Lakers News: Odds And Lines For A Borderline Must-Win WCF Game 3

LA does not want to fall into an 0-3 hole.

Is tonight's Crypto.com Arena Game 3 matchup between your Los Angeles Lakers and the mighty Denver Nuggets a must-win for LA?

If the Lakers actually want to advance to yet another NBA Finals appearance, it certainly is.

Accordingly, oddsmakers in Vegas are bullish on Los Angeles' ability to protect home court, at least for this bout. Let's examine some odds and lines heading into tonight, via our pals at The Action Network.

The Game Spread

Los Angeles opened the day as a 3.5-point favorite to win, but has since seen that edge advance to a 5.5-point projected spread. The new line represents the current average margin of victory in this series, although both those wins have come at LA's expense. 

These have been fairly close contests (although the Lakers trailed by as much as 21 points in Game 1), and I'd expect for that trend to continue. Take the under, though I like LA to win.

Anthony Davis' Total Points

You caught me. I was about to make an impassioned "Every Other Davis" complaint.

I'll spare you anything too lengthy. The bullet points: Davis always gives his all defensively, but the short turnarounds between these playoff games (and, probably his lingering right foot stress injury issues) seem to limit how much he can produce on the other end. 

His 40 points in Game 1 of this series (on 60.9% shooting) are sandwiched between 17 efficient points in LA's Game 6 blowout against Memphis (55.6% shooting) and a miserable 18 points in Game 2 of this series (26.7% shooting).

Davis has six times across 14 playoff games followed up a 22+ point night with a scoring night in the teens, and he shot under 46% from the floor in four of those six contests (and under 31% in three of those four). The good news is, he should be on the upswing tonight. He has yet to string together two sub-20 point, sub-.500 games, meaning he's due. Vegas believes he'll score 24.5 points. I think he needs to cover that spread if Los Angeles stands any chance of winning. Take the over.

D'Angelo Russell's Total Assists

We can't count on D-Lo to consistently make shots in this series, although since he's playing at home tonight he may surprise. There's also no guarantee he starts tonight, however, given that Dennis Schroder has been Darvin Ham's clear preference at the point (from a minutes perspective) in both these last two contests.

That said, we're pretty sure D-Lo will be able to cover his 4.5-assist over/under tonight. He's an underrated passer, and given enough run should hit that mark.

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