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The Los Angeles Lakers will remain without LeBron James (abdominal strain) for their matchup vs. the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night. James is expected to miss a few more games before potentially returning to the lineup next week. Without James, the Lakers fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder — again — this time 107-104. The Blazers snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over the Indiana Pacers in their previous game.
Let’s take a look at the odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook for Lakers-Blazers.
Lakers vs. Trail Blazers, 10:30 p.m. ET
Pick ATS: Lakers +5.5
This is a tricky spread, so shoutout to DKSB for making a solid line. The Lakers have played in six games decided by fewer than double digit points this season. The other three games were decided by around 10 points, so most of the time LA is playing in close contests regardless of opponent. Damian Lillard is still slumping for Portland, averaging just 17.8 points while shooting 33 percent from the floor and 21 percent from distance. Lillard can go off at any point but for now, he’s hamstringing the Blazers.
The Lakers should have Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook for this game. AD is questionable to play with a thumb injury, so be on the lookout for any new info on his status. IF Davis can’t play, then we’re switch things up and taking the Blazers at -5.5. The spread being 5.5 points for Portland suggests the books still aren’t completely sure on AD. There’s definitely an edge getting this line now as opposed to later.
Over/Under: Under 221.5
We’ll roll with the under in this game. The point total is very, very high. Overall, this season the under is hitting more often, mostly because of the new shooting foul rules, but also because it feels like more teams are playing defense. The under is 3-2 for LA and 4-1 for Portland over each team’s past five games. If Davis sits, that’s a big hit to the over being viable. No AD would also mean this game has a good shot of not being very competitive. Dame’s struggles also give us some solace with taking the under.
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