Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA
Los Angeles Lakers vs Washington Wizards: Can Washington win on back-to-back nights?
The Los Angeles Lakers are visiting the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena on Wednesday.
The Lakers are going after the top 6 in the West
The Los Angeles Lakers are ninth in the Western Conference with a 43-33 record. They have won seven of the last eight games and are coming off a 128-111 win over the Toronto Raptors. The Lakers are eighth in the league, scoring 117.8 points per game, and are ranked third, shooting 49.8% from the field. LeBron James leads the team, averaging 25.4 points, 8.1 assists, and 7.3 rebounds per game, followed by Anthony Davis, who has 24.7 points and 12.7 rebounds per game.
The Wizards are playing their best basketball of the year
The Washington Wizards are 15th in the Eastern Conference with a 15-61 record. They have won four of the last seven games and are coming off a 117-113 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. The Wizards are the worst three-point shooting team in the league with 34.7% and are ranked ninth with 27.9 assists per game. Kyle Kuzma is the leading scorer on the team with 22.3 points per game, followed by Jordan Poole with 17.
Betting Trends
Washington has won 5 of the last 6 games against the Lakers and 4 of the last 5 games between these two teams have gone over the total point line. The Wizards have played over in 5 of the last 6 games played in April and 12 of the last 18 games played on Wednesday. The Lakers have gone over in 9 of their last 13 games overall and 5 of the last 6 games against teams from the Southeast Division.
Prediction and Conclusion
Both teams played and won last night, the Lakers in Toronto and the Wizards at home against the Bucks. The Lakers are in excellent form and will need to stay on that level if they want to have a chance to get in the top 6 in the West, as they are currently 2.5 games behind the New Orleans Pelicans. The Wizards have no chance to save the season, but it seems like they started playing better once they were technically eliminated from the playoff race. The Wizards are one of the worst defensive teams in the league, and this will be “run and gun” basketball all night long, which will take the game over 233.5 points in total.
