Lakers @ Blazers - Pick, Best Bet and a +507 Parlay

Monday will be one of the last busy nights before the All-Star break starts on Thursday with the game taking place next Sunday. There are 11 games tonight, including the Lakers and Anthony Davis visiting Damian Lillard and the Blazers in Portland. 

We picked this game because of the tight spread, the big names in the matchup, as well as for the defense that may or may not be played in this game.

LeBron James has missed his last two games with a sore left ankle and we haven’t seen him on the court since he broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record last week. That is fairly concerning and it will be interesting to see if he can go tonight. If he can’t go, Rui Hachimura will have some extra opportunities after going for 16 points and seven rebounds in Saturday’s win over Golden State. Jarred Vanderbilt added 12 points and eight rebounds in just 17 minutes, and could start to push Hachimura for minutes going forward. 

Anthony Davis (foot)  is probable for this one and the Blazers are the easiest team in the entire league for opposing centers to score against, giving up 26.22 points to them. That should mean that Davis goes off tonight, bouncing back from Saturday’s dreadful 5-of-19 shooting performance that resulted in just 13 points. He did have 16 rebounds and three blocks in that one, and the Lakers got the win so it wasn’t a total disaster. It is mildly concerning though, as the Warriors give up 22.5 points to centers. 

New Laker D’Angelo Russell and Dennis Schroder both started on Saturday and played well. Schroder has led the team in scoring in two straight games with 26 & 25 points, and Russell had 15 points, five rebounds, six assists and a 3-pointer in that one and the Blazers are a middle-of-the-road team against opposing point guards. Russell and Schroder could both start again if LeBron is out, although we’ll have to see what coach Darvin Ham would go with if Bron can play tonight. 

The Blazers’ Lillard is probably licking his chops for this one as the Lakers are the second-easiest team in the entire league for opposing point guards to score against, giving up 27.28 points per game. Lillard already has two 40-point games this month and has scored at least 28 points in all six games in February. He had 24 points, six rebounds and 10 assists when they last met on Jan. 22 in a win for the Lakers, hitting just 5-of-17 shots. He should be better than that tonight. Shooting guard Anfernee Simons went off for 31 points and seven triples in that loss. 

Jerami Grant had 19 points, four rebounds and two 3-pointers in that January game and has scored 22 & 23 points in each of his last two games. 

Center Jusuf Nurkic was in foul trouble in the last meeting and scored just two points with three rebounds on 1-of-3 shooting but bounced back the next night with 25 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks against the Spurs. Nurkic also scored just six and eight points in their other two meetings this year, so we’re not messing with him tonight. 

Pick: Blazers -1

Best Bet: Damian Lillard Over 35.5 points at FanDuel

Same Game +507  Parlay at FanDuel

Leg 1: Damian Lillard Over 35.5 points

Leg 2: Anthony Davis Over 12.5 rebounds

Leg 3: Anthony Davis Over 27.5 points