Last Updated on January 31, 2018 7:28 pm by dpatrick
Lakers vs. Magic Pick
Will the Los Angeles Lakers cover on the road tonight when they play the Orlando Magic at 7PM ET?
Who Oddsmakers Like: Los Angeles. According to oddsmakers at YouWager, the Lakers are a 2.5-point favorite on the spread line. The total is set at 216 points. The spread opened as a pick’em, while the total has dropped from 217.
Who the Public Likes: Los Angeles. As of Wednesday afternoon, 62 percent of public bets have sided with the visiting Lakers.
Injury Report: Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball is out indefinitely with a sore knee. For the Magic, Aaron Gordon missed the last game with a strained hip flexor and is questionable tonight. Nikola Vucevic is out until late February with a broken hand. Jonathan Isaac is out indefinitely with an ankle injury. Terrence Ross is out indefinitely with a sprained knee and fracture in his tibia.
Who the Trends Like: Los Angeles is 5-2 ATS in the last seven meetings. The under is 9-1 in the last 10 meetings in Orlando and 20-7 in the last 27 meetings overall.
Who We Like: The Magic are on a back-to-back after suffering a 114-107 loss at the Rockets last night, giving up the first 60-point triple-double in NBA history to James Harden. Even though Houston was depleted, a seven-point loss at the Rockets is not a terrible result. It’s the back-to-back nature with travel that worries me tonight, especially if Gordon can’t go again. The Lakers are healthy aside from Ball and have a capable replacement there in Clarkson. I like how LA has played lately and will be betting on them tonight.
NBA DAILY PREDICTION: LOS ANGELES LAKERS -2.5