Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
The Los Angeles Lakers entered the NBA All-Star break with a 2-6 straight up and 3-5 against the spread record over their last eight games. The Lakers will look to get things back on track in the second half of the season starting with a win on Friday night over the Indiana Pacers.
Los Angeles is a 4.5-point home favorite on the NBA odds over Indiana at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Over the first half of the season, the Lakers went 11-8 SU and 7-12 ATS at home.
Pacers vs. Lakers | OddsShark Matchup Report
With LeBron James taking the night off to rest, the Lakers still managed to score 120 points in their last game before the break against the Sacramento Kings. Dennis Schroder led the way with 28 points while Montrezl Harrell scored 26 points with 12 rebounds and Kyle Kuzma added 25 points with 13 rebounds.
But despite the strong game in the offensive zone, the Lakers wound up losing 123-120. They come out of the break with a 24-13 SU and 17-20 ATS record sitting 1.5 games behind the Phoenix Suns for second place in the West and 3.5 games behind the Utah Jazz in first.
The Lakers are just 1-4 SU and ATS in their last five games against the Pacers per the OddsShark NBA Database. All four of those losses were on the road though; the home team is 7-0 SU and ATS in the last seven games between Los Angeles and Indiana.
The Pacers may have needed the All-Star break even more than the Lakers did. With a 113-103 loss to the Denver Nuggets in their last game, the Pacers fell to 1-5 SU and 0-6 ATS over their last six games. Indiana opened the season with an 11-7 SU and 10-8 ATS start before going 5-12 SU and 4-13 ATS over its last 17 games. Caris Levert is expected to make his Pacers debut on Saturday against the Phoenix Suns but will not play on Friday against the Lakers.
Friday night’s total is set at 216.5 points at sports betting sites. The UNDER is 5-2 in the Lakers’ last seven games against Indiana.
Both of these teams are looking for a fresh start to the second half of the season in this one. Anthony Davis’ return is still likely at least a week away, but the Lakers don’t want to wait until then to start stringing some wins together.
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