Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
The Los Angeles Lakers fell to 0-4 straight up and against the spread over their last four games with a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night. The Lakers are favored to snap their losing streak on Friday night when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Los Angeles is a 3.5-point favorite on the NBA odds over Cleveland at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. This will be the first game in which the Lakers are a betting favorite while LeBron James and Anthony Davis are both out.
Cavs vs. Lakers | OddsShark Matchup Report
Former Laker Danny Green torched his old team for 28 points in Philadelphia’s 109-101 win on Thursday. Kyle Kuzma had 25 points in the loss and Dennis Schroder and Montrezl Harrell each scored 20, but for the second straight game Los Angeles was thoroughly outplayed in the third quarter (35-17 Philadelphia) to put the game out of reach. The Lakers surprisingly stayed put at the trade deadline as they were unable to work out a deal for Kyle Lowry or any of the other players that they were pursuing.
The Lakers are 4-1 SU over their last five games against the Cleveland Cavaliers but just 1-3 ATS in their last four against them per the OddsShark NBA Database.
Darius Garland scored 22 points and added nine assists in Cleveland’s 103-94 win over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night. The Cavaliers improved to 3-2 SU and ATS over their last five games with upsets as 7.5-point underdogs against the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, and the Bulls. Since their abysmal 1-12 SU and 0-13 ATS run through most of February, Cleveland is a respectable 7-6 SU and 8-5 ATS over its last 13 games. Cleveland traded JaVale McGee to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday and is expected to buy out Andre Drummond after failing to find a deal for him.
Friday night’s total is set at 208 points at sports betting sites. The OVER is 6-1 in Los Angeles’ last seven home games against Cleveland.
The Lakers front office appears to be content to just wait out the returns of Anthony Davis and LeBron James instead of making a move. This could work out fine in the long term, but in the short term this injury-depleted team is likely to continue to struggle.
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