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The Los Angeles Lakers are desperate for wins in the final week of the regular season as they try to avoid the play-in tournament. They have the seventh best record in the Western Conference at 38-30 and are 1.5 behind the current No. 6 seed Portland Trail Blazers. Los Angeles will look to make up ground on Tuesday night when they host the New York Knicks, which are also 38-30 for the fourth best mark in the East.
LeBron James is likely to return to the court after missing each of the last four games, and Kyle Kuzma is questionable with a back injury. Dennis Schroder and Jared Dudley remain out. For the Knicks, Alec Burks and Immanuel Quickley each missed the last two games and are questionable to return on Tuesday night.
Update: LeBron James is not expected to play Tuesday vs. the Knicks, per Adrian Wojnarowski.
Knicks vs. Lakers, 10:00 p.m. ET, TNT
Pick ATS: Lakers -5
Los Angeles has a significant motivational edge in this spot because they will likely need to win their final four games to have a chance at landing inside the top 6 in the West. Both teams had Monday off and played Sunday in Los Angeles, so there will not be much of a rest advantage for either side. We’re going with LeBron and Anthony Davis in what could be viewed as a must-win game for the Lakers.
Player Prop: Reggie Bullock U2.5 3-pointers (+112)
Bullock has the most 3-pointers attempted and made for the Knicks, but this is not the matchup where he will succeed. The Lakers do well defending three three-point line, allowing just 35.2% of long-range shots to go down, which ranks fourth in the NBA. In addition, they allow the fifth fewest 3-pointers to be attempted. Bullock is averaging exactly 2.5 shots made from deep, and Los Angeles excels in this area defensively. Take the under.
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