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LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will begin a four-game road trip tonight against Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves. In their last matchup on Jan. 2, the Lakers defeated the Timberwolves 108-103 in Los Angeles. James scored a game-high 26 points and was one of three Lakers to score at least 20 points. The T’Wolves are 9-point favorites according to DraftKings Sportsbook, with the total set at 241.5.
Lakers vs. Timberwolves, 8:00 p.m. ET
Pick ATS: Timberwolves -9
The Lakers have lost four out of their last five games, which includes an 11-point defeat to the Toronto Raptors Monday night. James showed up to play, but the rest of the Lakers struggled offensively, shooting 39.1% from the field and 31% from three-point range.
Los Angeles will now go on the road for the next week where it has not played well at all this season. The Lakers are 9-22 away from Crypto.com Arena and have lost 10-straight road games. Los Angeles is 2-8 against the spread in the last 10 games and 1-7 ATS in the last eight games against other West teams. The Lakers are also 14-17 ATS on the road this season and 8-9 ATS as road underdogs.
The Timberwolves have won two straight games after defeating the San Antonio Spurs by 10 Monday night. Minnesota received an incredible performance from Towns, who had a career-high 60 points (19-31 FG, 7-11 3pt) and grabbed 17 rebounds. The Wolves have won four straight at home entering tonight’s games. Minnesota is 9-2 ATS in its last 11 games and 12-2 in its last 14 home games. The Wolves are also 19-14-1 ATS at home this season and 13-8-1 as the home favorite.
Over/Under: Under 241.5
In their last three matchups this season, the total points scored were 190, 202, and 211. The total has gone over in five of the Lakers’ last seven games, while the total has gone under in four of the Wolves’ last five games. I think we’ll see a lot of points scored tonight, but 241.5 is too high a line to take the over.
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