L.A. Lakers at Golden St.
Time: 9:30 PM CT (ESPN)
Spread: GSW -11
Total: 216
Odds c/o 5dimes
The L.A. Lakers continue to pile up the losses, but the team is looking more promising in many respects. Rookies Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma are both playing well, particularly Kuzma, the Utah product who ranks No. 1 on the team in scoring at 16.6 points per game. Ball has improved his shooting and hit 45 percent from the floor last week while averaging 15 points per game over the stretch. Ball is at 9.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 7.1 assists on the year, and the comparisons to Jason Kidd continue, for better or worse.
The Lakers will face the Golden State Warriors on the road where the Lakers are just 5-10 this season in the second game of an ESPN Friday night doubleheader. The Warriors are 11-point favorites with the over/under set at 216 points according to NBA oddsmakers at 5dimes.
LAKERS
What rookie Lonzo Ball does do, is make the Lakers a better team when he is on the court. His vision and leadership has been apparent even as a rookie, and several other Lakers have shown vast improvement. Among them is former No. 2 overall pick Brandon Ingram, who is averaging 16.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 34 minutes a night.
Former Detroit Piston Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been something of a disappointment but is still a steady 2-guard and a bit of an upgrade over what Lou Williams did (score and score, basically). The Lakers still just play horrible team defense, and adding Brook Lopez was no surety to improve on that end of the court. Opposing bigs seem to batter the Lakers exceptionally well, and the perimeter defense has been average at best.
Kentucky product Julius Randle has faded out of the picture, but his undersized stature was never at the root of the problem anyway. The Lakers just do not rotate well defensively and Lopez is not a rim protector, notwithstanding that he blocks 1.6 shots per game. Larry Nance Jr.’s effort can be infectious, and perhaps if all the Lakers displayed Nance’s defensive acumen this would be a plus .500 team, but it is difficult to win with the layup drills teams regularly perform against the Lakers’ lackluster defense.
WARRIORS
Golden State has won its past nine games and boasts a 11-3 mark at home this season.
The Dubs are getting another MVP-caliber season from Stephen Curry, who is totaling 26 points, 5.1 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game with a team-high PER of 27.8. Last season’s Finals MVP Kevin Durant has been coasting somewhat, with 26.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.
Shooting guard Klay Thompson has rebounded from a down season a year ago to put his scoring average back over 20 points per game while shooting 46.8 percent from three-point range. Durant, too, knocks down a high clip on his triples (.396). The Warriors connected on 12.1 three-pointers per game while shooting 39.8 percent as a team.
One cannot ask for greater efficiency.
Despite 15.8 turnovers per game, the Dubs also rack up 30.6 assists and have a 1.9 Assist: Turnover ratio as a team.
The recipe, of course, leads to what the Warriors can boast of: The league’s highest scoring average at 116.8 points per game. Not to belittle the effort of the Warriors’ defense, despite that rapid and torrid pace, the Dubs hold opponents to 106 points per game, good for a differential of +10.9, the best in the NBA.
ATS TRENDS
| L.A. Lakers | |
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| Golden State | |
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OU TRENDS
| L.A. Lakers | |
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| Golden State | |
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HEAD TO HEAD
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