Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA – Photo by Icon sport
Cleveland Cavaliers vs Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James hosts his former team
The Cleveland Cavaliers are visiting the Los Angeles Lakers at crypto.com Arena on Saturday.
The Cavaliers are having an excellent season
The Cleveland Cavaliers are third in the Eastern Conference with a 46-31 record. They have lost three of the last five games and are going into this one after a 122-101 loss to the Phoenix Suns. The Cavs are fourth in the league, allowing 46.1% shooting from the field, and are ranked seventh, allowing 109.9 points per game. Donovan Mitchell is the best player on the team, averaging 26.8 points per game.
The Lakers are going for the top 6 in the West
The Los Angeles Lakers are ninth in the Western Conference with a 44-33 record. They have won eight of the last nine games and are coming off a 125-120 win over the Washington Wizards. The Lakers are second in the league, shooting 49.9% from the field, and seventh, shooting 37.6% from three-point territory. LeBron James leads the team with 25.4 points, 8.1 assists, and 7.3 rebounds per game.
Betting Trends
The Lakers have won 6 of the last 8 games against the Cavaliers. Los Angeles is 8-1 SU in the last nine games overall, 13-1 SU in the last 14 games against teams from the Eastern Conference and 5-1 SU in the last six games played in April. The Cavaliers are 3-6 SU in the last nine games overall, 1-4 SU in the last five games against teams from the Western Conference and 1-4 SU in the last five games played in April.
Prediction and Conclusion
The Lakers are playing their best basketball of the season, winning eight of the last nine, but that is still not enough to secure a playoff spot. The Lakers are currently ninth in the West and will have to keep playing at a high level in order to climb into the top six teams in the conference. They are coming back home from a six-game road trip, losing only one game in Indiana. The Cavaliers are tonight in LA, and LeBron James will lack motive against his former team. The Cavs are having an excellent season, being in the top three in the East, but will have no chance in this game. James and Davis play the way they are at the moment, and with the Lakers being only a couple of wins away from the playoffs, the win will stay in LA.
