DraftKings Sportsbook<\/a>, while Los Angeles sits as a +114 underdog. The total is set at 217.5 points.<\/p>\nLet\u2019s get into a prediction and pick for Friday\u2019s matchup between the Lakers and Suns.<\/p>\n
Lakers vs. Suns preview<\/p>\n
As is the case with so many end-of-season NBA games, the injury report holds major sway over this game.<\/p>\n
The Phoenix Suns are locked into the No. 7 seed. With no shot at getting out of the Play-In and no chance of losing home court in the first Play-In game, they\u2019re taking a cautious approach. Devin Booker won\u2019t be suiting up for the first time in more than a month, taking a much-needed rest before the postseason.<\/p>\n
But that doesn\u2019t come close to touching the Lakers\u2019 injury problems. Two of their big three stars, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, will be sidelined tonight. With their absences likely to extend into the postseason, this is a big test for the Lakers as they see if they can hang with anyone on the strength of LeBron James and their role players. So far, the answers are lacking; Los Angeles is 1-4 with Doncic and Reaves out of the lineup.<\/p>\n
But motivation will be on their side in this one. At 51-29, the Lakers are tied for the fourth seed in the West with the Rockets, just one game behind the Denver Nuggets for the third seed. With injuries already dealing them a tough blow, their seeding could make a tremendous difference. At the very least, two wins would secure home court in a No. 4 vs. No. 5 matchup with the Rockets.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s very difficult to bring up season stats for these teams when you have multiple All-Stars missing. We have to look at these teams as they are, and for the Lakers, it\u2019s about how far LeBron can take them. Fortunately, that answer has been very far in the last couple of games since the injuries; he put up 30 points, nine rebounds, and 15 assists against the Mavericks before a 26\/8\/11 line against the Warriors. That\u2019s the kind of production that can carry an offense despite the injuries.<\/p>\n
For the Suns, they\u2019ll turn to a mix of Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, and Collin Gillespie for their creation. They may be a tad light on passing, but that\u2019s a good amount of shot creation to spread around against a suspect Lakers defense. But is it enough to deliver a win?<\/p>\n
Lakers vs. Suns pick, best bet<\/p>\n
With both teams broken down due to injuries, you have to look at motivation. The Lakers will run their starters heavily as they look to eke out a win, while the Suns will roll their full lineup with little motivation to win. Those extra minutes for LeBron and Co. against deep bench players will be the difference here, as the Lakers pick up a key victory.<\/p>\n
Best Bet: Los Angeles Lakers Moneyline (+114)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Charlie Cummings gives his prediction and pick for Friday\u2019s NBA matchup between the Phoenix Suns and the Los…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":707807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3791],"tags":[7,6,2065,472,4045,604],"class_list":{"0":"post-707806","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix-suns","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-phoenix","11":"tag-phoenix-suns","12":"tag-phoenixsuns","13":"tag-suns"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116383466343827653","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=707806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/707807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=707806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=707806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=707806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}