NBA Betting – Los Angeles Lakers at Philadelphia 76ers 2020
The Los Angeles Lakers put the NBA’s best road record to the test on Saturday in a primetime ABC matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Lakers’ current five-game roadie opened with a loss in Boston but they responded with a pair of wins to increase their ledger to 20-4 away from home. They’ve won more games on the road than nearly half the teams in the league have won overall. With Joel Embiid sidelined with a hand injury and Josh Richardson going down last time out, the Sixers are simply trying to stay afloat in the crowded Eastern Conference.
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Los Angeles Lakers at Philadelphia 76ers
Date and Time: Saturday, January 25, 2020, 8:30 p.m. ET
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Opening NBA Odds: Check Here
Lakers at 76ers TV Coverage: ABC
Odds Analysis
Since losing to the Clippers on Christmas day the Lakers have won 12 of 14 games going 8-5-1 ATS in that span. And as noted above they have the best road record in the Association. However, their three losses outside Staples Center have all come against Eastern Conference teams firmly entrenched in the top eight. Monday’s setback to Boston followed earlier defeats to Milwaukee and Indiana. Against East teams that are currently in a playoff spot the Lakers are 4-5 SU and 3-6 ATS. Philly had its four-game winning streak stopped in Toronto, losing a 15th straight regular season game north of the border. Overall the Sixers are 29-17, but they’ve been strong at home going 20-2 while winning their last six.
Los Angeles Lakers
It looked like the Lakers weren’t used to having Anthony Davis in the lineup. After missing five games with a sore backside, AD returned on Monday and didn’t do much to inspire his club. LA was blasted, 139-107, its worst loss of the season. That might be obvious since they’ve lost just nine games all season. Davis had a restriction on his minutes and it didn’t really matter. He took a seat after picking up two quick fouls and was held to nine points and four rebounds in 23 minutes.
That was good for Boston and bad for the rest of the NBA. AD and LeBron have been lethal in their first season as teammates leading the Lakers to the best record in the West while combining to average 51.5 points per game. At 35 James is playing like he’s 10 years younger leading the league with 10.8 assists while playing nearly 35 minutes a night. While the Lakers have been a force offensively with a league-leading 48.4 field goal percentage and nearly 114 points per game, they’ve been driven by defense.
Allowing the most points in a game this season, the Celtics matchup was an outlier. The Lakers have conceded more than 120 points in a game four times and they’ve lost two of them. Their field goal and three-point percentage defense is fifth-best and they allow just 106 points per game. The presence of Davis, JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard is a roadblock for opponents trying to get to the rim. All three average over 1.5 blocked shots per game to help the Lakers to an NBA-best 7.3 blocks per game.
Philadelphia 76ers
I’m not sure the comfort of playing at home will help the Sixers on Saturday. Already down Embiid, they suffered another blow when Josh Richardson went down with a bad hammy in a loss to the Raptors the other day. A team that didn’t have a lot of depth to begin with now has less heading into a showdown with the second-best team in the league.
The Sixers can look to their 20-2 record at Wells Fargo Center, which includes wins over Milwaukee, Miami, Indiana and Utah, for inspiration. And they are 5-3 SU and 4-4 ATS since Embiid was shelved. Philly had its four-game winning streak stopped in Toronto on Wednesday failing to overcome the loss of Richardson. Ben Simmons will need to have a big game and he’s done that quite a bit. He tallied 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists against the Raptors, but he scored just two points in the fourth quarter when the Sixers were outscored by eight in the 117-95 loss.
Richardson helped in the scoring department in Embiid’s absence putting up 15 or more points in seven of eight games before facing Toronto. The perimeter game loses a key piece and the inside game is already lacking its biggest force. It’s going to be tough for the Sixers to manufacture points so they will have to win this one on the defensive end.
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Al Horford can’t play 40 minutes. Hell, he can barely play 30 on his creaky knees. And without him the Sixers don’t have an answer for the Lakers big men. LeBron will do his thing on national television and AD is getting back in a groove after missing some time. I can’t see Philly getting enough offense to win this game, unless Simmons and Tobias Harris are unconscious.
NBA Score Prediction: Los Angeles 117, Philadelphia 106
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- Phil Simon, Gambling911.com
