Pick against the spread, best player prop for Lakers vs. Nets on Saturday

This feels like a theme with high-profile NBA matchups basically getting killed due to injuries. What could be a 2021 NBA Finals preview will most likely be a lopsided game that is over by halftime. The Los Angeles Lakers are in Brooklyn to take on the Nets without LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Nets will be without James Harden, but Kyrie Irving is fine and Kevin Durant is back from a hamstring injury. Let’s take a look at the odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook.

Lakers vs. Nets, 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC

Pick ATS: Nets -10.5

The Lakers have three additional players on the injury report: Marc Gasol, Alex Caruso and Kyle Kuzma are all questionable. So if all three are out, plus LeBron and AD, this game won’t be competitive at all (at least it shouldn’t be). So getting the Nets at this line has a lot of value actually. Even if, say, Durant were to be a surprise addition to the injury report and rest, Kyrie should be plenty to get Brooklyn past L.A. at home. The Nets have won six of seven games and most of those opponents were much better than this Lakers team.

Player Prop: Kyrie Irving O2.5 3-Pointers (+100)

I’ll gamble a bit with this prop — isn’t that what we’re here to do? Irving has gone over 2.5 treys in three of the past five games. Even in the Nets’ blowout win over the Pelicans the other night, Irving made four of six 3-pointers. God forbid this game is somewhat competitive, Irving would likely get enough attempts to reach the over. If it’s a blowout, we can assume Kyrie did a lot of damage before halftime and there’s a chance this cashes before then.

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