Keagan Smith dives into his pick and prediction for the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Los Angeles Lakers game on Tuesday’s NBA slate.

The NBA regular season continues to wind down over the next couple of weeks with just a handful of games remaining on the schedule. Some teams will inevitably see their campaigns end, both of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers have hopes of competing for a title. Tonight, they’ll battle it out on the West Coast in the late slate.

Here’s a Cavaliers vs. Lakers prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Tuesday’s contest.

Cavaliers vs. Lakers prediction, preview

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavaliers vastly underperformed expectations throughout the first chunk of the season, but a shakeup at the trade deadline did help change the team’s outlook. Since the All-Star Game, Cleveland has gone 13-7 and now sits 47-28 overall, good for fourth in the Eastern Conference.

A NETRTG of +4.3 places the franchise ninth in the league, and they rank 13th in pace as well. The Cavaliers have a standout offense averaging 119.4 PPG with the sixth-best OFFRTG due in no small part to its superstar guard tandem of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. As a team, they shoot 48.0% overall (eighth best) with a 35.9% three-point percentage (13th), also dishing 28.4 assists a game (eighth) with the sixth-best AST/TO ratio at 2.043. Leaning on the attack has gotten them this far, but the defense isn’t bad by any means. The Cavs concede 115.4 PPG and are 13th in DEFRTG, sitting 12th in opponent eFG% and 11th in opponent turnovers per game. They’re also 12th in rebounding with 44.4 boards per contest.

Mitchell averages a career-high 28.0 points, also pitching in 5.7 assists as the lead option. Harden has looked excellent next to him with 20.4 points and 8.3 dimes per game, shooting 43.8% from deep in the process. Evan Mobley brings 18.4 points and a team-high 9.0 boards a night, and frontcourt partner Jarrett Allen recently returned from injury two games ago while averaging 15.3 points and 8.5 rebounds. Jaylon Tyson and Sam Merrill also play key roles, though it’s worth noting the Cavaliers are yet to submit an injury report coming off the first leg of a back-to-back.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers have pushed their way to third in the Western Conference with a standout stretch of play over the last few weeks, going 14-2 in March to surge to 49-26 overall. Things seem to be clicking in precisely the right way in Los Angeles, so the team will surely want to end the month on a high note tonight with a slim 1.5-game lead for that third seed in the conference.

A +2.0 NETRTG on the campaign ranks 13th overall and the Lakers are 21st in pace. They bring one of the NBA’s most formidable offenses with 116.7 PPG (11th) and the eighth-best OFFRTG behind an MVP-caliber season from Luka Doncic. The team’s efficiency stands out above all else with a league-leading 50.1% FG%, also hitting 35.7% of three-point attempts while pacing the NBA in free-throw rate as well. The Lakers also bring 25.5 assists a night (19th) with a 1.780 AST/TO ratio. They’re very weak on the glass with only 41.1 rebounds per game, but the defense has come around in recent weeks as well. They give up 114.7 PPG (12th) and are 20th in DEFRTG, but things have clearly been working for this roster.

Doncic’s numbers are pretty unbelievable with an NBA-best 33.7 points to complement 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game, also pacing the league in shot attempts and free throws. LeBron James provides 20.9 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists with an efficient 51.2% FG%. Austin Reaves’ role has shrunk with those two stars in the lineup, but he remains capable of shouldering a significant workload with 23.5 points and 5.6 assists a night as well. Deandre Ayton pitches in 12.3 points and a team-best 8.3 boards, and Rui Hachimura also posts 11.1 PPG. However, the Lakers are also yet to submit an injury report for tonight’s game.

Cavaliers vs. Lakers pick, best bet

DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Lakers as -2.5 favorites tonight at home with -130 odds on the Moneyline. The Cavaliers are listed at +110 odds on the ML with the game total set at 236.5 combined points.

With both teams operating on the second leg of a back-to-back, there may be some tired legs tonight and it’s a little tougher to project what’ll happen without an updated injury report on either side. However, Los Angeles is playing its best ball at the moment at fifth in NETRTG this month thanks to a +8.9 mark. Cleveland sits 13th at +4.5. We get a showdown between a couple of excellent offenses that are each top seven in OFFRTG this month — maybe even with some tired legs, this over could still cash? What I found most interesting in my research is that the Lakers have gone 8-4 to the over on no rest this season while the Cavs have gone an even 6-6 in that regard. I like the idea of less defensive effort and some absent-minded plays from both sides, so I’m sticking to my guns here and targeting over 236.5.

Top pick: Over 236.5 points (-110)