Free Picks: San Antonio Spurs vs. Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers will head to San Antonio to take on the Spurs in the first of a two-game set the teams will play at the AT&T Center in a three-game span. The Spurs are coming off of a close three-point loss to the Pelicans and the last time the Lakers played they lost to the Blazers after fading in the fourth quarter. Though they’re just 2-2 so far this season, expect the defending champions to impose their will on Wednesday night in Texas.

With these two teams both coming off of losses, this matchup will be pitting two teams that are looking for a bounce back game against one another. The Lakers were a great bounce back team last season, going 10-4-1 against the spread in games following a non-consecutive loss.

Though he has been working through some ankle stiffness, the 35-year-old LeBron James also owned Gregg Poppovich’s team last year: the Spurs were just one of three teams against which the King played multiple times and averaged 30+ points per meeting.

Anthony Davis, who still plays something of a Robin to LeBron’s Batman, has started the season off slowly and will surely be looking to find some sort of consistency. This could be a great game for the Brow to get his sea legs under him as well, with San Antonio giving up the sixth-most points points in the paint per game so far this season, at 53.3.

San Antonio has not covered a spread against the Lakers since they added Davis, either, allowing L.A. to cover the spread in each of their three meetings last season with the big man on the squad. Not only that, but Spurs big man LaMarcus Aldridge has been having a heck of a tough time getting his shot and making an impact through the first few games, and a perennial NBA Defensive Player of the Year candidate like Davis is not going to make his life any easier.

Pop has started to deploy some small ball-type lineups with aging scorer Rudy Gay at the five, and if the legendary coach attempts that tactic against the Lakers, you can expect Davis to have a field day as he did in the Western Conference semifinals against the small-ball Houston Rockets during last season’s playoffs.

The Lakers and their new-look roster—headlined by the superb early play of point guard Dennis Schroder—are looking to find an identity, so we’re taking them to cover their -6.5-point spread at solid -105 odds against the Spurs in what could be a great matchup for the defending champs.

• Los Angeles has gone 3-0 ATS in the last 3 meetings
• San Antonio was the 3rd worst team ATS last season
• Los Angeles has won 4 of the last 5 meetings by 7+ points
• Los Angeles had an 11.0 margin of victory last season