The Cleveland Cavaliers (19-20) continue to suffer from their royal pains as they sunk below .500 for the first time since November after taking a bitter loss against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. LeBron James and company will now take their talents to Tinseltown, where the Kobe Bryant-led Los Angeles Lakers (12-27) await them. The Lakers have lost their last two games, including a close one against the Miami Heat also on Tuesday.
Across the pond this coming Thursday, the Knicks and the Bucks bring their kind of basketball to Europe as they go up against each other inside the O2 Arena in London. Read a full preview of that game here.
[sc:NBAArticles ]Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Los Angeles Lakers Betting Preview
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles
When: Thursday, January 15, 2015, 10:30PM ET
Line: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Los Angeles Lakers — view all NBA lines
Betting on the Cleveland Cavaliers
[sc:NBA240banner ]LeBron James said he thinks it’s “pretty cool to feel like himself again” after missing two weeks of action because of knee and back ailments. What’s not cool though is Cleveland’s losing streak that has now reached six games following the Cavs’ 107-100 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.
James showed no signs of rust against Phoenix, scoring 33 points while adding seven rebounds and five assists. J.R. Smith joined James on the scoring spree, as he detonated for 29 points. Smith made it rain from the three-point area, making eight triples on 14 attempts. Both players can continue to enjoy this kind of performance on offense against the Lakers, who are giving up 106.1 PPG.
A game against the defensively challenged Lakers should be good news for Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, who each had an ugly shooting night in the Suns game. Love (17.7 PPG) and Irving (20.7 PPG) combined for only 18 points on a salty 7-for-25 from the field.
The Cavaliers are scoring 99.8 PPG thus far this season. The under is 5-0 in all of their last five games.
Which team will end their skid on Thursday, the Cavs or the Lakers? Create a betting account now and put your own prediction to the test.
Betting on the Los Angeles Lakers
Kobe Bryant returned to action after missing three games to rest, but it was still the same usual result for the Lakers. The Lakers failed to find enough offense despite doing a pretty good job on the other end of the floor, and lost to the Miami Heat, 78-75.
The 78 points Miami scored was the fewest by a Lakers opponent this season. Furthermore, Los Angeles held the Heat to only 42.3 percent shooting. That being said, the Lakers clearly were dominated inside the paint as Miami scored 58 points inside the shaded area. It’s unlikely that the Lakers could keep up this kind of defense moving forward so it would be critical for the team to recover their shooting touch.
The Lakers are averaging 100.7 PPG but was way off that number against Miami as they went just 29-for-92 (31.5%) from the field. Bryant in particular, made just three of his 19 attempts for 12 points.
Nick Young (14.3 PPG) continues to be cold on offense. Young hasn’t scored in double figures over the Lakers’ last three games, scoring a total of 25 points during that stretch.
The Lakers are 3-1 ATS in their last four home games against Cleveland.
Writer’s Prediction
Cleveland wins, 106-97.
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