Los Angeles Lakers vs. Brooklyn Nets Preview
Where: Barclays Center — Brooklyn, NY
When: Wednesday, December 14, 2016, 7:30 PM ET
Line: Los Angeles Lakers (+1) vs. Brooklyn Nets (-1); total: 228.0 – view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast: TWSN / YES
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Betting on the Los Angeles Lakers (+1)
The tough times continued for the purple and gold on Monday night, suffering their seventh-consecutive loss at the hands of the Kings, who used a 39-point third quarter to blow out their Pacific Division rivals, 116-92.
Now the Lakers are only another loss away from tying last year’s season-high eight-game slide. Up next on their long seven-game road trip is a flight to New York for a regular-season finale with the Nets. LA’s looking to get the sweep here after beating Brooklyn last month back at the Staples Center.
D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle feasted upon the Nets during that meeting, combining for 49 points while the latter recorded his second career triple-double (17 points, 14 rebounds, 10 dimes). Both will certainly try to replicate those efforts.
Meanwhile, Lou Williams and Jordan Clarkson both had rough shooting nights (7-of-23 combined) versus Sacramento, so expect them to bounce back and, hopefully, take better shot selections.
The Lakers, however, need to stop playing high-school level defense. LA has given up 103 or more points, including 134 points to Houston a few nights ago, in its current losing skid. It’s hard to see them, or any other team, winning games with a defense like that.
Los Angeles is 3-7 SU and ATS in its last 10 road games.
Betting on the Brooklyn Nets (-1)
Brooklyn put together a resilient team performance in its game with Houston on Monday night, only to find themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard for the second-straight time, 122-118.
Brook Lopez led the way with 26 points, the pair of Sean Kilpatrick and Isaiah Whitehead scored 17 and 13, respectively, and Jeremy Lin contributed 10 points in his return from a five-week absence. Yes, the Nets didn’t get the win, but these are some positives that they can carry into tonight’s home game with the slumping Lakers.
The Nets, losers of five of their last six games (4-2 ATS), are in line for a win here. After all, they’re up against an LA defense that’s allowing 111. 1 points per game this season, including 117.7 points in the previous three games.
Lopez will likely light up the stat sheet again. He’s collected 24 or more points in three of the past four contests and is averaging 24.1 points per game across 13 career games with the purple and gold. Lopez also dropped 30 points and snagged 10 boards in the first encounter with LA last month.
Writer’s Prediction
The Lakers (+1) finally stop the bleeding, escaping Brooklyn with a 119-115 victory.
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