Oklahoma City (23-13) at LA Lakers (21-16)
When: Wednesday, January 2nd, 2019
Where: Staples Center,
Los Angeles, California
Time: 10:35 ET | TV: ESPN
Opening Odds: Oklahoma City -4.5/229
The Los Angeles Lakers are starting to adjust to life without LeBron James, and will have to get by without him for at least another game when they host Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday night at Staples Center. The Lakers are 1-2 without their star after he went down on Christmas Day at Golden State with a groin injury in a game the Lakers won easily, so you can almost say they are 2-2 without James. Their first win entirely without him came on Sunday night when the Lakers outscored the Sacramento Kings 18-4 down the stretch for a 121-114 victory and currently own the sixth seed out West – a game and a half clear of ninth-place Sacramento. The Thunder have dropped three of five, but earned a 122-102 home victory over Dallas after losing to the Mavericks the night before on the road. Oklahoma City sits just a game behind Denver in the Northwest Division and the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. The team’s split their four meetings last season and this will be the first in 2018-19.
Westbrook recorded his 114th triple-double in Monday’s win over Dallas after shooting 4-of-22 and missing all eight 3-point attempts the previous night. His 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists marked his 10th triple-double of the season after making 13-of-24 overall shots and was 9-of-15 on mid-range jumpers. Paul George chipped in 22 on Monday and has eclipsed 20 points in each of his last 11 games, including seven of more than 30 points.
Los Angeles has been spreading the points around without James and both Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma put forth terrific performances on Sunday night. Ingram recorded a season-best nine assists and scored nine of his 21 points in the fourth period and also contributed seven rebounds. Kuzma had a similar game with 18 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. Guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope came off the bench to score a season-high 26 and five 3-pointers with 17 points coming in the second half. Fellow guard Josh Hart also had a season-high with 22 points against Sacramento.
The Thunder do well on the road against sub-.500 teams, but struggle sometimes with the better teams. L.A. plays well at home against good teams and I think the books are giving Oklahoma City too many points here. The Lakers gained some confidence on Sunday with the comeback win and I believe they can keep this one close.
Pick: Lakers +5.5
- Thunder are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 vs. NBA Pacific.
- Thunder are 20-8 ATS in their last 28 Wednesday games.
- Thunder are 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games following a straight up win of more than 10 points.
- Thunder are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games playing on 1 days rest.
- Thunder are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
- Thunder are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
- Lakers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Lakers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Lakers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
- Lakers are 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 Wednesday games.
- Lakers are 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 games playing on 2 days rest.
- Lakers are 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a ATS win.
- Lakers are 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 games following a straight up win.
- Over is 5-1 in Thunder last 6 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Under is 12-4 in Thunder last 16 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Under is 16-6 in Thunder last 22 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
- Under is 5-2 in Thunder last 7 road games.
- Under is 40-17 in Thunder last 57 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
- Under is 8-1-1 in Lakers last 10 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
- Under is 6-1-1 in Lakers last 8 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
- Under is 13-3-1 in Lakers last 17 home games.
- Under is 4-1 in Lakers last 5 vs. NBA Northwest.
- Under is 4-1 in Lakers last 5 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Under is 5-2 in Lakers last 7 overall.
- Over is 5-2 in Lakers last 7 games following a straight up win.
- Under is 10-4-1 in Lakers last 15 games following a ATS win.
- Under is 5-2 in Lakers last 7 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Under is 5-2 in Lakers last 7 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Under is 13-6 in Lakers last 19 vs. Western Conference.
- Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.
- Favorite is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings.
- Home team is 16-5 ATS in the last 21 meetings.
- Over is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings in Los Angeles.
- Thunder are 9-4 ATS in the last 13 meetings.
- Thunder are 3-7 ATS in the last 10 meetings in Los Angeles.
