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LeBron James and the Lakers visits the unbeaten Cavs, who are short favorites on the NBA odds

LeBron James and the Lakers visits the unbeaten Cavs, who are short favorites on the NBA odds

Written by on October 29, 2024

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It’s always newsworthy when LeBron James returns to his pseudo-hometown of Cleveland, and he will do so with the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night with the unbeaten Cavaliers as short favorites on the NBA odds.

LA Lakers at Cleveland: 2024 NBA Expert Analysis in Week 2

Opening NBA Lines Subject to Change: Cavs -4.5 (total 226.5)
Expert Prediction: Cavs 109, Lakers 106
 

Los Angeles Lakers +145

The Lakers won their first three games at home but then lost 109-105 in Phoenix on Monday in their first road game of the year. Los Angeles took an 83-76 lead into the fourth. Kevin Durant made back-to-back jumpers to give the Suns a 105-101 lead with 2:17 left. LeBron James responded with a 3-pointer with 1:58 left to cut the margin to 105-104, but the Lakers never regained the lead. James finished with 11 points, narrowly extending his NBA-record streak of at least 10 points in a game to 1,226. He hit a three-pointer late to get to 11 points. James has failed to reach the 20-point mark in two of his first four appearances this season.

The ball was in his hands with a chance to tie, but the Suns would foul him before he could get a shot up and an intentionally missed free throw didn’t bounce the Lakers’ way. The Lakers shot just 21 for 50 inside the paint, with James, who shot 67.3% inside the paint last season, going 0 for 5.

LeBron James

“Wins and losses are inevitable in this league,” LeBron said. “How you play and how you continue to play each and every game is what defines what type of team you want to be. Even with the loss tonight, I think we did some great things and some things we could be better at, obviously. We had a 14-point second quarter that got them back in the game. We started the fourth quarter up seven and we let them get right back into the game, so we could be a lot better there. But we did a lot of good things.”

Anthony Davis

Davis was stellar with 29 points and 15 rebounds – the 29 points were the fewest scored this season for AD. He’s averaging 32.8 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.5 blocks per game to open the campaign and is an MVP candidate.

“It’s very important that he’s the main focal point for us every single night,” James, 39, said. “We know what he’s going to do defensively, but offensively we have to find him in multiple places on the floor throughout the whole game.”

Austin Reaves

Reaves added 23 points and eight rebounds. Reaves has reached the 20-point mark in two of his four outings this season, and coincidentally, both have come against the Suns. Reaves is enjoying a strong start to the campaign with averages of 19.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists per contest while shooting 48 percent from three-point range.

With the Lakers trailing 107-104 with 37 seconds left after Davis blocked a Devin Booker jumper that would have put the Suns ahead by five, Reaves missed a potential game-tying open 3-pointer out of a timeout with Booker (game-high 33 points) grabbing the rebound.

“It was a great look, it just didn’t go,” Reaves said. “You wish you could have those back. I’ve been thinking about it ever since the game ended. If I make that shot, a tie game, maybe we get a stop and we get a bucket.

Christian Koloko

Backup big man Koloko has been medically cleared to play by the NBA’s fitness-to-play panel. He will begin practicing with the Lakers and will ramp up to play for the first time since a blood clot issue threatened his career last year. L.A. has been intrigued by Koloko, who has not played since April 2023 and now is expected to provide another center to play alongside Davis – but Koloko will need a handful of practices before debuting so it won’t be Wednesday. Jarred Vanderbilt (right foot surgery recovery) and Christian Wood (left knee surgery recovery) remain out.

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Odds provided by MyBookie Sportsbook

 

Cleveland Cavaliers -172

The Cavs improved to 4-0 with a 110-104 win at the Knicks on Monday – New York led by as many as 13 in the second half – for the team’s best start since beginning defense of their 2016 NBA title by starting 6-0.

Darius Garland

Garland led Cleveland with a season-high 34 points on Monday. He scored 16 points in the final frame, including two 3-pointers in a 36-second span that pushed the Cavs’ lead out to eight. On the season, Garland is averaging 19.3 points and 5.0 assists while hitting 54.7 percent of his shots from the field. Donovan Mitchell added 24 points and Evan Mobley 17 points and eight rebounds. The Cavaliers are 28-7 in Mitchell’s last 35 regular season games since last January.

Evan Mobley

Mobley and the Cavaliers were much better on the glass in the second half than the first. Coach Kenny Atkinson challenged his team in the locker room after they allowed 11 offensive boards in the first half, and it worked. New York only grabbed two in the second half, and Cleveland rallied to pick up the win. Mobley and Jarrett Allen (15 points, 15 rebounds, one assist, and one steal) combined to grab 23 rebounds.

It was Mobley’s 93rd career multi-block game and he ranks 7th in the NBA in multi-block games since entering the NBA in 2021. He has opened the season with 4-straight multi-block games and his 10 total blocked shots are tied-3rd most in the NBA. Mobley is also shooting 4-8 (.500) from the 3-point line so far this season. It was Allen’s second double-double of the year and he’s shooting .800 from the field on 25-for-31 through four games. Allen has recorded 27 games in his Cavaliers career with at least 15 PTS and 15 REB, helping Cleveland to a 23-4 record in those games.

The Steals

The Cavs finished with 10 steals in the win and have recorded 10 or more steals in each of their four games this season. Cleveland’s 46 total steals leads the NBA. It is outscoring opponents 123.5-106.8 (+16.8) and allowing the 4th-fewest points per game in the NBA this season. The Cavaliers are shooting 57-139 (.410) from the 3-point line, the 2nd-best 3-point percentage in the league. That despite guard Max Strus, a good 3-point shooter, yet to play this season due to injury and out a few more weeks at least.

