NBA: Golden State Warriors vs. LA Lakers Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Golden State Warriors arrive in LA, where they face the Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena. These two teams are not only the division rivals and have a long history between themselves, but are arguably the two most popular franchises in the NBA right now because of Steph Curry and LeBron James. Now, we don’t need to write too much about their personal rivalry and all the fantastic clashes from the past. Regarding the current situation, the Warriors are in a better position, even though their form is pretty bad. They are in the upper part of the standings, while the LAL struggle, and sit in the play-in zone. 

Preview

Golden State Warriors (43-20, -220) have only two wins in the past nine games, which is a bit surprising for Steve Kerr’s unit. The Dub Nation was very close to the Suns and were chasing the franchise from Arizona, yet now, they might lose event that second seed. 

The Warriors have five losses in the recent six games, three in a row right now, to the Mavs, the Timberwolves, and the Mavs again. The most recent one was in Texas, with GSW losing 122-113. Steph wasn’t in the usual mode, having only 21 points, 4-for-5 for three, nine assists and five boards. 

The top scorer in Kerr’s team was Jordan Poole, who had 23 points off the bench in 27 minutes. Andrew Wiggins had 17 buckets, Klay scored 16, and Moses Moody 13 in 16 minutes he played off the bench as well.

LA Lakers (27-35, +225) lost four consecutive events, seven of the past eight, 11 of the latest 14. Now that tells a lot in what kind of a slump are the purple and gold right now. They’ve recently fallen before the Clippers, the Pelicans, the Mavs, and the Clippers again.

This last loss to the local rivals was one of the worst this year, as Clips poured 132 points on the Lakers’ defense and allowed 111. For many, this was the ultimate proof of the LAL’s collapse. The talks about LeBron’s exit are getting louder and louder, the same as the booes each time Russell Westbrook has the ball.

LBJ had 26 points with eight boards against LAC, Westbrook 17 and eight rebounds too, while Melo dropped 13 off the bench. Wayne Ellington and Malik Monk both had 12 points.

Head to Head

The Warriors won both of the previous meetings with the Lakers. The first was on October 19, when they triumphed at the Crypto.com Arena, 121-114. The other event was held recently, on February 12, at the Chase Center. GSW squeezed out a 117-115 victory.

Prediction

Now both teams have problems, but the Lakers’ are much deeper and let’s say structural. On the other side, the Warriors aren’t focused 100%, and Kerr still mixes up things a lot, trying variations for the playoffs. That’s not the situation with the Lakers, who simply can’t do better than they currently are. Everything with the LAL is toxic, which is why we bet on the Warriors to win this event and get back on the winning track. Not only that, we are backing them up to cover a 5.5-point spread.

Pick: Lakers -5.5