The Golden State Warriors snapped a four-game skid Sunday against Utah, but the challenge is much tougher Monday with the Los Angeles Lakers coming to town. The Lakers started the post-All Star period with a strong win over Indiana and should be able to keep the momentum going Monday against the Warriors.
This will be the final meeting of the season between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers. Each team won one of the two matchups in Los Angeles earlier this season, but these teams are completely different right now. The Lakers have settled into life without Anthony Davis, who should miss another two weeks at least with an Achilles injury. Meanwhile, the Warriors are slowly finding their own identity led by Steph Curry. It is no surprise that Curry is the straw that stirs the drink for the Warriors as he has returned to his excellent form after missing most of last season. Curry is averaging 29.3 points per game after dropping 32 points Sunday to help Golden State snap a four-game losing skid with a win over Utah at home. The biggest question for the Warriors is if they can get consistent enough secondary scoring behind Curry. On Sunday, it was Andrew Wiggins who stepped up with 28 points and Jordan Poole added 18 important points off the bench. For Monday’s matchup, it’s a question about how effective James Wiseman can be against a weakened Lakers front court. The rookie is averaging almost 12 points per game and he’s averaging exactly six rebounds per game. He was largely ineffective two weeks ago while dealing with foul trouble despite playing 25 minutes. Wiseman made just two of his seven shots, overshadowing the eight rebounds he pulled down for the Warriors. The Lakers have had their fair share of struggles without Davis on the court for the last month. After winning seven straight games, Los Angeles went 3-7 in the final 10 games before the All-Star Game, the last nine of which Davis didn’t play at all. The Lakers were able to return from the break with a win over Indiana at home, but this team is clearly not as dangerous or scary as when it has Davis working in tandem with LeBron James. Still, it’s hard to count out a team featuring James, who has averaged 26 points, 7.4 assists and 7.6 rebounds in the nine games he’s played since Davis last suited up for Los Angeles. Despite all of the shortcomings, Los Angeles is still a 2.5-point favorite on the road, according to the legal sports betting sites in New Jersey. I think it’s sensible that the Lakers are favored because the Warriors were struggling before winning Sunday. Even the basketball betting sites in New Jersey are skeptical that Golden State can repeat its performance on consecutive nights with a rise in competition. Still, this game is so unpredictable that I’m going to avoid betting on the spread for this game at the NBA betting sites in New Jersey. If I had to pick one, I’d bet on the Lakers laying 5.5 points for +133 odds, but there is more value and intrigue in some of the player props. The easiest person to focus on is James, who has needed to do it all for the Lakers this season with Davis out of the lineup. I think the simplest best for him is betting on LeBron to have a double-double in a Lakers victory, which is set at +168 odds. To add onto that value, I’m going to add that both James has at least 10 assists in a Lakers win for +320 odds and James has at least 10 rebounds in a Los Angeles victory for +265 odds. Though it is unlikely both will hit, the added value from the double-double wager and whichever other statistic is part of the double-double will overshadow the lost wager.
Los Angeles -2.5 points When these two teams met two weeks ago, the Lakers were able to easily take care of business against the Warriors. Despite not having Anthony Davis available still, Los Angeles should be able to have similar success against Golden State. The Warriors are playing the second game of a back-to-back and the Lakers just had the last two days off.
