NBA Betting? Cavs vs Lakers Predictions
Thursday night TNT NBA action sees the Cleveland Cavaliers taking on the Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles, California. Cappers Picks provides free NBA basketball handicapping tips all season long.
This time around, both stars are oddly just looking for a win.
NBA Odds
Cleveland Cavaliers (19-20) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (12-27)
Thursday, Jan 15
10:30 PM ET
Staples Center (Los Angeles, California)
TNT
NBA Basketball Betting Lines: Cleveland -6
NBA Basketball O/U: 204.5
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When Lebron James and Kobe Bryant meet on Thursday, they’ll be looking to get their teams back into the win column, something that has been hard as of late.
The Cavaliers welcomed back Lebron James from injury with a loss to Phoenix last time out. The Lakers have saw Kobe Bryant miss a game tying three pointer at the buzzer to cap off his poor shooting performance in their loss to the Heat.
Cleveland
Nobody expected Cleveland to be a sub .500 team this far into the season. That however is the case, as the Cavs come in with a 19-20 record and are in the middle of a 6 game losing skid. Cleveland will hope to now make history as no team has ever won the NBA Championship being under .500 this late in the season.
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Before they even think about a Championship, they have a lot of problems to figure out.
Head Coach David Blatt has been the center of attention this season and things got even more spotlighted on him during the Cavaliers game with the Suns. From benching Kevin Love in the 4th quarter to Lebron pushing him away from a ref, speculations and rumors continue to fly about whether or not he’s the man to lead Cleveland.
Regardless of all that, Cleveland needs to come out of Los Angeles with a win on Thursday. It’ll start on the defensive end. Cleveland ranks 19th in points allowed with 100.1 a game. They’ve allowed over 100 points in 4 straight contests.
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On the offensive end, Love, Irving, and James need to get in sync. The three were expected to be unstoppable prior to the season starting. With all 3 healthy, getting some chemistry going between them is vital for the Cavaliers to have any future success.
Los Angeles
While expectations weren’t even close for the Lakers as they were for the Cavaliers, Kobe and company are trying to build their younger players, while watching Kobe potentially finish his career out. Bryant continues to sit out various games due to fatigue, but he’ll be in the lineup for the 2nd straight game come Thursday night. Bryant is coming off a terrible shooting performance in the team’s loss to Miami.
On paper, Los Angeles isn’t pretty. Ranking 16th in points for (100.7 PPG) and 29th in points against (106.8 PPG), the Lakers haven’t had much success this season in terms of wins.
Los Angeles will need contributions from Carlos Boozer and Nick Young in order to have any chance on Thursday. Boozer and Young shot a combined 3 of 19 in the loss to Miami and will look to have a rebounding performance against Cleveland.
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The Lakers finish up a 4 game home stand that has seen them go 1-2 with their lone win coming against Orlando.
NBA Handicapping Trends:
- Cavaliers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 vs. NBA Pacific.
- Cavaliers are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games playing on 1 days rest.
- Lakers are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a ATS loss.
- Lakers are 3-1-2 ATS in their last 6 games vs. a team with a losing S.U. record.
Free 4* NBA Basketball Pick: Los Angeles +6
Bettors continue to back Cleveland expecting them to break out every game.
Los Angeles 105, Cleveland 104
While the Lakers are an opponent where that could happen, laying points with Cleveland just isn’t safe right now. Expect a close, down to the wire game in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Check out our Updated NBA Betting Odds.
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