The Los Angeles Lakers look to take advantage of the slumping Brooklyn Nets. While it looks to be a cakewalk for the Purple and Gold, you just never know which Laker team is going to show up every given day.

Catch the game tomorrow at 11:30 AM, Manila time.

AWAY: Brooklyn Nets (16-24, 6-14 AWAY)

Projected starting five:

  • Spencer Dinwiddie
  • Mikal Bridges
  • Cam Johnson
  • Dorian Finney-Smith
  • Nic Claxton

The Nets are on a free fall. After an okay, postseason-paced 13-10 start, they have kept collecting Ls and now lost 14 of their last 17 games, averaging 109.6 points per game and giving up 118.0 in that span. Two of those victories were also against the last-placed Detroit Pistons.

Further, the previous leading scorer, Cam Thomas, has also slowed down. He was at 23.5 PPG in his first 21 games, but it has plummeted to 13.2 PGP on a horrid 34.4% clip. That has put extra burden on the more established main option, Mikal Bridges (21.4 PPG).

Double-double machine Nic Claxton (12.1 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 2.3 BPG), ‘3 and D’ guy Cam Johnson (14.2 PPG), and Sixth Man Lonnie Walker IV (12.8 PPG) will be there to provide help. Spencer Dinwiddie is also there, but he’s only shooting 39.1% from the floor, one of the worst among NBA starters.

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HOME: Los Angeles Lakers (21-21, 15-7 HOME)

Projected starting five:

  • D’Angelo Russell
  • Austin Reaves
  • Taurean Prince
  • LeBron James
  • Anthony Davis

The Lakers are coming off a 127-110 win over the Dallas Mavericks and have now won four of their last six contests, scoring 118.5 PPG that stretch. They hope it can be a momentum builder as they are still just 7-12 since winning the In-Season Tournament.

D’Angelo Russell is showing flashes of life after a long stretch of bordering “terrible” and “mediocre.” He has put up 27.3 PPG on 53.4 FG% and 52.0 3FG% since re-entering the starting lineup (three games).

It’s key for Russell,, Austin Reaves (15.1 PPG), Rui Hachimura (11.8 PPG), and the rest of the supporting cast to be as productive as possible, so as to give the two superstars–LeBron James and Anthony Davis–more leeway as they navigate through the season.

Davis is having a fine season for the second-straight year. In 40 games thus far, he is dialing 25.2 points, 12.5 boards, 3.7 assists, 1.2 steals, and 2.5 blocks per game.

PREDICTIONS:

Handicap: The Lakers (-6.5) fail to cover.

Over/Under: The total goes over 227

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