The Los Angeles Lakers visit the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday evening, and if you’re looking to do some last-minute betting research, you’re in luck! We’ll give you the latest point spread, money line odds and over/under number, as well as the information you’ll need to make the smartest bet.
The Lakers, who have a 5-2 record, can extend their budding winning streak to four games with a victory over Portland. They lost at home to Portland exactly one week ago by 14 points, but they were without Luka Doncic, Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes in that contest. All three are back, and Doncic has started out the season in excellent fashion with averages of 41.3 points, 11.5 rebounds and 8.3 assists.
Portland, to the surprise of plenty, is 4-2 right now. Surely, Los Angeles will want to get a victory up in Oregon and prove that the Trail Blazers’ solid start is nothing more than a fluke.
The lines, courtesy of BetMGM
Lakers vs Trail Blazers injury reports
Lakers: No injury report has been issued yet, but Deandre Ayton (back spasms), LeBron James (right sciatica), Maxi Kleber (abdominal muscle strain), Adou Thiero (left knee surgery recovery) and Gabe Vincent (left ankle sprain) missed their previous game.
Trail Blazers: Shaedon Sharpe (left calf soreness) is probable. Scoot Henderson (left hamstring tear), Damian Lillard (left Achilles tendon injury management), Matisse Thybulle (left thumb ligament tear) and Blake Wesley (right foot fracture) are out.
Advice and Prediction:
The Lakers may be just starting to figure out how to become a very good team even without LeBron James, who is expected to be sidelined for at least another couple of weeks due to sciatica. While they’re a relatively modest 11th in points per game, they’re a solid eighth in offensive rating and second in field-goal percentage.
There has been an amazing explosion of offense across the NBA to start the season, and L.A. is keeping up pretty decently.
Portland is ninth in points per game and 13th in offensive rating, but its strength right now is on the defensive end, where it ranks fifth in defensive rating. The team can get out and run (it ranks fourth in fast-break points per game), and it is first in points off opponents’ turnovers per contest.
For L.A. to win this game, it will not only have to get back on defense but also limit its turnovers. When it last faced the Trail Blazers a week ago, it did a good job by limiting them to nine fast-break points, but it committed 25 turnovers, which led to 28 Trail Blazers points.
As long as the Lakers don’t have any unexpected absences this time, they should be able to get past Portland, even though it won’t be easy.
Prediction: Lakers 117, Trail Blazers 111
Get more betting analysis and predictions at Sportsbook Wire.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Prediction and betting odds for Lakers vs. Trail Blazers
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
