18th October 2022 - preview, prediction & picks:
Our second preview for the 2022/23 regular season is another cracker. A west-coast classic:
Los Angeles Lakers @ GoldenState Warriors
22:00 ET / 19:00 local
Chase Center. San Fransisco, California.
Expected lineups/team news:
Lakers:
PG - Russell Westbrook
SG - Malik Monk
SF - Talen Horton-Tucker
PF - LeBron James
C - Anthony Davis
LeBron James signed a contract extension. Appearing/starting in 56 games last season, James averaged 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks. His 18th consecutive season averaging 25+ points and extending his NBA record. A game-changer par excellence and no mistake.
Warriors:
PG - Stephen Curry
SG - Klay Thompson
SF - Andrew Wiggins
PF - Andrew Porter Jr.
C - Kevon Looney
Jonathan Kuminga is ripping it up in the summer league. 27 points in 29 minutes in his last game and 30 the game before.
New signing Ryan Rollins is still recovering from a stress fracture. His availability for training camp remains uncertain.
2021/22 standings:
Los Angeles: 4th in Pacific - 11th in Eastern - 23rd in NBA
Golden State: 2nd in Pacific - 3rd in Western - 3rd in NBA
Head-to-head
2021/22:
LAL 1 - 3 GSW
Regular season
LAL 258 - 172 GSW
NBA Playoffs
LAL 24 - 11 GSW
Last game:
Lakers 112 - 128 Warriors
Rest days:
LAL: >3
GSW: >3
Home/road last 3 games
LAL: - - -
GSW: - - -
NBA Championship odds:
Rationale:
The Lakers only lost their first 2 matchups of the season against the Warriors by a combined total of 9 points. They won the next encounter by 8 points but then lost the final game by 16 points. 17 points behind across 4 games does not seem to represent the 20-place distance between them in the expanded NBA standings.
Entering into their 75th year as an NBA franchise, the Lakers will be elated to have retained the services of LeBron James. He will give the team a boost physically and psychologically as always and we see it being a tight game.
The Golden State Warriors will be riding high and can expect a glorious reception from their home crowd after their NBA Finals triumph. This energy could be worth a few points.
Prediction:
The Jump Hub team sees value in the point spread (handicap) here @ 1.93 so we’re backing the Los Angeles Lakers to cover the spread:
Handicap line +6.5 @ 1.93
1 star pick *
