Warriors vs. Lakers: NBA odds, Picks and Predictions
Warriors vs. Lakers Odds
| Warriors Odds | +6 |
| Lakers Odds | -6 |
| Over/Under | 238.5 |
| Date | Thu, Feb. 23 |
| Time | 10:00 p.m. |
| TV | TNT |
On Thursday, the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers will meet in Hollywood on TNT. Coming out of the All-Star break, Golden State (29-29) owns the ninth-best record in the Western Conference, with Los Angeles (27-32) trailing them by 2.5 games in the standings. Tonight, oddsmakers are expecting the Lakers to resume their regular season with a win, pricing them as 6-point home favorites on the spread.
Golden State Warriors
Curry, Wiggins OUT
Per Cleaning the Glass, Golden State has played 2,238 possessions this season with both Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins off of the floor. In that sample, the Warriors rank in the 32nd percentile in offensive efficiency and the 23rd percentile in defensive efficiency – resulting in a -5.5 Net Rating.
Earlier this season, Curry and Wiggins were both out of the lineup with ailments for a stretch of games from December 15 to January 6. In that span, the Warriors managed to win six of their 10 games, but they ranked 25th in Net Rating, getting outscored by 3.5 points per 100 possessions. On the road in that span, Golden State was 1-3 and ranked 30th in Net Rating, getting outscored by 14.8 points per 100 possessions.
Who will step up for Golden State?
From December 15 to January 6, Jordan Poole averaged 28.6 points and Klay Thompson averaged 26.0 points to lead the Warriors’ offensive attack. However, neither Poole nor Thompson shot better than 43.7% from the floor. Poole was an inefficient 28.6% from beyond-the-arc as well.
Beyond Poole and Thompson, no member of the rotation averaged more than 10.9 points per game, leaving Golden State extremely thin in the second unit.
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Los Angeles Lakers
Goal to earn the 6-seed
According to Dave McMenamin, head coach Darvin Ham and the Lakers have their eyes set on the 6-seed in the Western Conference standings as their goal for the home stretch of the regular season. Entering play with the third-worst record in the conference, Los Angeles is still only 3.5 games behind the Dallas Mavericks, which currently occupy the 6-seed. Nevertheless, Los Angeles would need to climb past the Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, and Dallas Mavericks to achieve their goal – a tall task to say the least.
Can the new-look Lakers avoid the play-in tournament?
When healthy this season, the Lakers have still struggled to generate much positive momentum. In 45 games with LeBron James on the floor, Los Angeles is 22-23. In 35 games with Anthony Davis in the lineup, the team is 16-19.
Simply, this is a roster that lacked elite upside heading into the trade deadline, and they did not acquire elite upside with any of their transactions prior to the deadline.
Warriors vs. Lakers – Picks & Predictions
The Lakers are overvalued on the betting market in nearly every conceivable fashion coming out of the All-Star break. Between Ham’s comments about obtaining the 6-seed and the general positive perception of LeBron James, the betting market is priced in a way that is protecting sportsbooks from a potential Los Angeles hot stretch over the final two months of the regular season.
Still, there is very little from an analytical perspective to warrant their futures prices, or them being six-point home favorites on Thursday against the Warriors. James and company likely find a way to win this contest against a Golden State team missing two starters, but it would not be surprising to see this contest end up more competitive than anticipated.
PICK: Warriors +6 (-110, FanDuel)
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