The Los Angeles Lakers (3-2) play the Toronto Raptors (1-4) in a game between teams from different conferences. Three games ago, the Lakers lost to Cleveland 134–110. They are now third in the Pacific Division. This means they are currently in the top half of their division. They had a challenging game against Cleveland. They gave up a 14-0 run in the first quarter and only made 6 of 28 three-point shots. They are led by Anthony Davis (30.6 PPG, 12.2 RPG) and LeBron James (21.2 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 6.6 APG). The Lakers are ranked 11th in offence, which is a good position, and 21st in defence, which is not as strong.
The Raptors, last in the Atlantic Division, lost to Charlotte 138–133, even though they scored 133 points. They’ve had trouble on defense, giving up an average of 124 points per game. Toronto is 10th in scoring offense and 29th in scoring defense. RJ Barrett leads the team with 25.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game, and Scottie Barnes adds 19.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game.
Bet: This game could have a lot of points because the Lakers are good at scoring, and the Raptors are bad at defence. On the other hand, the Lakers’ recent defense play and the Raptors’ ability to score points make the over a good bet. If you’re not familiar with the terms, ‘over’ means the total points scored by both teams will be more than the specified number, and ‘under’ means the total points scored will be less than the specified number. Place your bet on ‘under’ 227.5.