The Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns will meet for the third time already this season, with the latter hosting the Purple & Gold this Wednesday. Both teams are on the heels of losing skids, so one of them is going to see their struggles end in this contest. Will the Lakers prevent a three-game winless streak? Or, will the Suns finally put a stop to their five-game losing stretch?

Catch this game live on Wednesday, November 27, 2024 at 11 AM, Manila time

Away: Los Angeles Lakers (10-6/3-4 Away)

Projected Starting Five:

• Austin Reaves
• Cam Reddish
• Rui Hachimura
• LeBron James
• Anthony Davis (Probable)

The Lakers have cooled off since going on a six-game win streak. They suffered a heartbreaking 119-118 loss at the hands of Franz Wagner and the Orlando Magic last Friday before getting embarrassed by the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, 127-102.  Both of those losses took place at crypto.com Arena, so perhaps playing in a different arena could help the Lakers break out of their slump. 

With that said, the Lakers will enter the Phoenix game with a 2-1 record against the spread in their last three visits with the Suns. In their last game in Phoenix, though, the Lakers suffered a 109-105 loss on Oct. 29. Anthony Davis scored 29 points in that contest, while LeBron James had one of his worst offensive nights (ever) as the four-time league Most Valuable Player coughed up just 11 points on a salty 3-for-14 shooting from the field. It’s not going to happen all the time, so one can expect James to be much better this time around. He is averaging 23.6 points on 51.1 FG% this season and also had 21 points and eight assists when LA took down the Suns at home, 123-116, on Oct. 26. 

Davis is reportedly probable with a foot issue, so his status is worth monitoring heading into the Suns tilt.

Home: Phoenix Suns (9-7/5-3 Home)

Projected Starting Five:

• Tyus Jones
• Devin Booker
• Bradley Beal (Probable)
• Kevin Durant (Probable)
• Jusuf Nurkic

The Suns have been on a downward spiral of late, as they are on a five-game losing skid following a 138-122 loss at home to the New York Knicks last Thursday. But they could be getting a huge shot in the arm this Wednesday against the Lakers, with both Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal reportedly expected to return to action. Neither player saw action in any of the Suns’ last five games, during which Devin Booker was asked to do most of the heavy lifting on offense.

Booker averaged 24.8 points on a mediocre 43.5 FG% in those games, as he had a harder time finding his spots with Durant and Beal not around to take the defensive attention away from him. With Durant and Beal around in the win over the Lakers, Booker dropped 33 points on 11-for-33 shooting while the former league MVP had 30 points. Beal added 15 points as well. Suns bettors can also get confidence from the fact that the Lakers are just 2-8 straight up and 4-6 against the spread in LA’s last 10 games in Phoenix. The Lakers are also just 1-4 ATS in games after a loss this season while the Suns are 3-3 under the same situation.

Picks

Spread: Phoenix Suns (-3.5)

Over/Under:Under ( 234.0)