Lakers vs Clippers Analysis<\/h2>\n
The Los Angeles Clippers open their season as the “road” team at Crypto.com Arena against the Lakers on Thursday evening. The Lakers were steamrolled 123-109 on Tuesday night by the NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors.<\/p>\n
The battle of LA went to the Clippers last season as they swept the series 2-0, however neither team was fully healthy for any significant period of time.<\/p>\n
The Claw Is Back For Clippers<\/h3>\n
Enthusiasm is at an all-time high as the Los Angeles Clippers enter the season fully healthy and as a common pick to win the NBA Championship this season. Clippers centerpiece Kawhi Leonard returns after missing the entire season.<\/p>\n
Leonard hasn’t played since suffering a torn ACL in the Western Conference semifinals in June of 2021. Early signs suggest that Leonard is rounding back into form. Paul George is also fully healthy so the Clips finally have their lethal 1-2 combo on the floor together.<\/p>\n
The Clippers added another All-Star in John Wall who is coming back from a knee injury. It looks like point guard Reggie Jackson is dealing with a groin injury so he is likely to miss this contest.<\/p>\n
The Clippers finished eighth in the Western Conference last season but lost in the play-in tournament to the New Orleans Pelicans. They finished 11th in scoring defense, however this should all improve as they get their star player back who happens to be one of the league’s premiere defenders.<\/p>\n
Lake Show Stumbles<\/h3>\n
The Los Angeles Lakers are already searching for answers after losing 123-109 to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. That game wasn’t even that close as it took a fourth quarter Laker run to cut the lead to a respectable margin.<\/p>\n
The Lakers did get solid games from the “Big 3” as Lebron James had 31 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists while Anthony Davis scored 27 and Russell Westbrook scored 19 with 11 rebounds.<\/p>\n
The Warriors’ bench out-scored the Lakers 41-21. The Lakers struggled with protecting the ball as 21 turnovers led directly to 27 Golden State points. Los Angeles also shot poorly from long distance, going only 10-for-40 from beyond-the-arc. These are two spots where the Lakers had troubles last season and they didn’t do much to address those concerns.<\/p>\n
Lakers vs Clippers Best Bet<\/h2>\n
The Lakers clearly made a conscious effort to run their offense through Anthony Davis on Tuesday against the Warriors. He had a great game, logging a team-high 36 minutes while scoring 27 points on a staggering 22 shot attempts.<\/p>\n
Davis has put up some really solid numbers against the Clippers since joining the Lakers. He has scored 24+ points in six of eight games against the Clips. In the two games where he fell short, Davis left with an injury and only played nine minutes.<\/p>\n
AD has the ability to score from different spots on the floor, making him extremely difficult to guard. The Clippers don’t possess a defender who can guard Davis on the perimeter. Davis has a point total set at 24.5 at DraftKings, which is a total he should get up and over assuming he stays on the court for his full workload.<\/p>\n
Prediction: Anthony Davis OVER 24.5 Points (-120 at Draftkings)<\/p>\n\n\n
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