The Los Angeles Lakers will look to dish out a little revenge tonight, as they take on the Detroit Pistons in the Staples Center. The Lakers only played them a little over a week ago, losing 107-92 in Detroit on January 28th. The game was probably the Lakers’ worst loss of the season, losing by 15 to one of the worst teams in the NBA. The game was close all night (something that really shouldn’t be happening to the Lakers against the Pistons), with the Lakers collapsing in the 4th quarter with a scoring drought that lasted for more than half of the quarter. The Lakers have won three-in-a-row since that game while the Pistons have lost three-in-a-row since then. Which streak will continue tonight?
Here’s our preview of the game.
Injury news
After being probable last game, AD has been downgraded back to questionable pic.twitter.com/T8dbVs5UU3
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) February 6, 2021
The Lakers have a similar injury report as they’ve had for weeks now, with Kostas Antetokounmpo and Jared Dudley out with LeBron James and Anthony Davis also on their with the same things they’ve had for weeks now. Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen & Roll points out that Davis has been downgraded to questionable from probable since the Lakers’ last game. He was a late scratch for the Lakers’ last game against the Pistons, so he should be monitored leading up to the game.
The Pistons will be on the second night of a back-to-back, so you never know if Blake Griffin may get a resting night. Other than that, the only person of note from the Pistons’ injury report from yesterday’s game against the Suns is Wayne Ellington who was questionable. He was eventually held out of the game, so we might see the same tonight.
Betting central
Lakers -13; Over/under 213; Lakers -1115 moneyline
WARNING!!! I am terrible at picking Lakers games apparently! I am now 0-5-1 on picks in my two previews, while our usual preview writer Kyle is 11-8. I’m sorry you can’t get his picks, but go ahead and fade me (pick against me for the non-bettors out there) if you want!
The spread of -13 is appealing considering the Lakers just beat down the much better Nuggets and the Lakers should be coming out hot seeking revenge against the Pistons for embarrassing them last week. It should be a much different game defensively with Anthony Davis playing this time as he missed the last game. Despite him being “questionable” on the injury report, I’m expecting him to play so that it doesn’t seem like he’s ducking the Pistons (haha just kidding).
But guess what. That’s “logic” speaking. Logic doesn’t usually play a role in these obvious Lakers wins in regards to the spread. I’ll go against logic and take Pistons +13.
The over/under total of 213 is real low. Still, the Lakers have hit the under in all of their past five games as well as eight of the last 10. Those five-straight unders include totals of 217, 219, 217.5, and 214, so the under of 213 isn’t unreasonable. The Pistons were recently held to only 92 against the Suns, and I expect a similar total against a Lakers’ defense that seems to be continuously improving. I’ll take the under.
I’ll also take LeBron James over 7.5 assists, as he has eclipsed that total in three of his last four games (including 10 in the Lakers’ last game agains the Pistons).
Where to watch
The game will be solely televised on Spectrum SportsNet. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. PST.
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