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In the first game of a doubleheader on TNT Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers will try to pick up another win on their five-game road trip when they take on the New York Knicks.
The Lakers (9-9) snapped their two-game losing streak with a five-point win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. The Knicks (9-8) are coming off six-point road loss to the Chicago Bulls over the weekend, where All-Star forward Julius Randle scored 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. We’ll go over some ideal picks on DraftKings Sportsbook centered around the game here.
Update — Anthony Davis (illness) is questionable to play in tonight’s game vs. the Knicks. The illness is non-Covid related.
Lakers vs. Knicks, 7:30 p.m. ET
Pick ATS: Lakers +4.5
The Lakers are noticeable underdogs for tonight’s game due to the one-game suspension for LeBron James. Without James on the floor this season, Los Angeles is 3-5. This also means that the Lakers will have to run their offense through All-Star forward Anthony Davis, which has worked at times this season.
Davis currently leads Los Angeles in points (24.6) and rebounds (10.5), while also shooting 52.2% from the field. The Lakers are 1-4 against the spread in their last five games and 2-2 ATS when they are road underdogs. That being said, the Knicks should be able to keep the game in reach and ultimately win, if they can get some balanced scoring. In the last five games, New York is averaging 99 points per game, which won’t win many games in the NBA in 2021. To make matters worst, the Knicks are 1-5 ATS in their last six games at MSG and 3-6 ATS as home favorites. I trust Randle to do what he can to carry the offense, but will guys like Kemba Walker, Evan Fournier, and RJ Barrett step up? That’s a tough question to answer.
Over/Under: Over 213.5
Over the last five games, the Knicks have picked up things on the defensive side of the ball, only giving up 100 points per game. With their offense in a tailspin, Thibs still has his team playing good defensive ball on the other end.
However, they are facing a Lakers’ team that is scoring 109.6 points per game in their last five games and two of those games were without James. The total has gone over in four of the Knicks’ last five games against the Lakers at Madison Square Garden.
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