Although it may seem like the Lakers will easily handle this, I think we will give Utah a challenge. Utah plays a very fast basketball, with their last 5 games averaging points over 250, 260, and 270. We can expect a lot of attacks in this game, especially since the Lakers are not very strong defensively. And where there are a lot of attacks, Luka will have a lot of balls and opportunities to score. LeBron is back, but Luka is still the main force for the Lakers. I believe that today is a good opportunity to bet on a triple double for Luka, considering the teams' playing styles.
Once again, I walk with the player's shots for the second time with Lauri against the Lakers. I won't tell anything new - as I said last time, mega aggressive Lauri is averaging 30 points this season, with 20.6 shots made on average against the Lakers' stars. He always adds extra motivation in our previous meetings, as he made 21 shots and then followed with 8 field goals against OKC, who were realistically buried by Suomi, but I believe Markkanen will return to his strengths and make his shots against the Lakers if he wants to, because this team is not as intimidating as OKC. I am expecting over 20 field goal attempts from him here.
Niurus' Bosnian season with the Jazz team was rare, playing in the offensive role as a rare guest, he makes up for it in the penalty area by collecting rebounds and creating opportunities for his team mates. His average for the season was 7.4 points. In the last few games, he scored 10 points, with a high percentage of 4/5 two-pointers. The Lakers have a very strong defense against centers.
Zaide recently scored 37 points and Doncic also had a great performance. I don't think anything will change when they play away, as Jazz is the weakest defending team against players in this position. They not only allow a lot of points to be scored, but also have one of the highest 3-point field goal percentages allowed in the league. Although Doncic scored 37 points, he only made 2 out of 10 3-point attempts. However, with some improvements, we could expect similar or even better games in the future.
Xavi should start in this match. The game is nothing special, the players are secondary and not even close to Barco's talent. Barco's lineup is strong, with many options, and many did not lose to Efes, so there should be a desire to play here.
In the last 5 matches, United scored 2 or more goals. As United's defense continues to struggle, they must focus on scoring, which they have been able to do recently with strong newcomers. Although Everton is not a very scoring team, the game at Old Trafford will be played in United's style, so the red devils must be productive.
Once again, at home, United shows a stable performance and they are very capable, so we should expect nothing but a victory against Everton. There are some injuries, but United has changed their face and even when trailing, they are able to win matches. I believe there is a solid chance for United, playing at home, against such an opponent as Everton.
We will take advantage of Copenhagen's angular superiority against Kairat. I was a little surprised by the proposed line of -1.5 handicap in the middle. It's hard for me to imagine how the team will play their matches 100% after such long periods, but that distance is a bit of a coincidence, especially with the Kazakhs being in the Champions League at the moment. But for other clubs, it's just a small hurdle and they can just forget about it, while Kairat always has to go through such distances on away games. It will definitely have an impact. And looking at the statistics, they easily give away corners in away games. In the qualifiers against Celtic, it was 15-3 on away corners, then against Sporting 8-3, and against Inter 9-3. Losing corners with big numbers, I don't see what could have changed there.
Jazz looks poor this season and struggles in the fight for playoffs due to injuries, but with the return of James and the Lakers being in good form, they are playing very well. The Lakers, who have a long break, could rest and play at full strength in these games, and recently even defeated Jazz at home by a 28-point margin. In their last five games, Lakers have won 4 and all of them by double digits. After the break, I believe the Lakers should continue their excellent streak.
This is an opportunity for the Partizan players to prove that they believe in Obradovic and in general, that the team is worth something. Tension is present in the Partizan office, after another defeat against Fenerbahce there was a conversation between the management and the coaching staff. Knowing Obradovic, the players also had a lot of emotions to absorb. Today's opponent is certainly not at a high level and in the same ditch. The handicap under the circumstances looks at least a few points too small.