The Los Angeles Lakers will take on the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday afternoon. Both teams have playoff aspirations in the Western Conference, and this is expected to be one of the day’s best games. The Mavericks are currently the sixth seed in the Western Conference at 32-29.
On the other hand, Los Angeles comes into this one four games below .500 and is the current 13 seed in the Eastern Conference. Both teams go into this one winning their last game, as Los Angeles has now won their last two.
Despite the slow start from the Lakers, they’ve turned their team around and will be coming in at just +3.5.
Will The New-Look Lakers Win?
The new-look Lakers are a much better team than just two weeks ago. What this team was able to do at the trade deadline was impressive as they went out and added D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Mo Bamba, and others. The Lakers have been playing well since they got their new squad, as they took down the New Orleans Pelicans and the Golden State Warriors in two of their first few games since the trade deadline.
There have been rumors that LeBron James could be out in this game, but LeBron has also been on record saying that he wants to try to play in every single game for the remaining part of the season. He realizes at this point that the Lakers need him out there if they want to make the playoffs, and that’s precisely what he’s hoping for here.
Dallas Needs This One
The Dallas Mavericks also made a huge splash at the NBA trade deadline, perhaps even bigger than what Los Angeles did. They went out and added superstar Kyrie Irving, but the question now is whether that was enough for them to get over the hump.
Dallas had big aspirations coming into the season but is just three games above .500 at this point, and it can be seen as a disappointment.
If they’re going to want to win this game, they’re going to need to be much better defensively. They’ve given up at least 115 points in every one of their last four games, and that’s typically not the recipe for success. They’ve only managed to win one of those four games.
Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic are arguably the best duo in basketball this season, but there are ways they will have to continue to improve. They haven’t been playing with each other for too long, so expect them to try to get on the same page.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks Prediction
Although the Lakers have been playing better recently, this line is interesting. Taking the Mavericks at -155 on the moneyline isn’t a bad idea. If you want to lay the points, maybe alt-spreading it to -2.5 or -1.5 is the better bet here.
The Lakers can typically keep games close throughout the past few weeks, and that’s something to recognize.
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