2019 NBA Preview, Odds, And Prediction: Los Angeles Lakers vs Phoenix Suns

The Los Angeles Lakers will be looking to kick things off in 2020 the right way when they host the Phoenix Suns on New Year’s Day inside the Staples Center.

LeBron James and his gang are on a high after their back-to-back wins against the Blazers and the Mavs, respectively, following a disastrous four-game slide. James, who just turned 35 yesterday, is looking to stretch his run of double-digit assist games to five. In his last performance against Dallas, he dished out 13 dimes, good enough to achieve more milestones of being the ninth player in league history to reach 9,000 assists, and the first and only player to seize the stat category mark while scoring at least 30,000 points and grabbing 9,000 rebounds.

The Suns on their own are also starting to pick up the pieces in the wake of the distress caused by a previous eight-game losing skid. Notching a couple of wins in succession, the Arizona-based squad is hoping to rebuild its confidence to chase an elusive playoff spot. They currently sit at the 10^th spot in the West with a 13-20 record.

Their latest morale-boosting win could not come at a more ideal fashion as the Suns battled back from 19 points down to shock the Blazers on Monday, 122-116. Devin Booker exploded for 33 points in the game and went perfect from the stripe on 15 attempts. He also added seven dimes and six boards. Ricky Rubio hit his 12^th double-double of the season with 18 points and 13 assists.

Kyle Kuzma is looking to rebound from a scoreless outing against the Mavs. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope got his back, though, as the 6’5 guard stepped up and scored a season-high 19 points to provide boost to the Lakers who also saw James struggle offensively with just 13.

Odds and Trends:

The Lakers are pegged as 11-point favorites on spread. The total line is offered at 226.5.

Playing on the road against a winning team does not sit well for the Suns when beating the handicap. They are 1-6 ATS in their last seven road games vs. a team with an above .600 home winning rate and 1-7 in their last eight road games vs. a team with a winning home record.

The Lakers are keeping it simple in the ATS trend. They are effortlessly dominating the spread when faced against a losing team, winning seven of their last eight.

Total trends lead to the OVER selection, most particularly in Phoenix’s games. As an underdog, they have gone perfect in their last five games and lost only once in their last six outings overall.

Prediction:

Straight-up: Lakers

ATS: Lakers

Total: Over