The Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers played a game for the ages on Tuesday night, with the Warriors coming up short at home.
Golden State went on a 14-0 run to tie the game at 112 in the final minute, but the Lakers came up with key stops, thanks to the elite shot-blocking of Anthony Davis to hold on for a five-point road win.
The Lakers came into the series as underdogs, but that has flipped after they stole Game 1 in Golden State.
The Warriors, fresh off of going seven games against the Sacramento Kings, have lost Game 1 for the second straight series.
Game 2 is back in Golden State, and Stephen Curry and company know that this is a near must-win against a LeBron James-led Lakers team.
Here are the odds and how I plan on betting this matchup on Thursday night:
Lakers vs. Warriors odds, spread and total
Lakers vs. Warriors prediction and pick
There are a lot of things to like about the Lakers’ performance in Game 1, starting with Davis absolutely controlling the game down low.
Not only did AD finish with four blocks, but he scored 30 points and grabbed 23 rebounds in the win. Yet, the Lakers only won by five points?
The difference was in the shooting department, which could dictate this series. Golden State was 21-for-53 from 3-point range in this game while the Lakers made just six of their 24 shots from deep.
Shooting 53 shots from 3 isn’t a recipe for success for Golden State on all nights, but the team was terrible from the field (40.6 percent) and was still able to hang around in this game.
The Lakers tried to neutralize Curry with Jarred Vanderbilt, but it allowed Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole to get going at times on offense.
Golden State has been an elite home team throughout the Curry era, and I can’t see the Warriors losing at home in back-to-back games.
I expect some positive regression from the Warriors from the field, especially since they didn’t get killed on the glass or in the turnover department.
At some point, the Lakers are going to need to make shots from deep to keep up, and I don’t think they possess the shooting within their top rotation guys to do so.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.