Los Angeles Lakers vs. Los Angeles Clippers Prediction, NBA Odds
The Lakers won’t need to travel far for their road contest on Thursday as they’re set to face the Clippers in L.A. at Crypto.com Arena. It’s a quick turnaround for the Lakers as they’re fresh off a 99-94 win over Portland as the home team in the same arena on Wednesday. The Clippers have been off since falling 122-116 to the Pacers in Indiana on Monday.
The Clippers are 3.5-point favourites to win on the NBA odds, with a total of 218.0.
Lakers vs. Clippers NBA Betting Odds
This will be the second head-to-head between these teams this season following the Clippers’ 119-115 win as the road team on Dec. 3. With that loss, the Lakers have now dropped four of their last five games against “L.A.’s other team”. Between Sports Interaction bettors, there’s roughly a 60/40 split favouring both the Clippers and the Over.
The Lakers haven’t been great on the road this year, so they’re likely happy to be playing in their own building. They’re 9-15 in road games for the season and have dropped four of their last five outside of L.A. Covering has also been an issue as LeBron James and company are just 22-30 against the spread overall and 0-5 ATS in their last five games against the Clippers. The total has gone Over in four of the Lakers’ last six games against Western Conference teams.
The Clippers have struggled against the West lately, dropping seven of their last eight intraconference games. They’re an average 26-27 ATS, but they’ve managed to cover in seven of their last nine games. The total has gone Over in six of the Clippers’ last nine games overall and four of their last six at home.
Los Angeles Lakers
With James out of the lineup on Wednesday, due to a knee injury, and Russell Westbrook’s continued shooting struggles, it was Anthony Davis and Carmelo Anthony who stepped up against Portland. Davis had a game-high 30 points and 15 rebounds, while Anthony finished with 24 points and eight rebounds. Davis came up clutch in the fourth quarter, scoring 19 of his points and seven of his rebounds in the final 12 minutes. The All-Star is averaging 29.3 points over his last three games. Westbrook shot just 3-of-12 for nine points, but just missed out on a triple-double as he added 10 rebounds and 13 assists.
There’s been no official update, but it looks like James will miss this game. James has missed the last four games with general swelling in his knee and the Lakers have said he won’t return to the lineup until the swelling is completely gone. That’s obviously a big blow to this lineup as James averages 29.1 points per game, second-best in the NBA.
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers are hoping a couple days of rest will benefit them following an eight-game road trip that ended with a loss in Indiana on Monday. The weary and banged up Clippers were led by Amir Coffey, who finished with a game-high 27 points, and Reggie Jackson, who added 21 points. With Paul George out of the lineup, Jackson is the highest scorer left on the roster as he averages 16.5 points per game.
George, who averages a team-high 24.7 ppg, hasn’t played since Dec. 22 as he deals with a right elbow injury and there’s no timeline for his return. He could reportedly need surgery, which would end his season. Of course, the Clippers have also been without two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard all season. Leonard tore his ACL in the playoffs last year and his most optimistic timeline to return is sometime in March.
LAL
LAC