Los Angeles Lakers vs. Brooklyn Nets Predictions 1/25/22

Los Angeles Lakers (23-24 SU, 19-28-0 ATS) vs. Brooklyn Nets (29-17 SU, 18-27-1 ATS)
When: Tuesday January 25 2022, 07:30 PM (ET)
Where: Barclays Center: Brookyln, New York
TV: SPECSN

Point Spread: LAL -3.5/BRO 3.5 (Opened at LAL -3 at WagerWeb)
Total: 226.0 (Opened at 223)
Money Line: Los Angeles -150/Brooklyn 130)
Power Rating: LAL -2.5

Probable Starting Lineups

Lakers: PG Russell Westbrook, SG Malik Monk, SF Talen Horton-Tucker, PF Lebron James, C Anthony Davis
Nets: PG Patty Mills, SG James Harden, SF Kessler Edwards, PF Day’ron Sharpe, C LaMarcus Aldridge

Key Injuries

Lakers Anthony Davis: knee (QUESTIONABLE) LeBron James: abdominal (PROBABLE) Kendrick Nunn: ankle (OUT)

Nets DeAndre’ Bembry: back (QUESTIONABLE) Nicolas Claxton: hamstring (OUT) Kevin Durant: knee (OUT) Joe Harris: ankle (OUT) Kyrie Irving: personal (QUESTIONABLE) Paul Millsap: personal (OUT)

Recent Form

The Los Angeles Lakers enter today’s game having won 5 of their past 10 games. When playing away from home, Los Angeles is winning at a below .500 rate, having gone 8-12. The Lakers travel to Brooklyn with a plus-minus of -3.3 points as the road team. Overall the Lakers are ranked 22nd among NBA teams in point differential (2.1) while playing the easiest schedule in the league.

For bettors, taking the Los Angeles Lakers to cover the spread has been a losing bet as they have covered in 40.40% of their games. Their season-long plus-minus against the spread is -3.2 points.

On offense, the team’s leading scorer is SF LeBron James. So far, James is averaging 28.97 points per game, placing him 1st among small forwards. With Anthony Davis having missed an extended amount of time, point guard Russell Westbrook has been in charge of cleaning up the glass, hauling in 8.06 boards per game.

The Brooklyn Nets enter today’s game, also having won 5 of their past 10 games. When playing at home, the Nets are an above .500 team, having gone 12-11. As they take on the Lakers at home, the Nets have a negative home plus-minus of -0.9 points. Overall the Nets are ranked 9th among NBA teams in point differential (4.8) while playing the league’s 5th easiest schedule.

For bettors, taking the Brooklyn Nets to cover the spread has been a losing bet as they have covered in 40% of their matchups. Their season-long plus-minus against the spread is -2.2 points.

Heading into this matchup, the Nets will be searching for scoring as they will be without Kevin Durant at 29.25 points per game and point guard Kyrie Irving, as this contest will be played in Brooklyn. Look for Patty Mills and his 3.22 three-pointers per game and James Harden to carry the team’s scoring load.

An Eye On Pace

Coming into this game, both the Lakers and Nets are above the league average in field goal attempts per game. So far, Los Angeles is averaging 89.3 shots per game, placing them 8th in the NBA. However, each team also ranks in the league’s bottom half in three-point attempts. Instead, both the Lakers and Nets prefer to work the ball inside, sitting above the league averasge in points in the paint per contest.

Key Matchups

The key matchup to watch in this game will be how the Nets hold up without their top player in Kevin Durant. On the year, the Nets have been one of the league’s best offensive units, averaging 112.2 points per contest. However, without Durant or Kyrie Irving, the offense tends to become stagnant. Look for James Harden to try to carry the scoring load. However, he will be going against a Lakers defense ranked 12th in the NBA in opponent three-point field goal percentage.

The Historicals

Tonight’s matchup between the Nets and Lakers will be their second matchup of the season, with Brooklyn taking game one by a score of 122-115.

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How the Public is betting the Lakers vs. Nets

65% are betting the Lakers against the spread.
60% are wagering on the game to go Over the posted total of 226

Betting Trends Worth Noting

Lakers are 17-36 ATS in their last 53 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game. Lakers are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games overall. Nets are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games as an underdog.

Joe’s Pick To Cover The Spread

In this game, I recommend taking the Lakers to cover the -3 point spread. Throughout the year, Los Angeles has been one of the fastest-paced teams in the NBA. Look for this to play a factor as James Harden will struggle to carry the load by himself. Even though I don’t see Anthony Davis playing huge minutes in his return to action, his presence will be a boost vs. a depleted Nets unit.

Prop Bets Worth Wagering

My favorite prop bet of the night is to take James Harden to go under his prop of 28.5 points. So far, Harden has surpassed this line in just 22% of his games. Even though he will see an additional workload, I don’t see him going over this line.