The Kobe Bryant Farewell Tour will continue on Thursday night when for the last time ever, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers come to town to face the Los Angeles Lakers.
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TRAVEL
After a surprising home loss to a depleted Grizzlies team on Monday, the Cavaliers venture west on a four game road trip where they will face the Kings in Sacramento on Wednesday, the night before they play the Lakers. This road trip comes at a crucial point in the Cavs season with team chemistry looking shaky as both LeBron James and Kyrie Irving have been sending out cryptic tweets and messages. A loss to a sub-.500 team may not be brushed off as easily and lead to a fracturing of the Cavaliers when they should be making their stretch run.
KEY MATCHUP
Much of the attention in this game will be on the matchup between James and Bryant and the interaction between the two legends. When these teams met up in early February, LBJ had a typical solid game shooting 12-of-22 from the field for 29 points and also recording 11 assists and seven rebounds in a Cavs win.
If there's been a complaint about James this season it's that his three point shooting has dropped precipitously and he may need to abandon it. LBJ has only hit 28.7 percent of his threes this season, seven percentage points less than he did last season and his percentage has dropped markedly in each of the last three seasons.
He is still the best all-around player in the game, but James finally has a noticeable weakness in his game.
The Lakers pulled off the biggest upset in the NBA this season on Sunday afternoon when they knocked off the Warriors. Los Angeles went off the board as 18 point home underdogs, the highest spread ever seen for a home team, and its upset won the few people crazy enough to bet LA on the moneyline exorbitant amounts of cash.
All three of the Lakers young players shined against the Warriors, but Jordan Clarkson shined the brightest. Clarkson went 10-of-21 from the floor and 4-of-6 from three point land to lead all scorers with 25 points.
D'Angelo Russell and Julius Randle also had solid games with the former putting up 21 points and the latter checking in with a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds. LA won the game with a solid all-around team effort and the only player that really played poorly was Bryant, who hit just 4 of his 14 overall shots and went 0-for-5 from three.
If the Lakers young three can gel, especially with Russell finally getting significant playing time, they could play spoiler a few more times down the road.
LIVE BETTING SCENARIO
Any team with James is going to be popular with bettors, but the Cavaliers have been disappointing ATS-wise this season. Cleveland is 27-32-3 overall against the number and 11-15-3 ATS on the road. The Cavaliers have seen 17 of their 29 road games go under the total.
The under has been a great bet when the Lakers are playing at home with it 19-10 on the year. Regarding covering the number at home, LA has been marginal with a 14-15 ATS mark.
Both teams play a game before this one with the Lakers hosting the Magic on Tuesday night and the Cavs playing at Sacramento on Wednesday night so check the injury reports before betting. It's unusual to say check social media as well before the game but it may be necessary following what transpired over the weekend for Cleveland.
As for the game, keep an eye on Russell who is playing bigger minutes. If he and the Lakers look sharp early, back them on the readjusted pointspread and look for them to compete all the way through.
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Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! Bet on the NBA today as the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers square off Thursday, March 10, 2016 at 10:30 p.m. ET at the Staples Center. The matchup will be televised nationally on TNT.
