The NBA world took notice when Kyrie Irving called LeBron James and expressed newfound admiration and appreciation for LeBron’s leadership and what it meant to Kyrie’s own career. It was a bizarre twist as Irving is the one who seemingly broke up the Cavs when he demanded a trade out of town.
Again, Irving has made recent statements about the need to pursue his own interests, which has sent an unsettling signal to the Boston Celtics before another period of free-agency-related drama this summer. The two superstars will meet on Wednesday and BetDSI has posted props on who will score more points. Let’s take a closer look at the matchup.
LeBron James
It’s been an ugly time for the Los Angeles Lakers these last few days. The team is trying to work out a deal for New Orleans Pelicans’ star Anthony Davis and the news has been very public. As a result, the team knows that pretty much everyone besides LeBron James could be on the move. That will severely impact their chemistry in the locker room these days.
We saw that first hand on Tuesday night at Indiana when the Victor Oladipo-less Pacers handed the Lakers one of their worst losses of the season. The Pacers won by 42 and the Lakers looked disinterested as they seem to be just waiting for Thursday’s trade deadline to arrive to figure out who is staying and who is leaving.
So what can we expect from James on Thursday? Hopefully more than the points he delivered on Tuesday. However, the rest of his team might be turning on him as they all know that he’s pulling the strings on these trades.
One other thing worth remembering is James just returned from injury. It’ll be interesting to see how he responds on the road trip.
Kyrie Irving
Irving has missed four of his team’s last seven games, including Tuesday night’s contest when his team beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 103-96. Prior to that, Irving played in the last two games, on Friday against the New York Knicks and Sunday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. On Sunday against OKC, Irving dazzled, scoring 30 points on 14-of-19 shooting while handing out 11 assists in 37 minutes.
Kyrie’s home splits feature some notable differences compared to road games: He hits 45.6 percent of his three-point shots at home compared to 36.5 on the road. Field goal shooting is 54.3 percent compared to 46.4 percent. He averages 25.3 points per game at home compared to 22.3 on the road.
Outlook
Ultimately, when you look at these players, this is not an easy choice to make since both players have been dealing with recent injuries, but Kyrie’s excellent home-court splits make him a hard choice to turn down. Also, the Lakers team chemistry is a mess right now, so it’s hard to count on anyone from their roster. James might be out there doing it on his own as his young teammates probably feel like he’s sold them out. Bet Kyrie in this matchup.
Pick: Kyrie Irving
