- The Golden State Warriors face off against the Los Angeles Lakers for the seventh seed.
- The Lakers have -225 odds to win the game.
- The spread has moved a lot, but eventually settled at Lakers -5.5.
LAS VEGAS - The NBA’s new Play-In format has resulted in an excellent matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors.
The Lakers, the defending NBA Champions, found themselves in the seventh seed after injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis set them back significantly.
James and Davis are back for this game against the Golden State Warriors, however - a team that has also been impacted by injuries.
Klay Thompson’s year-long absence has been felt by the Warriors, who have been carried to a playoff berth by the outstanding effort of Steph Curry and Draymond Green.
Curry and James are long time rivals, meeting in the NBA finals many times before - but now, they meet in the preliminarily playoff rounds.
James’ Lakers are advantaged in this matchup, according to the online sportsbooks.
Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers Moneyline
- Golden State Warriors +185
- Los Angeles Lakers -225
The Lakers are about as advantaged as one might expect them to be, given that their seeding problems were mostly due to injury.
These injuries appear to be in the past - LeBron James and Anthony Davis are healthy, and the Lakers’ struggles without them are irrelevant when they’re on the court.
Still, there are questions to be answered by the Lakers, and the online sportsbooks seem to think they’ll answer some of those questions by winning this game.
Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers Spread
- Golden State Warriors +5.5 (-110)
- Los Angeles Lakers -5.5 (-110)
This spread opened at Lakers -7.0 at some online sportsbooks, and swiftly went towards the Warriors.
It was seen at Lakers -4.5 at its lowest ebb, and has since rebounded to Lakers -5.5 as the sportsbooks found the sweet spot.
The fact that James and Davis have missed so much time makes evaluating the Lakers against the spread a bit more difficult.
This is not the same Lakers team that has been playing for the last month, or the team that logged a 32-39-1 ATS record over the course of the regular season.
Sports betting fans will be forced to decide if the Lakers are back, or if their regular season performance represents them.