The Clippers won Round 1 of the all-LA game on Sportsbook night … without Paul George. Round 2 is on Christmas Day and while Kawhi Leonard and George are healthy, LeBron James and Anthony Davis are nursing injuries but expected to play.
- Date/Time: December 25, 8 p.m. ET
- Arena: Staples Center
- TV Coverage: ABC
- Sportsbook Odds: Clippers -1 | O/U 223.5
- Clippers vs Lakers Matchup Report
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
The Lakers have the better record and the Clippers are just .500 on the road, but the “road” team opened as a 1-point favorite due to the questionable status of Lakers superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers then shifted to 2-point favorites on the news that James and Davis were expected to play.
Clippers News & Notes
While “load management” hasn’t been as big an issue for Kawhi Leonard as it was last season, the Clippers are still very cautious with their star player … even if they struggle without him.
Leonard has sat out nine games this season and the Clippers are 4-5 SU and 3-6 ATS in those games, compared to 18-5 SU and 15-8 ATS when he is in the lineup.
Kawhi sat out their last game, a 118-112 loss to Oklahoma City on Sunday, but he is expected to be in the lineup on Christmas Day. He’ll be needed against a Lakers team that they beat 112-102 on Sportsbook night, when Leonard went for 30 points.
While both teams share the same arena, this is technically an away game for the Clippers, which has done them well in recent history: the Clippers are 5-0 ATS in their last five “road” games against the Lakers.
Lakers News & Notes
The Lakers have been one of the NBA’s premier teams this season and while they still have the Western Conference’s best record, they enter this Christmas Day contest in their first slump of the season.
Los Angeles has lost three straight games, the latest being a 128-104 home defeat Sunday against the Nuggets, and has actually failed to cover the spread in five straight outings. To make matters worse, the Lakers played that game without LeBron James, who was sidelined with a pulled muscle in his rib cage.
James is averaging 25.8 points, 10.6 assists and 7.5 rebounds per game this season. If he cannot go, expect the Lakers to lean on forward Kyle Kuzma, who is the only other Lakers player outside of the superstars to average double figures in scoring.
Betting Pick: Clippers +2
The Clippers have a deeper roster, and even if LeBron plays as expected, Leonard matches up against him as well as anybody in the league. I’ll take the Clippers to win Round 2 in the battle of LA.
- The Clippers are 8-4 ATS in their last 12 games vs the Lakers.
- The OVER is 4-1 over the Clippers’ last 5 games.
- The UNDER is 10-5 over the Lakers’ last 15 games.
