Suns vs Lakers NBA Betting Line for Week 12

The nightcap of Thursday’s NBA on TNT doubleheader is a star-studded affair as Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and the Phoenix Suns visit LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers, who are very short favorites on the NBA odds. 2024 NBA Expert Analysis Phoenix vs Los Angeles | MyBookie Sportsbook NBA Week 12

How to Bet Suns at Lakers NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Thursday, 10 PM ET
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: TNT
Stream: TNT app
Radio: Tunein.com
NBA Odds: Lakers -1 (total 236.5)

Series History

The Lakers have won each of the first three meetings with the Suns this season and the teams will meet a total of five times, which is unusual, due to the Lakers and Suns playing in the In-Season Tournament Quarterfinals. The two teams have met 266 times overall, with the Lakers leading the all-time series 151-115. LA is 34-16 against the Suns all-time at Crypto.com Arena in the regular season. Suns coach Frank Vogel was the Lakers head coach for three seasons, finishing with an overall record of 127-98 and winning the NBA championship in 2020.

Why Bet on Phoenix Suns?

The Suns finally have their Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal healthy but just can’t seem to get going. Phoenix lost its second straight game on Monday also in Los Angeles – so at least they didn’t have to travel – by a score of 138-111 to the Clippers. The Suns shot 51% but never led by more than five points. The Clippers stretched their lead to 15 points in the third, when they made six 3-pointers by four different players. For the game, they shot 62% and had all five starters in double figures.

Durant had 30 points and seven rebounds with KD doing much of his damage in the first half, posting 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting. It was his 15th game of at least 30 points on the season, and he ranks fifth in the NBA with 29.6 points per contest. Durant has now scored 889 points in his first 30 games of this season, the most points in franchise history through a player’s first 30 games of a season and the third-most through the first 30 of his career.

Booker had 20 points and five assists Monday and has had at least 20 points and five helpers in 17 of the last 18 games, including a 13-game stretch from Dec. 12-31 that set a franchise record. Booker is 1-of-3 players this season to rank in the top-13 in both scoring (13th) and assists (7th).

Bradley Beal had 15 points in 35 minutes. After appearing to find his rhythm with four straight games of 20-plus points between Dec. 31 and Jan. 5, Beal has totaled just 27 points over his past two contests combined. The former Wizard has only managed to play in eight games for the Suns and only 44 minutes alongside Booker and Durant due to injury.

Jusuf Nurkic had just eight points and three rebounds in 21 minutes but Nurkic has 359 rebounds and 123 assists in his first 35 games of the season, just the second player in franchise history with 350+ rebounds and 120+ assists in the first 35 games of a player’s season, joining Charles Barkley (did so in four seasons).

Grayson Allen had eight points Monday, ending his career-long streak of scoring 10+ points at 13 consecutive games. Allen is currently the only player in the NBA this season with 100+ field goal attempts and shooting 50+ FG%, 40+ 3FG% and 90+ FT%. He ranks 3rd in the NBA in 3-pt shooting percentage at 47.2%, while Durant ranks just ahead of him in 2nd at 47.4%.

In the past eight losses, four of those games have come when the Suns had the lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Suns are -131 in point differential in the fourth – 32 points worse than the second-worst team.

“Just play to our strengths as individuals,” Durant said. “We’ve had some solid fourth quarters, it was us driving closeouts, coming down, making quick decisions, getting into our offense a little earlier in the shot clock. We gotta lean on that type of stuff. [If] we play a little bit faster but under control in the fourth, it’s about to turn for us. We got some spurts, solid play in the fourth, but we definitely have to be better.”

Why Bet on Los Angeles Lakers?

The Lakers have followed a four-game skid with back-to-back close wins – they beat visiting Toronto 132-131 on Tuesday. Anthony Davis was brilliant with 41 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Davis sunk 13 of 14 attempts from the charity stripe, which was a point of contention for Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic after the narrow defeat. Davis scored 20 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter while going 11-for-11 at the line in the final period. Davis shot 14 of the Lakers’ 36 free throws, while the entire Toronto roster shot only 13.

“It’s outrageous. What happened tonight, this is completely B.S.,” Rajakovic said. “This is a shame. Shame for the referees. Shame for the league to allow this. Twenty-three free throws for them, and we get two free throws in the fourth quarter? Like, how to play the game? I understand respect for All-Stars and all that, but we have star players on our team as well. They had to win tonight? If that’s the case, just let us know, so we don’t show up for the game.”

The free throws were relatively even through the first three quarters, 13 for L.A. and 11 for Toronto, before the Lakers’ total ballooned in the fourth. LeBron James, when asked about the discrepancy, said: “I feel like they fouled and we didn’t.” LeBron had 22 points, 12 assists and five rebounds.

It’s true that the Lakers shoot way more free throws than their opponents. They led the league by a massive margin last season, and they’re doing it again (albeit to a lesser degree) this season. They’ve had 925 attempts this season, an average of 25.3 a game, while their opponents have taken 739, an average of 19.4 a game. Last season the Lakers averaged 26.6 free throws a game to their opponents’ 20.8 a game, by far the biggest differential in the NBA. They also prevent other teams from getting to the line. They are tied with the Celtics for the fewest free throws allowed, at 19.4 per game. They also foul the least frequently in the league.

Forward Cam Reddish was evaluated by the training staff Tuesday night after taking an elbow to the mouth against the Raptors. Coach Darvin Ham hasn’t updated Reddish’s status so consider him questionable. If he’s unable to play, Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell could each pick up a handful of extra minutes.

Suns vs Lakers Expert Prediction

Lakers 116, Suns 112

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