The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers will meet for the last time this season, with the Cavs looking to avenge their loss to the Purple & Gold earlier this year. Check out our preview of this game below.

Catch this game live on Wednesday, April 1, 2026 at 10:30 AM, Manila time

Away: Cleveland Cavaliers (47-28, 23-14 Away)

Projected Starting Five:

  • James Harden
  • Donovan Mitchell
  • Sam Merrill
  • Keon Ellis
  • Evan Mobley

The Cavs are banged up, but they’re having plenty of success down the stretch of the season. They have won six of their last seven games, including Tuesday’s 122-113 victory over the tanking Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. 

Cleveland has been missing Jarrett Allen, Max Strus, Jaylon Tyson and Dean Wade of late, and at least some of them will not see action this Wednesday against the Lakers, but as long as the Cavs have the duo of James Harden and Donovan Mitchell active, any game is winnable for them. 

Mitchell had 25 points in the Cavs’ 129-99 win over Los Angeles at home back in late January, when they did not yet have Harden on the team. This time around, the former league Most Valuable Player will be an additional major threat to the Lakers after he posted a double-double of 13 points and 14 assists in the Jazz game.

The Cavs are on a three-game winning streak in their head-to-head against Los Angeles, covering the spread in all those outings as well.

Home: Los Angeles Lakers (49-26, 25-12 Home)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Luka Doncic 
  • Austin Reaves
  • Jake LaRavia
  • LeBron James
  • Deandre Ayton

Even without Luka Doncic, the Lakers crumpled the Washington Wizards in a 120-101 home win on Tuesday. LeBron James embarrassed Father Time again in that game, as the four-time NBA MVP posted 21 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds while shooting 8/16 from the floor. 

The Lakers didn’t really need Doncic, who served a one-game suspension for hitting the 16-tech limit. He should be back in action for this meeting with the Cavaliers, with fresher legs, thanks to the unexpected rest from his suspension. 

Doncic has been pretty much unstoppable this season, as he is averaging 33.7 points with 8.2 assists per game. He had 29 points on 12/20 shooting in the January loss to Cleveland, and he can be expected to put up big numbers again in his return.

As a team, the Lakers are 8-2 against the spread in their last 10 games as the home team.

Picks

Spread: Cleveland Cavaliers (+1.5)

Over/Under: Over (237.0)