The Los Angeles Lakers take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on 11/21/18 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The game marks the first time LeBron James first game back in Cleveland since moving to the Lakers last summer.
LeBron James will make his return to The Land for the first time as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. It can be recalled that King James left Cleveland a second time last summer when he decided to sign with the Lakers. In 2010, James also left Cleveland to pursue his championship dreams in Miami.
After a slow start, the Lakers have picked up in recent weeks. Los Angeles was on a four game winning streak when they lost to the Orlando Magic 117-130 last November 17th. But after seeing their longest win streak of the season end, the Lakers bounced back with a 113-97 win over Miami in a game where LeBron James poured in a season high 51 points.
King James is having another dominant season as he leads the Lakers with 28.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game. Los Angeles has five players averaging at least double digits and nine players scoring more than 7.8 points per game. Tyson Chandler is averaging 7.5 rebounds per game while Javale McGee leads the purple and gold in blocks at 2.6 swats per night.
The Cavaliers have gone from being Eastern Conference Champions the last four seasons to becoming the worst team in the league this season. Of course the reason behind that is LeBron James leaving, again. But not only did the Cavs lose James last summer, they also lost All-Star forward Kevin Love to injury. Love has played only four games so far this season after undergoing toe surgery and is expected to be out at least until one more month.
Without their two All-Star from last season, the Cavaliers have seen their stock plummet. At 2-13, the Cavs are by far the worst team in the league right now. The accumulation of losses has led to guard J.R. Smith accusing the team of purposely “tanking” this season. Smith has requested to be traded and isn’t travel with the team for this game.
The beleaguered Cavs are led by former Lakers’ Jordan Clarkson who is averaging 15.4 points per game this season. Six other Cavaliers’ are averaging in double digits scoring including Kevin Love. Meanwhile, Tristan Thompson lead the team in rebounds at 10.5 per game while scoring 10.1 points per outing. Another ex-Laker in Larry Nance Jr. leads the Cavs in steal at 1.3 per game and blocks at 0.7 per night.
The Lakers lead the all-time series between these two teams at 62-50 but the Cavaliers have won eight out of the last 10 games. Cleveland swept the Lakers for three consecutive seasons before Los Angeles managed to come up with an even 1-1 tie last season by winning the most recent meeting between these teams last March 11, 2018 at 127-113.
The Lakers are 5-1 SU in their last 6 games played and are and even 4-4 SU on the road this season. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers are 1-7 SU in their last 8 games played and are 2-5 SU in seven home games played so far this season. Head to head, the Cavs are 8-2 SU in their last 10 meetings and are 4-1 SU in their last five meetings at the Quicken Loans Arena.
Somehow you can’t dismiss the idea that this could be a trap game for James and the Lakers. Aside from LeBron returning to his old kingdom, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. may have something to prove to their former teammates. Not to mention the rest of the Cavs may want to spoil LeBron’s return for obvious reasons.
But all things considered, this game may be more of a mismatch than the Lakers’ previous game against the Heat. King James torched his former team for 51 at their home floor and this is the more likely case here. Without Kevin Love and with the issue surrounding J.R. Smith, everything is going against the Cavs here. We’re picking the Los Angeles Lakers to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on 11/22/18.
Los Angeles is 6-10 ATS in 16 games played this season and are 4-4 ATS in 8 road games played so far. Cleveland is 7-8 ATS in 15 games played so far including 2-5 ATS in their 7 home games played this season. Head to head though, the Lakers are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 meetings including 4-1 ATS in their last five road games against the Cavs.
The Lakers are 4-1 ATS in their last five games in Cleveland and that was even during the pre-LeBron era. What more now that James is in Los Angeles? The Cavs are having a disaster season while the Lakers are slowly coming together. Considering current form and the names on their active lineups, I think this is an easy double digit win for the Lakers. Prediction: Lakers -9 (-110)
The under is 8-7-1 in the Lakers’ 16 games this season and the total has been split 4-4 between the over and under in Los Angeles’ 8 road games played this season. On the other hand, the total has gone under in 9 out of the 15 games played by the Cavaliers this season. The under is also 4-3 in Cleveland’s 7 games at the Quicken Loans Arena this campaign.
Since Tyson Chandler arrived, the Lakers’ defense has improved, although not much. Still the under is 5-1 in their last six games. As for the Cavs, the absence of Kevin Love has taken a toll on their offense as the under is 7-1 in the Cavs’ last 8 games. Prediction: Under 221 -110
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