It’s the NBA’s best road team visiting the league’s top home team on Saturday. While Philadelphia is 4-1 SU and ATS in their last five meetings, Joel Embiid is out due to injury… while LeBron James has a chance to pass Kobe in the NBA record books.
- Date/Time: January 25, 8:30 p.m. ET
- Stadium: Wells Fargo Center
- TV Coverage: ABC, TSN2
- Sportsbook Odds: Lakers -4.5 | O/U 216.5
- Lakers vs 76ers Matchup Report
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
Los Angeles has the NBA’s best road record and are seemingly healthy, while the 76ers are missing two key players — including their superstar in Joel Embiid. So even though they are the league’s best home team, it’s the road Lakers Sportsbook as 4.5-point favorites. The total opened at just 216.5 points, as this game features the league’s second and eighth-ranked defenses, the total has gone UNDER in eight of their last 12 meetings and Philadelphia is missing two of their four top scorers.
Los Angeles News & Notes
After topping Houston, New York and Brooklyn, while stumbling against Boston, Los Angeles concludes a five-game road trip Saturday with their toughest match of this recent stretch: a date with the league’s best home team.
Fortunately for the Lakers, they possess the NBA’s best road record. They are also playing great basketball; having gone 7-2 SU and 6-3 ATS in their last nine games, covering the spread in nine of their last 12 games at Philadelphia and superstar LeBron James on the verge of yet another career milestone.
James currently has 33,626 career points and needs 18 more to pass Kobe Bryant for third on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Philadelphia currently has the second-best scoring defense in the league, but with James averaging more than 25 points per game this season, there’s a good chance he passes the Black Mamba on Saturday… and gives the Lakers a chance to go 4-1 on their road trip.
Philadelphia News & Notes
Philadelphia may be the best home team in the NBA, with a 20-2 record at Wells Fargo Center this season, but they are nowhere near full strength with the NBA’s top road team coming to town Saturday.
Star center Joel Embiid has been out the past two weeks following surgery on his left ring finger, while guard Josh Richardson injured his left hamstring in Wednesday’s 107-95 loss to Toronto. Embiid practiced Friday, but won’t be available at least until next week, while Richardson will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
The 76ers have gone 5-3 SU and 4-4 ATS in the eight games since Embiid has gone down, with Ben Simmons stepping up his game. Averaging 16 points and 7.8 rebounds on the season, he’s putting up 20.8 points and 9.3 rebounds over his last eight games, and will need another big performance if Philadelphia wants to extend their current six-game home win streak on Saturday.
Betting Pick: Lakers -4.5
Philadelphia is without two key starters, the Lakers are clicking right now and LeBron has a chance to pass another of the league’s all-time greats in the history books. The Sixers are a resilient home team, but everything looks to be in favor of the Lakers covering on Saturday.
- The Lakers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games against Philadelphia.
- The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Philadelphia's last 12 games against the Lakers.
- Philadelphia is 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games against the Western Conference.
