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Quite a bit will have to change for the Lakers to be aggressive with the Thunder in these playoffs.
After a troubling Game 1 loss to the Thunder 108-90, the Lakers discover themselves again as 15.5-point underdogs on Thursday evening.
Luka Doncic is not strolling through that door to save the Lakers in Game 2 and perhaps not ever in this best-of-7 sequence.
In order for the Lakers to be profitable, they want to get a minimal of 20 factors per recreation from Austin Reaves, though he was a horrible 3-for-16 from the discipline with only eight factors.
Oklahoma City has a lot of wings to throw at Reaves to hold him off stability, while the Lakers don’t actually have the horses to compete with Doncic out.
There’s definitely no Lakers moneyline bets coming here, as even Heat LeBron James couldn’t carry this team to a win on Thursday.
Still, there’s a betting angle we can take on this recreation.
The Lakers’ offense has been terrible these playoffs, as the team has scored north of 107 factors just once in seven playoff video games.
The Thunder’s protection is suffocating, as Reaves can attest to.
In reality, the Lakers have scored 100 factors against Oklahoma City just once in their last 5 video games, with Doncic taking part in in just one of these video games.
Betting on the NBA?
This is to say that the Lakers’ offense is actually inefficient proper now, and while some may expect higher efficiency from Reaves in Game 2, I expect James to regress.
James was 12-for-17 from the discipline with 27 factors in Game 1; that’s about as good as it’s going to get for James on 4 days’ relaxation.
It’s every other day from here on out, and with Doncic not shut to returning, they can only hope for Luke Kennard to rating 30 factors or Reaves to carry them.
I’m not betting on that.
Target the Lakers’ team whole under 98.5 (-115, BetMGM), a wager that has hit in 4 straight video games.
Chet Holmgren has been dominant in these playoffs. Getty Images
As for a player prop, a good player to look at is Chet Holmgren.
Holmgren scored 24 last time out as the Lakers can’t match up with him. He has cleared his over of 14.5 factors in 4 of his last 5 video games performed in these playoffs.
THE PLAY: Lakers team whole under 98.5 (-115, BetMGM) | Holmgren over 14.5 factors (+100, Fanatics)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Erich Richter is a brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt but he has a black belt in MMA betting. During the soccer season he’s showcased large earnings at The Post in the player prop market the last two seasons. While continuously betting lengthy pictures, his return on funding is 30.15 % since 2022.
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