Lakers: Betting On LA In Its Second Meeting With Dallas
Tonight at Crypto.com Arena, your Los Angeles Lakers will do battle against the Dallas Mavericks, in the hopes of redeeming themselves from an ugly 124-115 Christmas Day defeat that wasn't nearly as close as that last margin made it look.
Across the 12 games he's started since Davis went down with a right stress injury on December 16th, Bryant has averaged 17 points on an unsustainably hot .656/.471/.800 shooting splits, 10.6 rebounds and 1.1 dimes.
Let's take a look at some betting odds and lines. All numbers come courtesy of The Action Network:
The Game Spread
The 23-19 Mavericks are listed as slim 3.5-point favorites to win tonight against a somewhat banged-up 19-22 Los Angeles club that has looked relatively feisty despite all its injuries. The Mavericks have more shooting than the Lakers, and normally more size, but Dallas could be missing two key big men, Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell, tonight. Even with a healthy LeBron James, the Lakers struggled to contain the Mavericks' shooters in the third quarter of that Christmas game, during which Dallas erupted for 51 points. Take the over, and look for the Mavericks to cover.
Thomas Bryant's Total Points
Anthony Davis's replacement at center has been quietly enjoying an incredible run, on offense, for LA. In his 12 starts for Davis since The Brow went down with a right stress injury on December 16th, Bryant has averaged 17 points on an unsustainably hot .656/.471/.800 shooting splits, 10.6 rebounds, 1.1 dimes and 0.7 steals a night. His over/under is set at 16.5, as clearly oddsmakers have been paying attention to his recent uptick in output. Take the over, LA will need a big game from him to survive.
Dennis Schröder's Total Assists
The over/under for the Lakers point guard tonight is 3.5 dimes. With Patrick Beverley out, it's possible that Schröder may get to play alongside guys who can actually, you know, shoot well tonight. That may improve his assists total. For the year, the 6'3" guard is passing to the tune of 3.7 assists a day. Take the over, live a little.