Lakers vs. Spurs Game Preview Betting NBA

Off their first win of the season, the Los Angeles Lakers may be without LeBron James on Tuesday night due to injury when they visit the San Antonio Spurs. Needless to say, James’ availability will greatly affect the NBA odds.

How to Bet Lakers at Spurs NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 8:30 PM ET
Where: AT&T Center
TV: NBA League Pass
Stream: NBA.com, NBA TV app
Radio: Tunein.com
NBA Odds: TBA (depends on LeBron)

Why Bet on Los Angeles?

Los Angeles got its first win of the season on Sunday, 121-118 over Memphis. Anthony Davis scored 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting with eight rebounds and four blocks. Davis also held Jaren Jackson Jr. to 12 points on 3-of-12 shooting.

“It was obviously a tight game down the stretch. Every possession matters and he [Anthony Davis] came out of nowhere with some of those blocks. That’s why he is one of the best defensive players in the world. That’s why we have a winning culture because of our commitment on that end of the ball. We still need to be a lot better, but he was outstanding with some of those plays,” Coach Frank Vogel said.

Russell Westbrook scored 13 points on 5-of-15 shooting with 13 assists, seven rebounds, four steals, and nine turnovers. The Lakers had 29 assists on 45 made baskets.

Carmelo Anthony had 28 points off the bench and surpassed Moses Malone to become the ninth-highest scorer in NBA history. As long as Wayne Ellington (hamstring), Trevor Ariza (ankle) and Kendrick Nunn (knee) remain out, Anthony will be counted on big time. The Lakers hit 16-for-30 for a 53% clip. That is not going to hold up every game, but it helped the Lakers escape a third loss.

LeBron James scored 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting to go along with six rebounds and six assists. LeBron fell to the floor after Desmond Bane fell into his ankle in the first half. It was a play that was eerily similar to the one that happened to James last season with the Hawks’ Solomon Hill. That injury kept James out for more than a month.

James acknowledged that he’s dealing with a sore right leg but he plans to receive “around-the-clock” treatment with the hope of being available for Tuesday’s game against the Spurs. While James ha escaped a serious injury scare, it wouldn’t be overly surprising if the Lakers held him out of Tuesday’s game as a precaution, given that it’s the front end of a back-to-back.

The Lakers and Spurs have faced off 177 times in the all-time series, with L.A. trailing 90-87 overall. In their last 10 overall regular season games, the Lakers are 6-4 against the Spurs.

Why Bet on San Antonio?

The Spurs (1-2) lost at home to Milwaukee 121-111 on Saturday. Doug McDermott made a career-high seven 3-pointers, scoring 25 points to go with four rebounds. He made six triples on four separate occurrences before this one and finally broke his own record, sinking seven of his 11 attempts from downtown. McDermott was one of 10 players in the NBA to make over 100 three-pointers while shooting over .500 from the field last year.

McDermott has fit in well in San Antonio, shooting 10-for-18 from 3-point range through three games. But 18 attempts in 86 minutes (7.5 per 36) isn’t a lot for a starting lineup’s most prolific shooter and McDermott’s teammates have shot 19-for-75 (25%) from beyond the arc. The Spurs are one of two teams that rank in the bottom five in both 3-point percentage (31.2%, 26th) and the percentage of their shots that have come from 3-point range (33%, 27th).

Three different players have led the team in scoring in each of its three games. Keldon Johnson had 20 points Saturday. He has scored at least 20 points in each of his last two games is averaging 20.7 points per game while shooting 56.3 percent from the field thus far.

San Antonio is second in the league in assist ratio, with 20% of their possessions ending in an assist. Their assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.1 is also good for sixth in the league while their overall assist percentage (62.0) has them at seventh. The Spurs’ 28.3 assists per game have them at third in the NBA and is four more assists than they averaged last season when they finished 16th.

The Spurs have their youngest roster ever since Gregg Popovich became coach in 1996, with an average age of 24.5. The roster this season includes eight players under the age of 25 and 13-of-17 players under the age of 27. The next youngest teams: 2020-21 (25.5) and 2019-20 (26.3).