Betting Results:
Head to Head: Lakers, odds 1.203- we were two points away from a winning tip here!
Line: Nets (+9.5), odds 1.919
Total Points: Under (216.5), odds 1.905

Pre-game Prediction
Nets, 17.2%
Lakers, 82.8%

We just missed out on our value bet for the Nets to win the game, at odds of 5.00 when we tipped them. Just two more points needed would have given us a terrific day's tipping.

Austin Reaves scores a career-high 38 points as Lakers hold on for 102-101 victory over Nets

By JOE REEDY AP Basketball Writer The Associated Press LOS ANGELES

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Austin Reaves scored a career-high 38 points, LeBron James had 29 and the Los Angeles Lakers held on to beat the Brooklyn Nets 102-101 on Friday night.

The Nets, who lost 126-67 to the LA Clippers on Wednesday night in a franchise-record 59-point defeat, had a chance to win it, but D’Angelo Russell missed a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds remaining. James got the rebound as the Lakers won their second straight.

Reaves was 13 for 23 from the floor and 8 for 8 from the foul line. His previous career high was 35 points, accomplished twice, including Dec. 31 against Cleveland. Reaves had 15 points in the fourth quarter, including three 3-pointers.

Russell, traded by the Lakers to the Nets, had 19 points in his first game against his former team while Zaire Williams and Tosan Evbuomwan scored 15 apiece.

Takeaways

Nets: Had a 49-15 advantage in bench scoring, which included three players in double figures — Russell, Evbuomwan and Jalen Wilson (11).

Lakers: Reaves and James supplied more than half of the Lakers’ points with Anthony Davis a late scratch due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Jaxson Hayes started in Davis’ place and scored six points along with nine rebounds.

Key moment

Reaves had an alley oop to James on a fast break to give the Lakers a 102-95 lead with 2:32 remaining. It ended up being their last basket of the game.

Key stat

The Lakers were 12 for 19 shooting in the fourth quarter, including five 3-pointers.

This is how we previewed this game....

Both teams are having poor seasons, the Lakers sit 6th in the Western Conference with a 21-17 (55%) record, 12 games behind leaders OKC. Better than the Nets, who lie 12th from 15 in the Eastern Conference with a 7-20 (34%) record, 20.5 games behind leaders Cleveland.

The sportsbooks have the Lakers listed as 11.5 point favourites, expecting a moderately low scoring game with an O/U total currently set at 217.5.

Before we take a look at how the tipping sites are calling it, lets take a mini dive into the stats for these two also rans.

Brooklyn have a better road record than home record this season, they are 9-15 on their travels (5-12 at home), are 2-8 in their last 10, on a L1 streak. They are 1-4 in their last 5, their win coming in Portland 3 days ago. Of course the Nets last game was a historic loss to the other LA team, where they lost, incredibly, 126-67.

The Lakers are 13-6 at home, with a balanced 5-5 record in their last 10, on a W1 streak. They are 2-3 in their last 5 games, beating Miami yesterday, and Atlanta earlier in the month.

The last 3 games between the teams see the Lakers winning 116-104 in Brooklyn in March last year, Brooklyn dominating in a 130-112 win in LA a year ago, and Lakers sneaking a 3 point win 129-126 in LA way back in October 23.

Neither team is troubling the bookmakers when it comes to their NBA Championship odds, the Lakers can be backed at odds of 46.00 and as for the Nets. you risk getting carpal tunnel syndrome scrolling so far down the list to find their odds, but if you do, you'll see them at 1001.

You may as well set fire to your money as back either, you'd get a better return on investment from the warmth generated by the flames.

Lets have a look at what the best tipping sites have to say about this game.

(Our Player Prop Bet Tips are further down this page)

Dimers - forecasting a 115-103 Lakers win, which would see the just cover the spread.
Clutch Points - Lakers -11.5, Under 216.5
Pickswise - TBC
Sportskeeda - Lakers (moneyline)
Betting Odds - TBC
Sportsline - projecting a 116-106 win for LAL, a rare strong tip on Over 217 game total. Moderate lean to a value bet on the Nets to win, and a slight lean to Nets +10.5.

We're going to stick with our recent theme of value betting where we are priced in. Like Sportsline, we see the Nets having a 30% chance of winning this game, but at odds of 5.00 that's implied probability of 20%, so there's the betting edge.

We also think the game total is too low, 222.5 or so would be our estimate, and whilst many sportsbooks are listing 218.5, we can get on at 217.5, so we are tipping the over bet.

Our game bets both missed, and we were so close with the Nets tip! Losing by 1 point when you've tipped them at 5.00 is a bitter pill to swallow.