The most important variable for the Los Angeles Lakers is health, and, perhaps, Anthony Davis’ health. Thankfully for Los Angeles, the center has played 37 of the team’s 40 games, and he’s slated to suit up tonight against the Washington Wizards despite battling a calf strain.
As LeBron James’ defensive intensity and finishing ability has declined with age, Davis has become the Lakers’ best and most important player. This season, he’s averaging 25.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.2 blocks per game, and Los Angeles is 3.8 points per 100 possessions better when he plays.
The Lakers have an easy matchup tonight in a 10:30 p.m. ET home game against the 6-35 Washington Wizards, whose negative-13.4 net rating is the third-lowest in NBA history.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Los Angeles is a 13.5-point favorite and the point total is set to 228.5. Below, I’ve highlighted my favorite prop bets centered around The Brow.
Best Anthony Davis Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Anthony Davis 30+ Points (+120)
Rim protection is Washington center and No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr’s only above-average NBA trait at this point in his career, which is why I’m only suggesting that Davis will only go over 30 points and not over 35 (+310 odds). Opposing players have shot 1.9 percentage points worse than usual within six feet of the basket when guarded by Sarr. He’s no Victor Wembanyama or Rudy Gobert, but the fact that the slender Frenchman has been an effective interior defender in his rookie season is about as good as Wizards fans could expect.
Stopping Davis would be a tall task for any player, though, given that he has already scored 40 on Wembanyama and 36 on Gobert earlier this season, and Sarr has given up 29 to Domantas Sabonis, 32 to Karl-Anthony Towns, and 50 to Wembanyama. Plus, Sarr is basically Washington’s only good defensive player: overall, the team has the league’s worst defensive rating and allows the most points, most rebounds, fifth-most assists, and sixth-fewest turnovers to opposing players.
Davis had a rough outing in his last game, scoring just 16 points on five-for-14 shooting as the Lakers lost handily to the LA Clippers at Intuit Dome, perhaps demonstrating lingering effects of the injury. Still, he has three 30-point performances over his last eight games, against a trio of far superior defenses in the Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets, and San Antonio Spurs. One concern is that Los Angeles may blow the Wizards out, relegating him to the bench early, but the Lakers have only won six games by double-digit points.
Anthony Davis Most Points + Rebounds + Assists (-140)
Backing Davis to be the P/R/A leader effectively pits him against James, since no Washington player averages within 10 P/R/A of the Los Angeles duo.
It’s basically a toss-up. Over the last 10 games in which both men have played, James has led the team in P/R/A five times, Davis has led the team twice, and they have exactly tied thrice. But given that the Wizards have an even greater weakness against Davis’ strength — rebounding — than against James’ — assisting — I back Davis to pip his teammate tonight. Plus, I’ve already backed Davis to score at least 30 points, and if he does that, it might be tough for James to catch up.
