Tonight, at 7:30 p.m., your 34-29 Los Angeles Lakers, the Western Conference’s No. 9 seed, will host the 34-26 Sacramento Kings, the West’s No. 7 seed.
It’s a battle of two top-heavy play-in hopefuls. A year removed from notching a 48-24 record and the conference’s third seed (and falling in an epic-but-ultimately-unremarkable seven-game series against the Golden State Warriors), the Kings haven’t actually gotten any worse from last year’s model (and neither, one could argue, have the Lakers), but the rest of the West has just gotten better.
WILL THE LAKERS COVER THE SPREAD?
Per Vegas sports book aggregator The Action Network, Los Angeles is a mild -2.5 point favorite to best Sacramento tonight.
Look for an awakened LeBron James and Anthony Davis to do their darnedest to quell a far more three-point heavy offensive attack with size up front, and for LA to eke out a hard-fought win, with both its All-Stars logging heavy minutes.
WHICH LAKER WILL BE THE CONTEST’S HIGH SCORER?
Look for another big night for Anthony Davis, who should eat 2023 Kings All-Star center Domantas Sabonis’ lunch.
Though Sabonis is an unreal offensive presence (he’s a terrific passer and shooter, beyond being a prolific rebounder and scorer inside), he’s an awful defender, and should give AD plenty of room to feast.
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