Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
The Los Angeles Lakers are 5-12 straight up in their last 17 games against the Los Angeles Clippers and 1-5 against the spread in their last six games against them. The short-handed Lakers will try to upset the Clippers on Thursday night at Staples Center.
The Lakers are an eight-point underdog on the NBA odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. LeBron James will not play in this game as he continues to rest his injured ankle (how the point spread works).
Lakers vs. Clippers | OddsShark Matchup Report
With LeBron James (ankle) and Dennis Schroder (quarantine) both out, Anthony Davis led the Lakers to a 93-89 upset win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Davis scored 25 points on offense and was strong in the defensive court as well with three blocks.
This type of gritty effort on defense is exactly what the Lakers need to compete while they aren’t at 100%. Over the team’s current 2-6 SU slump, the Lakers have allowed 96 points per game in the two wins and 113.5 points per game in the six losses.
The Lakers are 1-3 SU and 0-3-1 ATS in their last four games as a road underdog per the OddsShark NBA Database. Los Angeles was 3-2 SU and 4-1 ATS in its previous five games as a road dog before this recent skid.
The Clippers snapped a three-game losing streak with their 105-100 win over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night. Before their recent three-game slump, the Clippers had been on a tear with a 17-3 SU and 14-5-1 ATS record over their previous 20 games. Los Angeles is battling the Nuggets for the third seed in the Western Conference as the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns appear to have the conference’s top two seeds locked up.
Thursday night’s total is set at 210.5 points at sports betting sites. The UNDER is 6-0 in the Clippers’ last six games.
With the Clippers likely ending up in the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the West and the Lakers currently in the running for the No. 5 or No. 6 seed, it’s possible that these two teams could meet in the first round. That adds some additional weight to this final regular season meeting between them.
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