Golden State Warriors vs Los Angeles Lakers Betting Picks, Odds, Lines & Predictions

The marquee matchup of the play-in tournament takes place on Wednesday night. The Warriors will make a short trip up north to visit the Lakers. It’s a dream matchup for the NBA as it’s certain to draw huge attention to the play-in tournament. The Warriors secured the 8th seed with a fantastic finish to the season. They won 11 times in the last 15 games. They’re also currently on a 6-game winning streak.

Over the whole campaign, Golden State is 39-33 SU and 37-35 ATS. The Lakers’ injury struggles eventually caught up with them and they failed to book a direct place in the playoffs. Still, they also finished the season on a high with 5 straight wins. It’s a big improvement over the previous 10-game span when they won only twice. Their overall record is 42-30 and they went 32-39-1 against the spread this year. In the regular season, the two teams met three times. The Lakers won twice and blew out the Warriors two times in a row with 31 and 25-points wins.

Golden State Warriors vs Los Angeles Lakers Betting Odds & Line Movement

The Lakers opened the betting cycle as -4.5 favorites. With most of the money going their way, the line has moved a bit to -5. The total dropped from the opening 222 to 219.5.

Notes On The Golden State Warriors

The Warriors’ fortunes begin and end with Steph Curry. The 33-year old guard ended the season as the league’s leading scorer with 32.0 points per game. He did so on a ridiculous usage rate of 33.6% and 134.2 points per 100 shot attempts. He was even better in the season’s run-in with an incredible 37.2 points per game over the last 20 contests. Golden State also improved significantly on defense during that stretch. Over the last 16 games, they’re the second-best defense in the league allowing only 107.8 points per 100 possessions. In their last game, the Warriors locked the 8th seed by beating Memphis 113-101. Steph went supernova again, scoring 46 points and adding 9 assists and 7 rebounds. He also shot an absurd 36 times for the floor. Andrew Wiggins was also solid with 21 points and 10 rebounds. The Warriors’ defensive anchor, Draymond Green, almost had a triple-double with 14 points, 9 assists, and 9 rebounds.

For tonight, the Warriors are without long-term absentees Klay Thompson and James Wiseman, and also Kelly Oubre and Damion Lee.

Notes On The Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers are finally in full strength and are beginning to show signs of championship form. Anthony Davis is back to his best self and LeBron James had a couple of encouraging performances to close the regular season. Also, their injury worries provided an opportunity to some role players, like Kuzma and Horton-Tucker, who have proven that they can be counted on in big games. The Lakes continue to dominate on defense, and will only get better with LeBron fully fit. In the last game of the regular season, they defeated the Pelicans 110-98. LeBron James led the scoring with 25 points, while Davis added 14.

Coach Vogel has all players available for tonight.

Golden State Warriors vs Los Angeles Lakers Betting Pick & Prediction:Lakers -5

The only way for the Warriors to get something out of this game is that Steph Curry goes insane against. However, the Lakers have fared pretty well against Curry in three previous matchups, allowing him to 23.0 points per game. They also kept him well below his season shooting averages. Besides, the Warriors match up pretty badly against the Lakers on defense. They will struggle to contain LA’s size and length.