Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers Prediction, NBA Odds
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Edgar Chaput
With only a few weeks left in the regular season, very little is settled in the NBA’s Western Conference. Apart from the fact that the teams lower than 10th hold almost no hope of making it into the postseason, the jostling for seeding is alive and well. Both Golden State and Los Angeles lost earlier this week, with the Warriors falling to the Dallas Mavericks 109-99 and the Lakers to the Kings, 120-107.
The Lakers are pinned as slight -2.5 favourites on the NBA odds.
Warriors vs. Lakers NBA Betting Odds
Contests pitting the Warriors versus the Lakers conjure up images of Stephen Curry against LeBron James. Unfortunately, Chef Curry is definitely out tonight, still nursing his ankle injury. King James is listed as day-to-day with his own ankle issue.
Golden State and L.A. met in late February, with the upbeat Warriors cruising to a 128-110 victory. That paid back a memorable 145-144 OT Lakers victory from late January. Playoffs included, the Warriors have largely had a rough go with the Lakers, with the southern Californian club taking seven of the last 10 games.
Golden State’s 34-29-2 record ATS reveals inconsistency more than anything else. Their longest streak of the entire campaign was early February when the club covered five spreads in a row. Nothing has come close before or since. For that matter, Golden State have not dealt with the spread in four of their last six games. Life without Curry will do that sometimes.
What does one make of the Lakers’ recent performances? They lost yet again to the Sacramento Kings last week, then usurped the Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves, only to fall to the Kings once more. Their last six games have seen outright results translate to covered spreads or not. That’s been the case eight times in the last 10 games. Lakers win, covered spread. Lakers lose, loss versus the spread.
Golden State Warriors
Speaking of life without Curry, the Warriors did what they could versus the Dallas Mavericks earlier this week, although all it amounted to was a 109-99 defeat.
This definitely is not the 2022 team that ended the regular season and began the playoffs with Curry resting a bit. That was an impressive Golden State lineup that managed the work load without its star brilliantly. But Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins are not the same players, Draymond Green has lost a step (in addition to frequently losing his temper) and the new batch of players are still very much developing. Only Jonathan Kuminga (27 points in Dallas) has shown signs that he could lead the next generation of Warriors basketball. The jury is still out on Trayce Jackson-Davis and Brandin Podziemski.
Los Angeles Lakers
Well, we know one of team that the Lakers wouldn’t want to face in a Play-In game. The Sacramento Kings appear to have L.A.’s number, defeating them twice in a week, the most recent result coming on Wednesday, 120-107.
If Austin Reaves can improve his defensive play, he’s a very interesting member of this roster. He led the side with 28 points with good 10-for-18 shooting. Anthony Davis doesn’t get outplayed by many other big men, but Domantas Sabonis once again got the better of him. There is something about that matchup that puts AD behind the proverbial eight ball. Rui Hachimura is another Laker showing good things at this stage of the season. He put in 20 on Wednesday.
Perhaps a game versus a Curry-less Warriors side can boost the confidence of the league’s 22nd ranked defence (117.6 points per game).
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LAL