Los Angeles Lakers Pose As Slight Underdogs Against Rebound-Seeking Phoenix Suns

The Los Angeles Lakers will need more than the home-court advantage to overcome a souped-up Phoenix Suns squad on Wednesday, March 22 at the Crypto.com Arena.

The Suns are -1.5 favorites over the Lakers in the encounter with the moneyline set at -124 for Phoenix and +103 for Los Angeles per USA Today.

The Lakers will continue to miss the services of LeBron James against the Suns.

However, the Purple-and-Gold brigade has shown they can compete without their resident star thanks to their new recruits and the improved play of their original cast.

Among those who have shone as of late include Austin Reaves, Dennis Schroder, D'Angelo Russell and Troy Brown Jr.

In their last assignment, the Lakers were able to overcome the Orlando Magic, 111-105.

Reaves dropped 35 points in that match coming off the bench alongside six rebounds and six assists.

Backing him up was Russell, who finished with 18 points and six assists.

"For them to recognize what I do—obviously I'm not an MVP-caliber player, those guys are really good—but for them to do that is special," Reaves stated via ESPN. "It means a lot to me."

Victory is essential for the Lakers, especially since they are out of the top 10 in the Western Conference.

Although they are within striking distance, a win can instantly change their fortunes and their chances heading into the NBA playoffs.

Winning is equally important for the Suns as they are 3.5 games ahead of the Lakers, and the result could be telling on the Western Conference standings.

The Suns are coming off a 120-124 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Devin Booker exploded for 46 points and three rebounds in that game, while Chris Paul chipped in 14 markers and issued 13 dimes in a losing effort.

Against the Lakers, Phoenix needs to get more offense if they are to bounce back to their winning ways.

"The tough turnover at the end of the third... It turned into an and-one, and the momentum just shifted," Phoenix coach Monty Williams stated after the game via ESPN. "So that was a tough exchange."

The match will be telecast over ESPN at 10:00 PM ET with live streaming also available via fuboTV.