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Lebron James is likely to miss his third straight game when the LA Lakers will take on the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.
The Lakers (20-16, 12-6 home) were able to hold off the Golden State Warriors when Lebron got injured in the third quarter of that game a few nights ago, but they lost their next two. LA didn`t play badly against the Kings and the Clippers in their last two games, but lack of depth and experience showed, as they could not close out the games and lost both. Now they are likely to play without Bron (and not just him) for a third straight game, so that will be a problem for them.
The Kings (19-16, 9-9 away) are proving they are the real deal. Expected to be one of the two worst teams in the West at the start of the year, Sacramento started strong and is still going strong after 35 games – playing with great pace and intensity. The Kings have won three of their last 4 games, including an overtime win over these Lebron-less Lakers a few nights ago in Sacramento.
Bet on Lakers vs Kings and get your 100% (120 Eur) welcome bonus at LSbet now!Team news: The Lakers will miss Rondo, while Lebron, McGee and Beasley are questionable. While Lebron`s status is listed this way, in fact he is widely expected to miss out, as coach Walton explicitly said that LA will take no risks and will absolutely not rush him back. The Kings will continue to miss their No.2 pick of this year`s draft, Marvin Bagley.
Obviously the Lakers are a much worse team without Lebron James, who is not only the best player in the world, but also impacts the teams he plays for in a profound way, due to the fact that all the gameplan revolves around him. His teams have been historically horrible when he was out. LA was not horrible in the two games without Bron, but they still lost, and the team seemed confused in crunch time.
What`s more, the Lakers also miss Rondo, who was brilliant and steadied the ship when Lebron went down in the third quarter against the Warriors on Christmas. He is a big loss himself.
The two sides met just three nights ago in Sacramento and the Kings needed a buzzer beater by Bogdan Bogdanovic to edge that one by 1 point. The fact that the game was so close might seem encouraging for the Lakers, but in fact it might be the opposite.
The Lakers shot lights out in that game (51% from the field, 40% from three), Kuzma had a monster game, Ingram played well, Ball had arguably the game of his life, and the Lakers still lost against a Kings side which had an average night at best.
One would definitely expect the Lakers to be worse tonight than three nights ago, while Sacramento can definitely play better. As such, the home court factor should be nullified, especially considering that the Kings are a very good road team (9-9 record).
If Lebron ends up playing then this bet obviously loses all value, the analysis would become obsolete, and we would have to hope for some good luck in order to win. But the overwhelming expectation is that he will miss out, a case in which odds on the Kings will probably drop a bit (the current price already takes into account the high probability of Lebron missing out).
Lakers are not a playoff level team without Lebron (pretty far from it actually), Rondo is also a big miss, so an in form, confident Kings side should take this one at Staples Center. My tip is Sacramento to win. Prediction: LA Lakers – Sacramento Kings 108 – 116.
Pick: Kings
Odds: 1.90 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 7.20
Event date: 31 December
