The Los Angeles Lakers (13-16) head to the desert to take on the Phoenix Suns (18-12) at Footprint Center for a Monday Night Western Conference matchup. The Lakers came away with a victory over the Washington Wizards on Sunday night 119-117, while the Suns took down the Pelicans 118-114 on Saturday night. The last time these two teams matchup up in November, the Suns walked away with a 115-105 victory and covered the 9.5-point spread. The Suns will be 8.5-point favorites at home (-110), with the point total listed at 230.5 (-110).
Lakers Look for Third Straight Victory
Shorthanded on Sunday night, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the visiting Washington Wizards 119-117 in a back-and-forth game despite being without Anthony Davis and Patrick Beverly.
Davis, who leads the Lakers with 27.4 points and 12.1 rebounds, suffered a right foot injury Friday night during a victory over Denver. Despite this, Lebron James totaled 33 points, nine assists, while Lonnie Walker added 21 points in the victory to help the Lakers win for the third time in four games and send Washington its 10th straight loss and 13th in 14 games.
In his 20th season, Lebron James has played an integral role in the Lakers success up to this point averaging 26.7 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 6.3 assists. Lonnie Walker, Russell Westbrook, and Austin Reaves are also averaging double-digit points, and they will have to step up in the absence of Anthony Davis. Overall, the Lakers are averaging a ninth-best 115.4 points on offense, but rank 25th in the league, surrendering 116.3 points per game.
Phoenix Suns Take Down Pelicans, Move to 13-3 at Home
The Phoenix Suns mounted a second-half comeback to down the New Orleans Pelicans 118-104 to move to 1.5 games out of first place in the Western Conference. Trailing by 17 points at the half, the Suns outscored the Pelicans 72-51 to break a two-game home losing streak.
Phoenix got a huge performance from Devin Booker who dropped 58 points against New Orleans on Saturday night. At one point, Booker even scored 25 points in a row for the Suns. He leads the team with 28.0 points per game and added six rebounds and five assists.
Overall the Suns rank sixth in both points scored per game (115.4) and points surrendered per game (110.8). Despite this, they come into this matchup having lost four of their last ten matchups. They will look to get back on track and build some momentum with a win over the Lakers on Monday.
Lakers vs. Suns Prediction
The Suns have been one of the top teams in the Western Conference with an 18-12 record. They will run into a Lakers team that is dealing with a plethora of injuries, and they look primed to push their winning streak to three and defend their home court. The Suns come into this matchup having covered the spread in each of their last two matchups and while they sport the second-best home record in the league (13-3).
The Lakers, on the other hand, will be without their best player Anthony Davis for this matchup and are coming off a game in which they struggled to defeat a Washington Wizards team that has lost ten straight. The Lakers are 2-4-1 ATS over their last seven and won’t be able to compete with a strong Suns squad. Back the Suns to win and cover the 8.5-point spread in this one.
GamblingUSA Prediction: Phoenix Suns -8.5 (-110)
