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There’s a race for second-place in the Pacific Division and the Los Angeles Lakers grabbed the lead. Of course, that isn’t really saying much since every team other than the Warriors is swimming against the tide in an effort to reach the .500 mark. But for a Lakers team that is rebuilding and looking for anything positive, it is a step in the right direction. And after Lonzo Ball sheepishly walked away from an on-court skirmish against the Suns, he responded with a triple-double and will showcase his talents against the Sacramento Kings for the first time this season.
Don’t miss the hardwood action from Golden 1 Center at 10:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, November 22, 2017. Catch every moment of the game live on ESPN. We’ll have NBA opening odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Wednesday schedule.
Odds Analysis
Another season is circling the drain fast for the Kings, who find themselves near the bottom of the Western Conference standings and are one of the worst bets in the NBA. But they have been much better at home with a win over Portland last Friday moving their record at the Golden 1 Center to 3-3. The Kings won that game outright as a 7-point dog, their first ATS win in their last five.
Scheduling Situation
The league is making an effort to limit the number of back-to-back games by starting the season earlier and spreading the games over a longer period of time. However, teams will still play in those scenarios and the Lakers will be competing in the second of a back-to-back when they visit the Kings. It’s just a short flight north for LA, but they are coming off a game with the Bulls at Staples to end a four-game road trip.
The second of two consecutive games hasn’t been their best situation. The Lakers are 0-2 SU and ATS in their last two such games on the road, getting blasted in Washington on their just concluded road trip and losing by 15 at Utah late last month. Overall they are 2-2 SU and ATS in the second of a back-to-back, with wins at Phoenix and at home over the Nets.
Player To Watch
Poor Lonzo can’t win. He gets scolded for walking away from a scuffle following the Lakers loss to Phoenix and if he had intervened and was slapped with a technical foul or even worse, the altercation escalated and he was to get hurt, those same folks would have admonished him for getting involved. Lonzo absolutely did the right thing, after all how many times do those heat of the moment get-togethers develop into anything?
Lonzo should be more concerned about his game, and apparently he was. The next outing, the No. 2 overall pick collected a triple-double in a win over the Nuggets, when he sported a new hairdo to go along with his stat sheet-stuffing numbers. Ball still needs to work on his shot with a field goal percentage that’s just barely above 30, but Luke Walton had him in the game during crunch time and Lonzo played a season-high 40 minutes with 16 rebounds, 11 assists and 11 points.
Free NBA ATS Picks
Losing to the Atlanta Hawks by 46 points tells us a lot about the state of the Kings. They aren’t very good and they’re without one of their leaders in Buddy Hield, who has missed time with an ankle injury. We could see him back on the floor against the Lakers, which should help the Kings’ cause, but the troubles run much deeper. At least Sac has been competitive at home and that’ll help against a Lakers team that’s struggled on the road.
We got a glimpse of how the Lakers could look in their win over Denver last weekend. Ball posted a triple-double and seven players scored in double-figures. Kyle Kuzma continues to be a revelation and the bench is much stronger with Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson leading the second unit. The key, however, is Ball. When he goes, the team is much better. His shooting percentage is awful and as a team the Lakers hit the three-pointer less than 30 percent of the time. Those numbers should improve against a Kings team that’s not very good at defending and has the worst point differential in the NBA.
NBA Odds: Lakers 113, Kings 107
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