can Los Angeles cover its spread against the Knicks?
New York is 7-8 on the road, while LA is 10-2 at home. It sure seems like everything is coming up Lakers tonight… assuming more of the club’s starters are available than they were against the Spurs. The Lakers are mild -4 favorites to win at the Crypt. Given their prodigious output at home, I’d take them to cover the spread.
Will Julius Randle notch a double-double in LA?
The two-time All-Star big is averaging 22.4 points and 9.4 boards a night (plus 5.3 assists, as a key supplemental facilitator behind Brunson). He’s been given +105 odds to secure a double-double tonight in LA, second only to LeBron James’ +100 (but, again, no odds have been allocated to Davis as of yet).
GET MORE NEWS HERE
Leave a Reply