Los Angeles Lakers vs Oklahoma City Thunder Prediction & Pick for 4-02

The Los Angeles Lakers hit the road on Tuesday night and head to the Chesapeake Energy Arena to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder.

LeBron Shut Down

After knocking themselves out of the playoffs with ten losses during an eleven game stretch, the Los Angeles Lakers have won four out of their last five games. But all is lost and Los Angeles has even gone as to shutting down LeBron James for the season. James now joins young stars Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball who have been declared out of what has been a disaster season for the Lakers.

James had a monster statistical season in his first season with the purple and gold. King James averaged 27.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game but those numbers did not translate to wins. Kyle Kuzma’s second season was great with 18.7 points and 5.5 rebounds but neither could he help James bring the victories. Javale McGee led the Lakers with 2.0 blocks and also scored 11.8 points and grabbed 7.5 rebounds per game while Rajon Rondo averaged 9.1 points and 8.0 assists per game.

The Lakers are ranked 15th in the NBA in team scoring at 112.2 points per game. The Purple and Gold are also the 12th best passing team in the league at 25.5 assists per game. Los Angeles is 8th overall off the glass with an average of 46.3 rebounds per game. However, the Lakers rank only 22nd in scoring defense, allowing their opponents to score an average of 113.6 points per game.

What are the Moneyline Odds?

Lakers

+650

Thunder

-1000

Odds from Betonline.ag as of 4/02/19

Free-Falling From Standings

With the regular season winding down, you’d expect teams to close out strong. For the Oklahoma City Thunder, they have instead been free-falling from the Western Conference team standings and now find themselves as the 8th seed in their conference. OKC was the third best team in the West a month ago but they’ve struggled to to put up victories recently and now have lost back to back games and seven out of their last nine overall.

Paul George leads leads the Thunder with 28.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Russell Westbrook is having another triple double season with 23.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game. Steven Adams is putting up 14.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per outing while Dennis Schroder is scoring 15.3 points and issuing 4.1 assists per game. Jerami Grant is finishing the season strong with 13.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.

Oklahoma City has the 10th best scoring average in the league at 113.9 points per game. The Thunder rank 25th in the passing department with only 22.9 assists per game. They are also the 3rd best rebounding team in the NBA with an average of 47.8 boards pulled down per contest. OKC has the 15th ranked scoring defense among 30 teams at 110.9 opponent points per game allowed.

Who Wins?

The Lakers are 4-6 SU in their last 10 games played and Los Angeles is 1-5 SU in their last six games played on the road. The Thunder are 3-7 SU in their last 10 games played and Oklahoma City is 2-5 SU in their last seven games played at home. Head to head, the Thunder are 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games against the Lakers and Oklahoma City is 8-2 SU in their last 10 meetings against the Lakers at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

This isn’t the kind of finish that either team envisioned before the start of the season. For the Lakers, LeBron’s groin injury on Christmas Day started their downfall. Instead of going to the playoffs, the Lakers are going fishing in a couple of weeks from now. Likewise, the Thunder were supposed to be a Top-3 team in the West. Instead, they barely made the playoffs and are now sitting at #8.

The Lakers won’t have LeBron, Ingram and Lonzo for this game while Kuzma is listed as day to day. Meanwhile, the Thunder have a complete roster heading to this game. If they win, they can still move out of 8th place and can still mathematically go as high as 5th. But yeah, they need to win out and hope the other teams lose games. That’s hard but it’s better to have a shot than none at all.

Los Angeles is just 14-25 SU on the road while the Thunder are 24-14 SU at their home floor. The Thunder are coming off back to back home losses to the Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks. They need a big win here and should get it against a depleted Lakers lineup I’m picking the Oklahoma City Thunder to beat the Los Angeles Lakers on 4/2/19.

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Other Bets To Make

Los Angeles is 5-5 ATS in their last 10 games played. The Lakers are 2-4 ATS in their last six games played on the road. Oklahoma City is 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games played. The Thunder are 2-5 ATS in their last seven games played at home. Head to head, the Thunder are 6-4 ATS in their last six games against the Lakers. Oklahoma City is also 8-2 ATS in their last seven head to head meetings played at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

What are the Spread Odds?

Lakers

+12.5 (-109)

Thunder

-12.5 (-109)

Odds from Betonline.ag as of 4/02/19

The Lakers are 1-5 ATS in their last six road games against an opponent with a home winning percentage of above .600 and also 1-5 ATS in their last six road games against an opponent with a winning home record. On the other hand, Oklahoma City has won nine out of their last 11 meetings in Oklahoma City. Sure, OKC has struggled but just look at what is left of the Lakers after they shut down their key players due to injury. I don’t think Los Angeles can compete here. Prediction: Thunder

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The total has gone under in seven out of the last 10 games played by the Lakers. Los Angeles has seen the total go under in four out of their last six road games. The under is 5-4-1 in the Thunder’s last 10 games played. The total has gone under in four out of the last seven games played by Oklahoma City. Head to head, the under is 6-4 in the last 10 meetings between these two teams in Oklahoma City and the under is also 7-3 in their last 10 head to head meetings overall.

What are the Totals Odds?

Lakers

O 224.5 (-115)

Thunder

O 224.5 (-115)

Odds from Betonline.ag as of 4/02/19

The total has gone under in the Lakers’ last four road games against an opponent with a winning home record. The under is also 4-0 in Los Angeles’ last four road games against an opponent with a home winning percentage higher than .600 and the under is also 8-1 in the Lakers’ last nine games versus the Northwest Division. Meanwhile, the under is 4-0 in the last four home games of the Thunder versus a team with a road winning percentage below .400 and 5-0 in OKC’s last five home games against a team with a losing road record. Likewise, the under is 6-1 in their last seven meetings at the Chesapeake Energy Arena and the under is also 4-1 in their last five games overall. The Lakers are without LeBron James, Ingram, Hart and Ball. I don’t think they are going to help OKC push the scores over the total. Prediction: Under

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