Lakers Underdog Play at Raptors on Thursday NBA Odds

The Raptors are also only 1-3 ATS in their previous four home games versus Western Conference opponents.

The dream of making the playoffs may be all but over for the Los Angeles Lakers (31-36) despite adding four-time NBA MVP LeBron James this past offseason, but that does not mean there is no longer any value wagering on them.

Especially this Thursday visiting the Atlantic Division-leading Toronto Raptors (48-20) - a team James tortured in his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers - as the Lakers are 10-point road underdogs on the NBA odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.

Toronto trails the Milwaukee Bucks by three games for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference while Los Angeles was 6.5 games behind the Utah Jazz for the last spot in the Western Conference heading into Wednesday's action. That said, the Lakers are coming off a 123-107 win over the Chicago Bulls as two-point road favorites on Tuesday, overcoming a 20-point deficit behind 36 points and 10 rebounds from James.

The Lakers ended a five-game losing streak and covered for the first time in nine games.

Meanwhile, the Raptors are just 4-4 straight up in their past eight games, going 3-9 against the spread in their last 12, according to the OddsShark NBA Database. They are also only 1-3 ATS in their previous four home games versus Western Conference opponents, so fade them again in this spot and back the visitors as Thursday's best bet.

Later on Thursday night, the Denver Nuggets (44-22) will try to maintain their lead in the Northwest Division as 11-point home betting favorites hosting the Dallas Mavericks (27-40). The Nuggets were 3.5 games ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Portland Trail Blazers in the Northwest going into Wednesday's action, and they are also hoping to stay in the No. 2 spot in the West with those teams hot on their trail in addition to the Houston Rockets.

The Mavericks are riding a six-game losing streak to go along with a 2-4 ATS mark during that stretch, last earning a victory on February 27 against the Indiana Pacers. That remains the team's lone win in its last 12 games (3-9 ATS), and Dallas is just 1-4 SU in the past five meetings with Denver as well but 3-2 ATS.