Los Angeles Lakers are still searching for their first win after a tough 0-2 start and this may be their best shot at a win yet as they host the San Antonio Spurs. We’ve got a pretty even match up here between two playoff level teams so we can expect a pretty close game here at the Staples.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers have started the season 0-2 but they’ve shown some good signs so far. The level of opposition has been very high having to go to Portland where many struggle and then playing Houston who are considered as top 3 team in the NBA. The story surrounding the Lakers right now is the fight that happened against Houston which will cause Rondo to miss 3 games and Ingram to miss 4 games meaning both are out for this game. We will see Lonzo Ball Start who looked impressive against Houston and probably Kuzma to start over Ingram. LeBron hasn’t looked his best so far this season so we can expect him to start balling in a game that’s sort of a must win because you don’t want to start 0-3 if you’re LA. Injury wise only Mo Wagner is out.
Predicted Starting line-up – L.Ball, K.Caldwell-Pope, L.James, K.Kuzma, J.McGee
Injuries – M.Wagner – out
Suspensions – R.Rondo, B.Ingram
San Antonio Spurs
Spurs started the season 1-1 beating Minnesota at home 112-108 and then losing in Portland 108-121. So far DeMar DeRozan has been impressive having dropped 28 in both games for San Antonio but the Spurs are definitely far from playing great. Defensively, they’ve been sloppy to start off which is very unusual for San Antonio. Spurs biggest weakness is the point guard position as 2 of their key point guards are out in Dejounte Murray and Derrick White. Rookie Lonnie Walker is the other player out for the Spurs. Spurs have had struggles on the road last season and started this season poorly in their first road game so they’ll be hoping that they can fix this issue in LA.
Predicted starting line-up – G.Forbes, D.DeRozan, R.Gay, L.Aldridge, J.Poeltl
Injuries – D.Murray, L.Walker, D.White – All out
Key Facts
The Lakers swept the seasons series against San Antonio last season 3-0
Lakers are 1st in pace (112) while San Antonio are 30th (96). Big difference in style.
Both squads have a bottom 10 defensive rating this season. Lakers 20th, Spurs 27th
Lakers are giving up 126 ppg this season, Spurs are giving up 114.
Lakers are scoring 117 ppg, Spurs are scoring 110 ppg.
LeBron James is just 2-6 against San Antonio since losing to them in the 2014 finals
LeBron averages 24.1 ppg against San Antonio in his last 10 reg season matches against them.
Lonzo Ball has most success against San Antonio averaging 18 ppg against them.
LeBron James is 15-1 against DeRozan including playoffs in the last 16 meetings.
San Antonio Spurs are 14-28 on the road in regular season since the start of last season which is bottom 10 road record in that time.
Last season Lakers-Spurs games had 211.9 ppg on average. Lakers avg 110.3, Spurs avg 101.6
Betting Tips and Predictions
We’ve got the Lakers as underdogs here! Now we know that Ingram and Rondo are out but despite that you have Lonzo and Kuzma who are very talented players that will get more minutes now. The Lakers haven’t looked bad in their games they just couldn’t close them out while San Antonio have looked suspect. Tough win against in turmoil Minnesota and got beaten by Portland quite comfortably. Lakers to win at the odds of 2 have all the value. Lakers should also get over 110 points since they play so fast and Spurs are not playing good defense right now. Our prediction is a 113-105 win for LA. LeBron to have a big night
Match Odds (TonyBet)
Los Angeles Lakers Win – 1.99 (Regular Time – 2.09)
San Antonio Spurs Win – 1.90 (Regular Time – 1.97)
Overtime – 12.00
Match Start – 23rd October 2018 – 3:30am UK Time
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