Lakers Betting Odds: Can LeBron James Win in Return to South Beach?

Your 14-20 Los Angeles Lakers hope to cook up a little Florida win streak tonight when they face off against the 17-17 Miami heat on the second night of a back-to-back pair of games.

Let's survey the gambling market for some of the best action, via The Action Network.

The Game Spread

Now that Jimmy Butler is confirmed to be available tonight, the game spread favors the Miami Heat to win at home by a whopping nine points. Jimmy G Buckets (the "G" stands for "Gets") loves to step up for big matchups, and he has long been one of the best LeBron James defenders in the league. As his nickname suggests, he can also pour in offense on the other end. He will have a better, deeper team behind him, despite the club's weird stubborn refusal to add an actual power forward replacement for departed free agent P.J. Tucker. The Lakers have also gone a mere 1-3 playing on the second nights of back-to-back sets, though that one win was also the only time LeBron James was available for the team across those four bouts. If Anthony Davis were healthy, it'd be another story. Given that he's not, take the over.

LeBron James's Total Points

The 37-year-old All-Star's over/under spread is projected as 28.5 points tonight. He scored 28 last night against the Magic, ending his stretch of consecutive 30+ point nights at seven games, and was playing against a poorer team than Miami, with more rest. For the year, King James is actually averaging "only" 27.8 points a game, ninth-most in the NBA. Take the under, and assume James plays more deferentially tonight, with more triples and long jumpers and frequent passing. On that note...

LeBron James's Total Assists

This number is set at a fairly pessimistic 5.5 dimes. Russell Westbrook at 6.5 is the Lakers' most prolific projected distributor for tonight. Anyway, back to LBJ. The 6'9" All-Star forward, who is averaging 6.6 dishes per game this season (though he had "just" five last night), should exceed that sum, even against the dogged defense of this Heat club.

The fun tips off at 4:30 p.m. (i.e. five minutes from now, so get those bets in!), and is being broadcast locally on both NBA TV and Spectrum SportsNet.