Free Picks: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors

While the Dubs did right the ship after a ghastly start, they are still just a fringe playoff team, and the Lakers are title contenders. Unless LeBron James and/or Anthony Davis sit or have a shockingly bad outing, Monday night’s matchup should be a breeze for the Lakeshow. The defending champs are a league-leading 11-3 including wins in their last five straight and nine of their last ten. Can Chef Steph Curry cook up a miracle at Staples to slow down the Lakers?

Our money is on Curry’s heroics falling short in this one. The Warriors will keep it close for a time and make their runs, but in the end it will be another double-digit victory for the reigning and defending champs, so we’re taking the Lakers -9.5 point spread at -104 odds on sports betting site 22Bet, which is the place to be if you like to put your picks in as early as possible.

Rookie James Wiseman has been impressive for the Warriors, but he’s still got a long way to go to hang with the big boys. He was torched by Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets for a 23-14-10 triple-double on 50 percent shooting last time out. The game before that, Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner put up his best game of the season against the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft, dropping 22 points, 12 rebounds, and six blocks on the kid’s head. Just imagine what the Brow will do to the poor lad.

The Lakers have gone 3-0 straight up and 2-1 against the spread against the Warriors since the King and the Brow joined forces last season, with two of the wins coming by 24 and 30 points. Of course, there was no Curry and no Draymond for those games, but those two have been playing for most of this season, and in back-to-back losses in their last two outings, Curry’s heroics and Green’s stewardship were not nearly enough against much lesser opponents than L.A.

Golden State has been the eighth-worst team ATS during this campaign, posting a 5-7 record this season, while the Lakers have gone 8-6 against the bookies this season despite enormous spreads to overcome nearly every night. LeBron (who has yet to miss a game despite popping up on the injury report just about every day) and company have been dominating when they’re supposed to, beating the spread by an average of +3.5 points, good for third in the league. While the Lakers have gone 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS in their last five, the Warriors have gone 2-3 both ways.

If a double-digit victory is too much for your betting mind to fathom, consider taking the Game Total Points Under 225 prop at -111 on 22Bet instead—or maybe stacking them together for a parlay at +272 odds. This matchup features two of the best under teams in the NBA, with the Lakers hitting the under in 71.4 percent of their games (fourth in the league) and the Warriors hitting at a 67 percent clip (eighth). Golden State has hit five straight unders and L.A. has gone below the total in three of their last four and eight of their past ten. If you wanted a sure thing, this is as close as you’ll get.

• Golden State is 0-4 ATS in their past four games on 2 days’ rest
• Los Angeles has gone 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games as favorites
• The UNDER has hit in 6 of the past 8 meetings
• Steph Curry has averaged 23.6 points, 6.5 assists, and 5.1 rebounds in 35 games vs. LeBron James
• LeBron James has averaged 31.3 points, 8.2 assists, and 10.3 rebounds in 35 games vs. Steph Curry