With LeBron James ruled out on Friday night against the Timberwolves, the Lakers are priced as nearly double-digit underdogs in Minnesota. Rather than take a side, I’ll try to back some of that production that’s left behind by LeBron. Obviously, in this type of situation, it’s truly a team effort to pick up the slack. Anthony Davis will be asked to do more, but has pretty lofty prop numbers, so I’ll look in a different direction.
Both Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves are probably good bets on their point props in this spot, as both have statistically seen solid bumps with James out of the lineup. However, I see the largest edge in backing D’Angelo Russell props. This will be the second game LeBron has missed this season, and Russell showed up big the first time around. Take it with a grain of salt, as Reaves also missed Los Angeles’ last game, so even more was asked of Russell — but back on Sunday, D-Lo put up 28 points, 14 assists and five rebounds against the Blazers.
That’s just a one game sample, though, so let’s take it back to last season to get a bit more data. Russell laced ’em up 11 times without LeBron on the floor during the 2023-24 season, putting up averages of 21.7 points, 10.8 assists and 5.6 rebounds, while playing almost 38 minutes per game (and Reaves played in all 11 games). These two teams met 11 days ago in a game James did play in, and Russell still posted a 20-5-3 line against his former squad.
I see a solid edge in backing Russell on his P/R/A prop on Friday in a nice revenge spot back in his old stomping grounds in Minnesota.
PLAY: D’Angelo Russell OVER 25.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists (-105) 2-units
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
The contents contained in this article do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment.
