THE KING RETURNS HOME! LeBron James goes back to Cleveland tonight as his Los Angeles Lakers squad will look to continue their good run of stretch against the 2-13 Cleveland Cavaliers who are clearly one of the worst teams in the NBA post LeBron era. We can anticipate a completely different reception for James compared to what happened in 2010 when he got booed throughout the whole night.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavs have been beyond atrocious this season without LeBron James as they sit 2-13 which is the worst record in the NBA. Only wins coming against Atlanta and Charlotte. Now the loss of star player Kevin Love does have a lot to do with this lack of success but of course losing LeBron James in free agency is the biggest reason why this team is nowhere near as good as they were. The Cavs haven’t been just beaten, they’ve been beaten down many times this season and against LA many see this as another blowout loss. Kevin Love as mentioned is out with an injury, George Hill and Sam Dekker are also out while JR Smith is not with team after agreeing to be traded which will happen eventually. The only bit of bright mark for the Cavs is that rookie Collin Sexton is playing very well as a starter right now.
Potential Starting Line-up – C.Sexton, R.Hood, C.Osman, L.Nance JR, T.Thompson
Injuries – K.Love, G.Hill, S.Dekker – OUT
Side Note – JR Smith not with the team
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers are seemingly starting to turn the page this season after a slow 2-5 start they are now 9-7 and are in the playoff seeding thanks to improved defense and LeBron James elevating his play during this stretch who has gone absolutely berserk with a 44 pt and a 51 pt performances just in the past week and it led to Lakers picking up some good wins. The only concern that the Lakers have right now is the young core not living up to the hype with Lonzo struggling, Ingram not playing his best and Kuzma being in a slump however them winning games despite that is a positive sign and there is still room for improvement for this team for sure. Rajon Rondo is the only player out for the Lakers with an injury therefore they NEED Lonzo to start picking it up. We anticipate LeBron to be the show again however as he goes HOME.
Potential Starting Line-up – L.Ball, B.Ingram, L.James, K.Kuzma, J.McGee
Injuries – R.Rondo – OUT
Key Facts
Cavaliers rookie Collin Sexton is averaging 18.6 ppg on 50% FG and 70% 3p FG since being inserted into the starting lineup (5 Games).
Cavs are 0-6 against above .500 teams.
Cavs are 0-3 against the West teams this season.
Cavaliers have the 4th worst plus minus in the league with -8.6.
Cavaliers are only 26th in OFF RTG (104.5), 27th in PPG (103.3) and only 27th in pace (98.80) this season.
Cavaliers are rock bottom in DEF RTG (113.3), 19th in PPG allowed (111.9).
LeBron James has played 13 games against the Cavs and he averages 27.6 ppg 7 rpg and 7.2 apg against them.
LeBron James is 12-1 against the Cavs.
LeBron James is averaging a career low 34.4 minutes per game and the most points since 09-10 at 28.8 ppg. Ridiculous.
LeBron James is averaging 39 ppg through his last 3 games including a 44 pt game and a 51 pt game.
Lonzo Ball has been in a huge scoring slump averaging just 4.6 ppg in his last 6 games.
Lakers are 2-2 against the East this season.
Lakers are 5-1 against below .500 teams.
The Lakers are number 4 in pace this season (104.85), 9th in OFF RTG (110.7) and 4th in PPG (116.7)
Lakers are only 20th in DEF RTG (109.2) and 26th in allowed PPG (115.4). However since adding Tyson Chandler in 6 games since they’ve elevated up to 9th in DEF RTG and are giving up 107 ppg which is 8 less than the season average.
Lakers are 5-1 in their last 6 Games.
Betting Tips and Predictions
We’ve got two completely different level squads here. The Lakers a legitimate playoff contender in the West with the best player in the world and the Cavs, the worst team in the NBA right and missing their best player. We anticipate LeBron James to put on a show for the home town fans one more time here and the Lakers to grab a dominant win. Lakers are considered as 10 pt favourites being priced at a -9.5 handicap and we’d even say they will win the game by far more than that. Lakers recent improved defense and LeBrons dominant play should continue here and the Lakers should come out with something like a 120-98 win. The point total is 220.5 we’d say this is a 50/50 because the Lakers are explosive but the Cavs lack of offense and slow pace does put us off from the over. In terms of players, LeBron should hit over 28.5 pts and Tristan Thompson should hit over 10.5 pts as the Lakers don’t really defend the bigs that well even with Chandler acquired. LeBron to drop a triple double is priced at 7.50. Worth a try with a low stake for sure.
Match Odds (Unibet)
Cleveland Cavaliers Win – 4.90
Los Angeles Lakers Win – 1.20
Match Start – 22nd November 2018 – 1am UK Time
