The Los Angeles Lakers travel to Memphis for two consecutive games vs. the Grizzlies.
The Los Angeles Lakers are on their first road trip of the season and took care of the first two games of the trip. The purple and gold took on the San Antonio Spurs in consecutive games and walked away with two more Ws.
The Lakers now travel north to Memphis to take on a Grizzlies team that is without both Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. The Lakers are missing some pieces as well, as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso will not be playing in this game.
Morant and Jackson are obviously much bigger losses in this game but the Lakers’ perimeter defense is hurt without KCP and Caruso. It will be interesting to see how the Grizzlies attack the Lakers’ defense, especially when their best remaining scorer is Dillon Brooks.
This will impact how gamblers look at this game.
As part of the Lake Show Life Podcast (which we are taking a brief hiatus from recording), co-host Daniel Preciado and I pick both against the spread and against the point total for every single Laker game.
According to the Action Network, the Lakers are 9.5-point favorites in this game and the point total is 221. Both Daniel and I went 2-0 last game as we both took Lakers -6 and under 229 points. That puts both of us at 7-5 for the season. Here are our picks for Sunday:
Jason: Grizzlies +9.5, over 221 (Final score: Los Angeles Lakers 115, Memphis Grizzlies 107)
Daniel: Grizzlies +9.5, over 221 (Final score: Los Angeles Lakers 122, Memphis Grizzlies 115)
Both Daniel and I agree on both parts of the game for the second game in a row, so maybe that is a good sign that both will hit. While we both have the Lakers winning, we both think the Grizzlies will cover, even without their two best players.
This just has all the makings of a late-afternoon Sunday game that the Lakers do not fully get up for. They don’t have KCP or Caruso and know the Grizzlies don’t have their two best players. The gas pedal will be at 80% and the purple and gold will coast to a single-digit win, similar to their second game against San Antonio.
Daniel thinks this game is going to be much higher scoring than I do as I have the over only hitting by one point. With the Lakers not fully invested and Memphis not having their two best players I find it hard-pressed to see both teams scoring in the 110s, let alone the Lakers scoring 122.
But hey, I could be wrong. Either way, we agree on both sides of the game and that has been a good sign this season.