Los Angeles Clippers vs Los Angeles Lakers betting tips and predictions for Friday’s NBA game. It’s the battle of LA in the NBA as the Clippers and Lakers meet up for the first of their 4 regular season meetings at Staples Center. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers have dropped 3 games in a row and 4 of their last 5, causing them to fall all the way down to 7th in the Western Conference. Ever since Nicolas Batum went down this team hasn’t been the same and in their last 3 games they’ve lost by 15, 19 and 9 points. Their latest defeat was against Sacramento 124-115 at home, which is not a good look for a team that’s set it’s goal on finishing as one of the top 4 teams in the West. A big reason for the loss was the absence of Paul George who didn’t play because of load management. Sacramento shot 52% from the field and made 15 three-pointers, with those kind of defensive numbers this team has no chance against anyone. The good news for Clipper fans is their record against the Lakers in recent games. They’ve gone 6-1 ATS in the last 7 and they’ve also covered the spread in 8 straight when the Lakers are the home team.
Los Angeles Lakers
Speaking of the Lakers, they received a much needed boost in the form of LeBron James returning after a brief battle with covid-19. According to the latest reports, LeBron returned enough negative tests in a row to be cleared to play tonight, which is definitely a welcome sight for Laker fans. LA has won 3 of their last 4 games and are slowly catching momentum after a couple of wins over the Pistons and Kings. In the latest win over Sacramento it was Anthony Davis who led the way with 25 points, Russell Westbrook also added 23 of his own as LA came out on top by 25 points. Their perimeter defense was exceptional in that game as they held Sacramento to just 6-for-29 shooting from three.
Both the Clippers and Lakers get their star players back for this one, but I have to side with the Lakers for two reasons. They are in much better form at the moment, plus they have the match-up advantage at the center position with Davis being the more skilled player over Zubac. Take LeBron and co. to cover the spread at home.
Los Angeles Lakers – Los Angeles Clippers Predictions & Odds
Lakers -1.5 Point Spread is available at -110 odds on bet365
The Laker defense is slowly coming to life after holding their last 2 opponents to 106 and 92 points. That will be crucial for their season moving forward as in the first month and a half of the season they were arguably the worst defensive team in the NBA. Clippers score just 104 points per game on the road this season, which is the 9th worst mark in the entire NBA. They get Paul George back, so the defense will tighten up a bit after a poor showing against the Kings. Only 3 of the last 10 meetings between these two teams have gone over the total and in the 3 most recent games they’ve averaged just 209 points per game between them. The Lakers do play the 3rd fastest pace in the NBA, but they’ve been slowing things down considerably as of late. If they want to get the upper hand in this one, they’ll have to focus a lot more on defense and same goes for the Clippers. I’m taking the under in this one.
Under 215.5 Total Points is available at -110 odds on bet365
