Who doesn’t love a Western Conference rivalry matchup to start the NBA season? Both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors like their chances to make some noise this year. Armed with superstars and quality rotations, they’re part of a deep group of contending hopefuls in the West. Tuesday’s game will be their first opportunity to measure up their chances.
The Warriors are 2.5-point road favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook. They’re priced at -135 on the Moneyline, while the Lakers are +114 home underdogs. The total for this game is set at 225.5 points. Let’s get into my preview, prediction and pick for this Lakers vs. Warriors game.
Lakers vs. Warriors prediction, preview
The core of the Los Angeles Lakers remained the same in the offseason. It’s still a Luka Doncic-LeBron James tandem at the top, but they bolstered the edges of the roster notably. GM Rob Pelinka brought in Jake LaRavia, Marcus Smart, and Deandre Ayton to better fill out head coach JJ Redick’s rotation. With James bound to retire sooner than later, the urgency was on display to put together a winner.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, they’ll have to navigate things without James for the time being. The 40-year-old superstar will be out for the foreseeable future with sciatica. That means it’ll be the full Luka show on Tuesday, and the Lakers need every bit of his offensive talent.
Last season was a tale of two halves for the Warriors. After stumbling to a sub-.500 record, they took a huge swing by acquiring Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline. They surged back into the playoff picture with the best defensive rating in the league after the Butler trade and upset the second-seeded Rockets in seven games. Now they’ve made some key additions to shore things up in the offseason, including a key veteran who is no stranger to winning in Al Horford.
Injuries and a lack of depth undid last year’s team. Now that they’re coming into the year deeper, Golden State hopes that a healthy team can make some serious noise in the West.
So, who comes out on top in this battle of perennial Western Conference powers?
Lakers vs. Warriors pick, best bet
This Warriors defense would pose a lot of problems for the Lakers even if they had LeBron James. Without him, that’s a ton of pressure on Luka. But the minutes he sits, when LeBron would usually be playing, are the real issue.
Golden State can stagger Steph Curry and Jimmy Buckets to get a consistent source of star offense. They also have Brandin Podziemski as a consistent handler. Those non-Luka minutes will be a game-losing problem for the Lakers.
