Los Angeles Lakers vs Brooklyn Nets Betting Picks, Lines, Odds & Predictions
The Lakers will continue their East road trip as they take on the Nets on Saturday in New York. The LA team has been in free fall without their two stars. They’ve won only 4 times in the last 11 games. Over the season they’re 32-20, going 25-27 ATS. Brooklyn is on the opposite trajectory at the moment, losing only twice in their last 10 games. The Nets now lead the East with a 36-16 record and are 25-27 ATS. The two teams already met once this season. In February, the Nets won 109-98.
Los Angeles Lakers vs Brooklyn Nets Betting Odds & Line Movement
The opening odds favored the Nets against the depleted Lakers by -12.5. Some early action on the visitors has moved the line slightly to -11.5. The total is set at 228, although it can be found at 227.5 with some bookies.
Notes On The Los Angeles Lakers
As expected, the Lakers are finding life hard without Anthony Davis and Lebron James. They should be returning soon, but, by that time, LA could easily find themselves in one of the play-in spots. Over the last five games, they’re averaging only 102.4 points and 44.2% from the field, a steep drop-off from their season average. Over the whole campaign, the Lakers have posted 109.9 points per game and a 47.6% field goal percentage. Last time out they lost in Miami, 110-104, but there were some encouraging signs for coach Vogel. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was fantastic with 28 points and 6-11 shooting from the deep. The big buyout market addition, Andre Drummond, proved that he can have a positive impact going forward. In his second game for the team, Drummond posted 15 points and 12 rebounds.
The Lakers will, of course, again play without James and Davis. Alex Caruso (knee), Marc Gasol (hamstring), and Kyle Kuzma (calf) are all questionable and listed as game-time decisions.
Notes On The Brooklyn Nets
The Nets will look to extend their home winning streak to 10 games. They finally have Kevin Durant back, but James Harden is expected to be out for at least another week. Durant, Harden, and Irving have played less than 200 minutes together so far. Still, the Nets are more than capable of handling their opponents without all three on the court. Their roster is even deeper now with the buyout additions of LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin. In their last game, against the Pelicans, LMA looked like his old self, posting 22 points on 12 shots in only 22 minutes. KD should return to the starting lineup, making the best offense in the league even scarier. He should also ease some of their issues on defense.
As we said, Harden is still unavailable, while Spencer Dinwiddie is, of course, out for the season. Landry Shamet is questionable with an ankle injury.
Los Angeles Lakers vs Brooklyn Nets Betting Pick: UNDER 228
Even without two stars, the Lakers can be a formidable defensive force. The Nets do have a lot of firepower, but LA should be able to slow them down a bit. At the same time, Brooklyn has significantly improved on the defensive side since the start of the season. The last 7 out of 10 Nets games went UNDER as have the 9 out of 12 Lakers games. Also, the last 5 meetings out of 6 between the two ended in UNDER.
