20th October 2022 - preview, prediction & picks:
Los Angeles Clippers @ Los Angeles Lakers
22:00 ET / 19:00 local
Crypto.com Arena. Los Angeles, California.
Expected lineups/team news:
Clippers:
PG - John Wall
SG - Paul George
SF - Kawhi Leonard
PF - Marcus Morris Sr.
C - Ivica Zubac
The Clippers are looking strong and fit with no injuries to report at the time of writing.
Although they retain a decent roster, the Clippers have done little to strengthen over the off-season. 32-year-old, 5 x All-Star John Wall is solid but has missed almost two of the last three seasons through injury.
Croatian Ivica Zubac signed a three-year extension.
Moses Brown was given a two-way deal despite very few pre-season minutes played.
Lakers:
PG - Russell Westbrook
SG - Kendrick Nunn
SF - LeBron James
PF - Anthony Davis
C - Damian Jones
Lakers have Westbrook (hamstring), Brown Jr. (back) Bryant (thumb), Schroder (thumb) Davis (back), and James (foot) out of contention at the time of writing. This leaves them with a third-tier pick at point guard as it stands.
LAL have signed no less than 12 free agents since July. Securing LeBron James’ signature on August 18th was a key moment.
2021/22 standings:
LA Clippers: 3rd in Pacific - 8th in Eastern - 18th in NBA
Los Angeles: 4th in Pacific - 11th in Eastern - 23rd in NBA
Head-to-head
2021/22:
LAC 4 - 0 LAL
Regular season
LAC 81 - 150 LAL
NBA Playoffs
LAC 0 - 0 LAL
Last game:
Clippers: 132 - 111 Lakers
Rest days:
LAC: >3
LAL: 1
Home/away (H/A) last 3 games
LAC: - - -
LAL: - - A
NBA Championship odds:
Rationale:
With a 3-point pre-season shooting percentage of just 28%, the Lakers are really struggling with the long-range shot. That puts them 26th of 30 NBA teams.
A slew of injuries have not helped their prospects and the markets see this as a probable win for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Their recent head-to-head record of LAC 4-0 LAL does not bode well for the Lakers either. Watch this space.
Prediction:
Here at The Jump Hub, we’re backing the
2-star pick **
