The Los Angeles Lakers couldn’t beat the worst teams in their division, so they are now going up against the very best. The Golden State Warriors are in for a brief visit to the Staples Center on Wednesday, not a perfect timing for the home side. On the other hand, the champs also lost to a lousy side last night, resting key figures, so the Lakers might not be forced to play against the very best of the Dubs.
Warriors at Lakers
Spread: Golden State Warriors -11.5 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: N/A
Sans Curry, Durant, the Warriors fall to the Kings
Resting players has it’s limitations, even if you are possibly the greatest team ever put together. Remove two former MVPs and the Warriors become worse than, well, the Kings. Steve Kerr knows it well – the regular season is the preseason when you repeatedly reach June games, so the Warriors don’t go all in on every turn of a card. They decided that letting Durant heal is the best for the long-term benefit of a franchise, but also wouldn’t let their resting schedule be changed. Steph Curry joined Durant on the sideline, and the Golden State Warriors lost at home to the lowly Kings – 106-110.
Omri Casspi and Patrick McCaw subbed in for the star duo and played fairly well. Of course, they couldn’t have replaced the level of contribution either of the missing players gives night in and night out, but it was a decent game for both. McCaw had 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting, 7 assists, and 4 steals, while Casspi hit four of his 7 tries for 9 points to with 4 boards. It was Klay Thompson and Draymond Green who felt the absence of the Warriors top duo – Thompson tried to take the role of the primary offensive option, but connected on just 7-of-20 attempts from the field, mostly opting to take shots beyond the arc. He led the team with 21 points. Green also took an uncharacteristically high number of threes (11) and shot just 4-of-15 to finish with 14 points, 4 boards, and 8 dimes. The Warriors would have been blown out if not for the good offensive game from their bench. Still, Nick Young, aged David West as well as some starters, aren’t exactly defensive stalwarts. The Warriors allowed 53.2 percent shooting to the Kings, including 53 percent from the three-point territory. This, to possibly the worst offense in the NBA.
Curry and Durant are listed as day-to-day, but it’s widely expected that Curry will play without any limitations against the Lakers. Iguodala was also under a question mark prior to the last game (he played), troubled by a sore knee, so he might be next in line for a night off, sooner or later.
Place: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Date/Time: Wednesday, November 29th, 2017. 10:30 PM ET
TV Coverage: NBATV
The Lakers fail to take advantage of mounting Clippers injuries
The Los Angeles Lakers played a close game but ultimately lost to their in-town rivals the Clippers, by the score of 120-115 in a game that proved that neither L.A. team deserves a spot in the playoffs.
Playing against a severely shorthanded opponent, the Lakers couldn’t take advantage. While it was clear that Clippers offense comes from just two sources, Griffin and Lou Williams, the Lakers somehow allowed them to put up great numbers. Williams scored 42 points on them, repeatedly tricking them into fouling him, and Griffin had another 26 points before going down with an injury in the fourth. Even after he left, and being down just one in the final minute, the Lakers wouldn’t pull it off. Lots of folks are getting F’s for their performance on Monday night. Caldwell-Pope, an average NBA player looks miles ahead of most Lakers perimeter players. He scored 29 points, albeit on 28 attempts. The other would just pump fake, or get the ball, and pass it to the nearest player. Clarkson (17 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists), and Kuzma (15 points, 5-of-7 FGs) are earning their paychecks, while the other laid an egg. Brook Lopez had the third consecutive awful game, and Lonzo Ball is just lost. The kid needs to be benched and put to his place because he’s hurting the Lakers on both sides of the floor. Nance’s return to the starting five was also a swing-and-miss, especially on the defensive side. The Lakers shot 48.4 percent from the field, but gave up too many points, with most of the difference coming from the free throw disparity, as a result of the lazy defense.
Lakers’ health bill is clean, so they’ll have their full roster available for this game, and the following back-to-back set against Denver and Houston. Bad time to play poor defense.
Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Lakers Game Trends & Prediction
The Warriors wouldn’t come close to covering a 13-point spread against Sacto, and are 2-6 ATS in the last eight games. This brought their overall record to just 9-12, while they are 4-6 away from home. Total points outcomes are a kaleidoscope of this and that, and with players coming in and out of a lineup, inconsistency is rather expected. The Warriors are 11-10 against the over/under and 5-5 on the road.
The Lakers failed to cover the generous +4.5 spread, fouling twice in the last minute and missing both three-point attempts. They fell to 9-11 against the spread for the season, but are 6-5 as hosts. The game was also a clear over, tied the Lakers O/U record to 10-10. Five of the last six games eclipsed the expected line.
Admi-Rank: I don’t care if the Warriors played backups in the last game. It still has to hurt their celestial ranking, mostly due to lack of desire to win each game. The Lakers are what we thought they are, so their low rating goes unchanged.
Even if Durant sits, the Warriors will handle the Lakers with a relative ease. They don’t like losing games, so despite a decreased interest in the regular season, they are primed to play a bounce-back game at the expense of the L.A. purple and gold. Of course, there are no guarantees that Kerr won’t rest more players so approach this contest with extra caution despite the large difference in the talent level of two sides. In case that Kerr decides to rest his stars for another game, I would back the Lakers to cover the spread.
The books won’t risk an early approach to this contest, waiting to see whether more news after the shootaround will clarify Durant’s status, but also of others. Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered anyways, giving you my fair numbers so you would be ready to tackle the odds as soon as they appear. Here are my numbers for both cases:
(Durant playing) – Golden State -13 and over/under 230 points
(Durant out, but Curry in) – Golden State -11.5 and over/under 225.5
My Pick: Los Angeles Lakers +11.5 (-110)
Total: pass
