Experts Make Picks for Suns-Lakers: Spread, Under and Prop Bet
The Phoenix Suns hope to stop their recent losing ways in a road trip against the Los Angeles Lakers tonight.
Phoenix - still without Kevin Durant and Deandre Ayton - have lost their last four-of-five games and will battle a Los Angeles squad still without their star player in LeBron James, too.
The Lakers are -1.5 favorites on SI Sportsbook, but what do betting experts believe will unfold in LA?
Experts Make Picks for Suns-Lakers: Spread, Under and Prop Bet
Action Network: Lakers ML and Spread
Andrew O'Connor-Watts: "The Suns aren’t out of the woods, but currently sit in fourth place and they’ll be without DeAndre Ayton for the second straight game. Without Ayton, the Suns will struggle to contain the Lakers and Anthony Davis who has played great in James’ absence.
"The Lakers were already the superior rebounding team since the trade deadline, ranking sixth in Rebounding Percentage (51.4), while the Suns have been just average at 50.3 (15th), according to NBA Advanced Stats. But without Ayton (groin), that advantage should widen even more.
"The Suns own the recent head-to-head matchups (9-1 straight up, 8-2 ATS), but neither team looks like they did in December when these two last played each other.
"I love the Lakers as short underdogs in this spot. I took them on the moneyline at +105 and would take them down to -1.5 on the spread."
Sportsbook Wire: Under 229.5
Seth Orlemann: "The Under is 9-1 in the Lakers’ last 10 home games, 7-1 in their last 8 home games against a team with a losing road record, 6-1-1 in their last 8 games following an outright win and 6-1 in their last 7 Wednesday games. They have also hit the Under in 3 straight outings.
"The Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings between these 2 franchises in Los Angeles and 8-3-1 in their last 12 meetings overall.
"With top stars sidelined on both sides, each offense will not flow the same as usual which will aid the Under in this matchup."
Covers: Anthony Davis OVER 25.5 Points
Jason Logan: "Davis has been losing some of his offensive touches since the return of point guard D’Angelo Russell to the Lakers lineup on March 10, but Russell takes on a sound Suns perimeter with capable defenders that can switch without consequences with smaller forwards on the floor. That will force the ball out of his hands and see L.A. start the bulk of their offensive sets with dump-ins to Davis.
"While we can nitpick Davis' work, he has carried this team since LeBron James went down in late February. In those 11 games, he’s averaging 26.2 points and tonight’s rising team total for the Lakers (114.5) puts his projected output around 26.8 points.
"Some books are dealing Davis’ point total as low as 25.5 (Over -125) and when you factor in the massive hole inside for the Suns with Ayton out and consider what they have left to throw out there, I like Davis to have an above-average output in La-La Land tonight.
"My best bet: Anthony Davis Over 25.5 points (-125)"
