The Los Angeles Lakers playoff hopes get bleaker and bleaker with every game LeBron James and Anthony Davis continue to miss. Currently the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference, the defending champs are now in serious jeopardy of being forced to partake in a play-in game just to snag the seventh or eighth seed. The Nuggets and Clippers have already leapfrogged them in the standings, and it’ll only be a matter of time until Portland and/or Dallas does the same. Erik Spoelstra’s squad just saw its lead atop the Southeast Division standings go up in smoke due to the recent hot streak the Atlanta Hawks are currently on. With that, you can bet your bottom dollar that online sportsbooks will be bracing for the influx of Heat money when the teams collide in the first leg of TNT’s Thursday night doubleheader in the team’s second and final meeting of the regular season.
This non-conference battle is set to go down live on Thursday, April 8, 2021. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET from the American Airlines Arena. The game will be broadcast live on TNT. We'll have NBA odds available at BookMaker.eu for this and every game on Thursday’s NBA slate.
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Odds Analysis
It’s been an ugly state of affairs for the Lake Show since LBJ succumbed to the high ankle sprain suffered against the Atlanta Hawks back on March 20. Since then, the team has only amassed three wins and a pair of pointspread covers over its last eight games. With “The Brow” not expected back until the middle of April at the earliest and James likely out for the remainder of the regular season, I’d make it a point to start searching for odds on the Lakers even reaching the playoffs or Yes/No options on winning the title. Things aren’t looking good for the defending champs right now! As for Miami, it’s currently the No. 5 seed in the East at 26 games up and 24 games down to go along with a poor 22-27-1 record against the closing NBA odds. Its 14-12 on its own hardwood where it’s also amassed a losing ATS record (10-15-1), yet enters Tuesday’s tilt with Memphis having won and covered each of its last two against Golden State and Cleveland.
Los Angeles Lakers
I took a flier with the Lakers on Sunday against the Clippers thinking Kawhi and company would mail that game in knowing full well a much tougher challenge waited in the next game against the Portland Trail Blazers. I was dead wrong! I guess losing at home to the Magic and Nuggets in the two games prior brought with it a max effort. The Lakers simply just didn’t have the offensive firepower to hang in that one as the Clippers went bonkers from deep in connecting on half of their 28 attempted 3-pointers to waltz to the 104-86 win and cover as 11-point favorites. Montrezl Harrell (19), Talen Horton-Tucker (16) and Marc Gasol (11) were the only Lakers to tally double-digits in scoring. Kyle Kuzma’s six points on 2 of 10 shooting prevented any chance of cashing in the ticket.
Miami Heat
The six game losing streak at the tail end of March looks to have proven to be the wakeup call the reigning Eastern Conference champs needed to get back to playing a competitive brand of basketball. Since failing to cover in each and every one of those defeats, Miami has gone on to win each of its last four games. In the process, it still only covered the closing impost by an average of 4.0 points per game. In other words, they barely got the job done defeating the Knicks by 10 as 3.5-point favorites, the Pacers by five as 1.5-point favorites, the Warriors by seven as 3-point favorites and the Cavaliers by 14 as 12-point favorites. You have to imagine the offense will be better off once Victor Oladipo finally adapts to his new surroundings as he’s only averaged 7.0 points in his two games played since coming to Miami at the trade deadline.
Los Angeles vs. Miami Prediction
It’s only going to continue getting worse for the Lakers as the season progresses without their two best players. While Andre Drummond was a much-needed stop gap to give the team some beef down low in Davis’s absence, he’s missed the last two games due to an injured toe. If he’s unable to give it a go in this one, I don’t know how LA competes on the glass with Bam Adebayo and company. Miami simply just has too much firepower in the starting lineup and off the bench for the injury riddled Lakers to contend with. This is Miami’s final home game before heading out on a crucial Western Conference road swing that has them lined up to face the Trail Blazers, Suns and Nuggets in a span of four days. Logging a win here should be a top priority!
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