The Cleveland Cavaliers hope to remain undefeated as the Los Angeles Lakers come to town.
Catch the game tomorrow at 7:00 AM, Manila time.
AWAY: Los Angeles Lakers (3-1, 0-1 AWAY)
Projected starting five:
- D’Angelo Russell
- Austin Reaves
- Rui Hachimura
- LeBron James
- Anthony Davis
The Lakers have come out hot, but will now be coming off a 109-105 loss to the Phoenix Suns. It was a tough start to their five-game roadtrip, the first challenge of their young season.
The offense has been mostly playing through Anthony Davis, and he’s showing why it’s the ideal scheme. He has jumped into averages of 32.8 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.5 steals, and 2.5 blocks per game on 55% shooting. He’ll be in an interesting matchup opposite the Cavaliers’ big men.
Rui Hachimura (17.5 PPG, 7.8 RPG) and Austin Reaves (19.3 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 5.3, 1.5 SPG) have also shown some progression into their roles, though we’ll see how long it’ll hold up in the ups and downs of the season. With that, there’s some considerable downtick on the usage of LeBron James, which makes sense since the Hall-of-Famer is turning 40 years old in two months. James, however, is hot-and-cold across their last two, dropping 32-14-10 vs. the Sacramento Kings then shooting an atrocious 3-of-14 for 11 points in the Suns loss, where he tallied a -19 plus-minus in a four-point loss.
The Lakeshow are averaging 117.2 PPG with a +3.5 net rating.

HOME: Cleveland Cavaliers (4-0, 1-0 HOME)
Projected starting five:
- Darius Garland
- Donovan Mitchell
- Isaac Okoro
- Evan Mobley
- Jarrett Allen
The Cavaliers are looking good. They are undefeated, scoring 123.5 PPG and allowing just 106.8 in return, all while shooting a league-best 52.8% from the floor, including 41.8% from downtown.
The team’s main four–Donovan Mitchell (23.8 PPG, 4.5 APG, 1.8 SPG), Darius Garland (19.3 PPG, 5.0 APG), Evan Mobley (17.8 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 2.5 BPG), and Jarrett Allen (17.3 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 1.8 BPG)–are at the forefront as expected, seemingly thriving from new head coach Kenny Atkinson’s system.
Mitchell is conserving his energy as he isn’t tasked to score as much, Garland is manning the point well, while the Mobley and Allen twin towers are doing their job in the interior while also putting up a good amount of points.
Cleveland lost both of their meetings with the Lakers last season, so expect them to come out swinging with the crowd right behind them.
PICKS:
Spread: Cavaliers (-4.5)
Over/Under: Over (224.5)
