The Los Angeles Lakers visit the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Monday night.
Los Angeles heads to this contest coming off a sorry loss to the Washington Wizards on Saturday. With that loss and the Pelicans’ win over Atlanta on Sunday, New Orleans has overtaken the Lakers for the 9th seed in the West with both teams currently at 30-41 but with New Orleans holding the tiebreaker.
Meanwhile, the Cavs are trying to hang on to the final outright playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and at 41-30, they are just 1.5 games ahead of the 7th seeded Toronto Raptors in the East standings. Cleveland has lost just once in their last five home games and is 5-5 SU in their last 10 games with wins in their last two assignments.
The Los Angeles Lakers will conclude a five-game road trip with this game in Cleveland. The Lakers have won just once during this away swing and that came against the Raptors two games ago when Russell Westbrook recorded his first triple-double of 2022.
Russ had another big game on Saturday night with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists while LeBron had 38 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists but still, the Lakers lost after giving up 20 more free throws to the Wizards who made 16 more foul shots than the Lakers.
Los Angeles ranks 13th in the league in scoring at 111.2 points per game this season. They are 20th in rebounding at 44.1 boards grabbed per contest and are 17th in passing at 24.0 assists per game. The Lakers have the 4th worst scoring defense in the NBA this season at 114.0 points per game allowed.
The Cavs will be looking to win their fifth game in their last six at home. Cleveland is currently 3-1 SU in their current homestand and is looking to finish on a high note with a win over the struggling Lakers.
Darius Garland had another big game for the Cavs with 24 points and he has scored at least 20 points in all but one game played this month. Meanwhile, Rookie of the Year favorite Evan Mobley has recorded a double-double in five out of his last eight games played while Caris LeVert is averaging 17.6 points per game in Cleveland.
Cleveland is 24th in the league in scoring at only 107.2 points per game. However, the Cavs also have the NBA’s third-best scoring defense at 103.0 points per game allowed. Cleveland ranks 15th in rebounding at 44.6 boards grabbed per contest and is 9th in passing at 25.9 assists per game.
The Lakers are 1-4 SU in their last five games played. Los Angeles is 1-12 SU in their last 13 road games played. The Cavaliers are 3-1 SU in their last four games played. Cleveland is 4-2 SU in their last six home games and 9-2 SU in their last 11 games against an opponent from the Western Conference.
Los Angeles has the edge in their head-to-head series and won their first meeting of the season 113-101 on October 29th. A lot has happened since then though with the Lakers fading as the season has progressed. Meanwhile, the Cavs are one of the more surprising teams this season and have been able to manage with Collin Sexton injured. They also lost Ricky Rubio to injury before flipping the Spaniard for Caris LeVert.
The Cavs have won four out of their last five at home, including a victory over the playoff-bound Denver Nuggets in a close game. The Lakers have won just once on the road in their last 10 games away from Staples Center. In their last game, Los Angeles squandered another sizable lead to lose to the Washington Wizards.
Save for their win over the Raptors two games ago, the Lakers have looked terrible since coming out of the All-Star break where they have won just three games. The Lakers have now dropped to 10th in the West and are in real danger of playing on the road in the entire play-in tournament, that is if the Spurs can’t catch up with them.
LeBron James‘ return has always been a big game in Cleveland but unless he scores 50 points on Monday night, I don’t see the Lakers winning. Cleveland plays much better as a team and while they don’t score many points, their defense has been suffocating. Give me the Cavs to win at home.
Prediction: Cleveland Cavaliers
The Lakers are 1-4 ATS in their last five games played. Los Angeles is 1-6 ATS in their last seven road games, 2-5-1 ATS in their last eight games played on 1-day rest, 3-8-1 ATS in their last 12 games when their opponent scores 100 or more points in their previous game, 7-20 ATS in their last 27 games when allowing 125 or more points in their previous game, 1-4 ATS in their last five games as betting underdogs, and 1-4 ATS in their last five game as road underdogs.
The Cavaliers are 2-1-1 ATS in their last four games played. Cleveland is 5-0-1 ATS in their last six games when playing on one day rest, 6-2-1 ATS in their last nine home games against an opponent with a road winning percentage of less than .400, 3-1-1 ATS in their last five home games, 3-1-1 ATS in their last five home games after scoring 100 or more points in their previous game, and 4-1 ATS in their last five home games against an opponent with a losing ATS record.
Head to head, the Lakers are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games played against the Cavs.
Again, Los Angeles has the edge in their head-to-head matchup. However, the 2022 Lakers aren’t the same team that the Cavs played against last season or the previous ones. Except for LeBron and AD, this season’s roster is an experiment that has gone wrong. Nobody can fix it right now, not Frank Vogel and not LeBron James.
The Lakers have allowed an average of over 125 points in their last five games played, which should allow the Cavs to score more than their season scoring average. Cleveland has the third-best defense in the league and they are going to make it hard for the Laker to score. Give me the Cavs to win and cover this game.
Prediction: Cavaliers -6
The total has gone over in five out of the last seven games played by the Lakers. The over is 7-1 in Los Angeles’ last eight games against the Eastern Conference, 8-0 in their last eight games against an opponent with a winning straight up record, 7-1 in their last eight road games against an opponent with a winning home record, 4-1 in their last five games when playing on 1-day rest, 4-1 in their last five road games, and 4-1 in their last five road games as betting underdogs.
The total has gone over in six out of the last seven games played by the Cavs. The over is 4-1 in their last five home games, 4-0 after allowing more than 100 points in their previous game, 5-0 in their last five games after a straight-up win, 4-0 in their last four games when playing on one day rest, 10-1 in their last 11 games against an opponent with a losing straight up record, 5-1 in their last six games after scoring 100 or more points in their previous game, and 4-0 when their opponent scores 100 or more points in their previous game.
Head to head, the total has gone over in six out of the last 10 head-to-head meetings between these two teams. The over is also 6-1 in their last seven games played in Cleveland.
The Lakers have conceded an average of 125.6 points per game in their last five games and they have also scored 128 and 119 in their last two games played. Cleveland has gone over 223 points in three out of their last four games played, scoring an average of 113 points during that span.
Prediction: Under 227
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