LeBron James is sidelined for Tuesday night's game and as a result, the Lakers are an underdog against the Clippers.
The Los Angeles Clippers swept the Los Angeles Lakers in three consecutive seasons and had won 11 in a row against their rival until earlier this year. The Lakers are now working on a winning streak of their own, having beaten the Clippers in November and again earlier in January. However, that run could come to an end Tuesday night with LeBron James (ankle) out.
Few teams in the league are hotter than the Clippers (27–14) at the moment. They’re 8–2 in January and 19–4 since the start of December, which has allowed them to rise up to fourth place in the West. The last several weeks have been a struggle for the Lakers (22–22), who are just 8–12 since winning the in-season tournament and currently occupy a play-in spot.
One of those rare recent wins for the Lakers was a 106–103 victory over the Clippers on January 7 in which James led all scorers with 25 points. The Lakers are 2–2 so far this season without him. The Clippers will be shorthanded as well with Ivica Zubac (calf) sidelined. The Clippers center fell one rebound short of a 20-20 game the last time these teams met.
Spread: Lakers +8.5 (-110) | Clippers -8.5 (-110)
Moneyline: LAL (+290) | LAC (-400)
Total: 232.5 — Over (-118) | Under (-110)
Game Info: Tuesday, Jan. 23 | 10 p.m. ET | TNT
Best Bet: Paul George Over 24.5 Points (-110)
Bold Prediction: Anthony Davis records at least 15 rebounds
Jesse Johnson/USA TODAY Sports
The Lakers stomped the Trail Blazers 134–110 on Sunday to wrap up a four-game home stand 3–1 with wins over the Thunder and Mavericks. D’Angelo Russell erupted for 34 points against Portland and James added 28. Anthony Davis had a quiet night, finishing with just 14 points.
The Lakers’ point total in the Portland game matched a season-high, a bright spot in what’s been a lackluster season on offense. They rank outside the top 20 in offensive rating and don’t have a top-10 defense to compensate on the other end of the floor.
At least the Lakers won’t be leaving crypto.com Arena for this “road” game, which should embolden Darvin Ham’s team as they’re 16–8 at home on the year and just 6–14 on the road. Only the Celtics (20–1) and Bucks (19–3) have been better than the Clippers (18–4) at home. Coach Ty Lue’s team has won seven straight in front of its fans and four of those wins were by double digits.
The James Harden trade has worked wonders for the Clippers as Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Harden himself are all shooting the lights out. Los Angeles leads the NBA in three-point percentages (39.8) and ranks sixth in offensive rating. The Clippers survived off shooting nights from both Leonard and George in a 125–114 win over the Nets on Sunday thanks to Russell Westbrook’s contributions off the bench and a 24-point double-double from Harden.
Zubac’s absence could hurt against the Lakers as the Clippers are already a below average team on the boards and they’ll be missing their leading rebounder against Davis, who’s third in the league in rebounds per game (12.2) and double-doubled in both prior meetings.
Putting aside George’s 12-point game against Brooklyn, January has been his best month of the season. He already has three 30-point games and he’s shooting better than 50% from the field. George finished with just 22 against the Lakers a few weeks ago but he had 35 in the previous matchup. Look for the Clippers to lean on him heavily Tuesday night.
