Tonight in Los Angeles, Luka Doncic goes toe-to-toe with his former team for the first time since the trade heard ’round the world which sent him to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis.
With a grudge match on deck against the Dallas Mavericks, the superstar pairing of Luka and LeBron James will showcase their collective talents on national TV at 10 p.m. EST. Here’s the best bets on DraftKings Sportsbook for the outing.
Lakers -9 (-108)
This bet boils down to one key concept: L.A is healthy, while Dallas is not. The Lakers’ injury report is almost entirely clean, with LeBron probable to play and Maxi Kleber as the only omission while he recovers from foot surgery. As for the Mavericks, well, lineup options are limited to say the least.
Anthony Davis should’ve suited up for a homecoming game tonight, but the other centerpiece of the Doncic trade remains sidelined with an abdominal injury. Centers Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford are both still out due to ailments of their own, leaving Dallas’ frontcourt extremely thin. Caleb Martin is also out, while P.J. Washington and Dwight Powell are each questionable to play (UPDATE: Both have been updated to available tonight).
Is there some bad karma in the organization after shipping their franchise cornerstone out? It’s hard to tell, but it’s much more assured that the Mavericks’ interior defense will struggle while half the rotation is in street clothes. The Lakers should be able to get to the paint at will, and with offensive studs in James and Doncic, they should handle business and cover the -9 spread tonight.
Jaxson Hayes over 4.5 rebounds (-140)
The value here isn’t fantastic at -140 odds, but considering the thin Dallas frontcourt, this rebounding line is way too low for the Lakers center. He averages 5.9 boards per game as a starter this season, and while his rebounding numbers haven’t been spectacular lately, this is a scenario to bet based on matchup.
In their last two games, the Mavericks started small lineups with Kessler Edwards and P.J. Washington at the PF and C slots. It’s more a matter of necessity rather than game plan, especially since neither player is above 6-foot-8. Hayes, a seven-footer, should be able to pull down at least five boards tonight, even if he stays under the 30-minute mark as he has in recent outings.
Luka Doncic over 17.5 assists + rebounds (-110)
Is Luka Magic back? Maybe! The Slovenian superstar had his first standout performance in a Lakers uniform a couple of nights ago against Denver with 32 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. Really though, it was just a typical Luka stat line — he’s certainly capable of stuffing the stat sheet even more.
With the revenge game narrative surely on his mind in a potentially-emotional outing tonight, Doncic should come out firing on all cylinders. However, he’s still working his way back into form following a lengthy absence of over a month. Doncic dropped 14, 16, and 14 points across his first three appearances as a Laker, and while his previous performance against the Nuggets was impressive, it’s not certain he’ll go off for at least 31-plus points to go over his line of 30.5 tonight.
With that said, look for him to make a major impact in other categories, especially against a hobbled Mavericks defense that should struggle to rebound and protect the rim. At -110 odds, the value is right to target over 17.5 REB + AST for Doncic tonight.