With a win over the Lakers, Cleveland would be 5-0 to start a season for the 3rd time in franchise history (8-0 to start the 1976-77 season and 6-0 to start the 2016-17 season). The Cavs have won six of their last 7 games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse against Western Conference opponents.

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How to Watch Lakers at Cavaliers

When: Wednesday, 7 PM ET
Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
TV: NBA League Pass
Stream: NBA.com, NBA TV app
Radio: Tunein.com

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Lakers vs Cavaliers Last Season

The Lakers swept the 2023-24 season series, including a 121-115 win in Cleveland. Anthony Davis had 32 points and 13 rebounds and LeBron James 22 points, six boards and two steals in beating Cleveland for the 18th time in 21 career games. The 39-year-old attended St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in nearby Akron and spent 11 seasons with the Cavaliers, leading them to the 2016 NBA championship. Donovan Mitchell was just 4-for-18 from the floor for 22 points for the Cavs, who were without starting point guard Darius Garland. The Lakers lead the all-time series 70-53.

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2021 Suns vs Lakers
 

LeBron James has never lost a first-round playoff series. However, his Los Angeles Lakers are down 3-2 to the Phoenix Suns as their Western Conference matchup goes back to L.A. on Thursday. Will Anthony Davis play? That’s the big question. The Lakers are short favorites on the NBA odds.

How to Bet Suns at Lakers NBA Odds & TV Info

  • When: Thursday, 10:30 PM ET
  • Where: Staples Center
  • TV: TNT
  • Stream: TNT app
  • Radio:com

Why Bet on Phoenix? | NBA Betting Odds

The Suns came out like gangbusters on Tuesday in front of their largest home crowd of the season and blew the doors off the Lakers in a 115-85 win. The Suns held an eight-point lead after the first quarter, and from there, it snowballed.

Devin Booker spearheaded the Suns’ early onslaught by scoring 18 of his 30 points in the first quarter. Cameron Payne also scored 10 of his 16 points in the opening frame, igniting a 16-0 Suns run to take control for good. Phoenix went on a 24-2 run. The Lakers scored just 10 points in the second quarter.

Phoenix then pushed its lead to a franchise-playoff-record 30 points at halftime and 36 points after intermission. The 30-point final scoring margin was the fourth-largest in a playoff game in franchise history, and the largest since a 31-point victory over the Lakers in 2006.

Deandre Ayton had eight points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes. Ayton had recorded a double-double in each of the Suns’ four previous playoff games, but that streak finally came to an end in this one, though it was also the first game of the series where he didn’t play at least 30 minutes. Ayton is averaging 17.4 points and 12.2 rebounds per game while shooting 80 percent from the field in this series.

Meanwhile, Payne has more than did his part providing much-needed relief for a hobbled Chris Paul. In the last four games, Payne is averaging 15.8 points, 4.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds on 49.0% shooting from the floor, 45.0% shooting from three, and 100% shooting from the foul line.

Paul has been playing through an injured shoulder since Game 1 and he suffered a setback in Game 5. With around half of the third quarter left to play, Paul was still in the game despite a 33-point lead. As he and Wesley Matthews fought for a rebound, Matthews committed a foul on Paul that sent him to the floor writhing in pain holding that right shoulder. Paul was able to shoot the two free throws after a lengthy review, but immediately afterward he was pulled from the game for good. Paul finished the game with nine points, six assists and four rebounds.

It’s unclear if Paul will play in Game 6 in L.A., but Suns coach Monty Williams sounded somewhat optimistic about his outlook after the game.

Why Bet on LA Lakers? | NBA Betting Odds

How bad was Tuesday’s loss? The Lakers trailed by 30 points at halftime. That was the largest halftime deficit for a LeBron James team in his playoff career. It was also the Lakers’ largest halftime deficit in a playoff game since 1992. L.A. turned the ball over 16 times, which led to 23 Phoenix points. The Suns had just four turnovers.

“We got our ass kicked. It is just that simple,” James said. “They did whatever they wanted to in this game. We have to be better obviously if we want to play a Game 7.”

LeBron has now lost consecutive 1st round games for the first time in his career and it’s the first time in LeBron’s career that he trails a 1st round series after Game 5 or later. James finished with 24 points, seven assists and five rebounds. He left the court for good with almost six minutes remaining, which has caused quite a stir.

Lakers coach Frank Vogel addressed LeBron’s dramatic exit: “In terms of LeBron going in the back, LeBron had to start his treatment. It doesn’t do any good for him to sit over there without getting worked on or beginning the treatment as soon as possible to help him get ready for Game 6.”

Los Angeles was without Anthony Davis, who was sidelined by a groin injury. After the game, Lakers coach Frank Vogel said after warming up, Davis couldn’t go. Markieff Morris got the start in Davis’ absence, but he finished with just four points in 10 minutes. Davis is officially questionable for Game 6.

“My mindset is that he’s not going to be able to play in Game 6,” LeBron said. His 14-0 record in first-round playoff series is in peril. James’ average of 33.7 points per game in postseason elimination games is the highest in NBA history.

LeBron certainly needs more help if Davis is out. On Tuesday, Dennis Schroder missed all nine of his field-goal attempts and had only one assist. Marc Gasol had 5 points in 10 minutes as he was in foul trouble. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope left the game in the 3rd quarter due to the left knee contusion that kept him out of the previous game.

Game Trends

  • Suns are 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up win.
  • Suns are 6-2-1 ATS in their last 9 playoff games as an underdog.
  • Suns are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games as a road underdog.
  • Lakers are 6-13-1 ATS in their last 20 games overall.
  • Lakers are 4-9 ATS in their last 13 home games.
  • Lakers are 3-7-1 ATS in their last 11 games as a favorite.

Expert NBA Prediction

Lakers 110, Suns 108

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