Hornets vs Lakers Prediction
Hornets vs Lakers Prediction: The Hornets (20-19) will travel to LA today to face the Lakers (27-13) in an East vs West showdown at 10:30 PM EST. This will also be the first time we get to see LaMelo face up against LeBron Games since he entered the league.
Odds, Spread, Line
Spread: Hornets (-106), Lakers (-114)
Money lime: Hornets(+250), Lakers (-310)
Over/Under: O 224.5 (-108), U 224.5 (-112)
The rise of the Hornets
The Hornets had a slow start to the season but have managed to get over .500 prior to the All-star game as they finished 5-1 prior to the break. The Hornets are playing back-to-back nights as they started a five-game western conference road trip when they played the Nuggets on Wednesday night. They ended up losing that game by 25 points in a blowout loss. Charlotte is not very good against the Western Conference as they are 9-10 just this season and will be playing back-to-back nights.
The Lakers are getting their groove back
Los Angeles have been without Anthony Davis since 2/15 and started off 1-4 when they played without him. Now 12 games without him, the Lakers have managed a 6-6 record and are currently on a three-game win streak, since the Allstar break. The Lakers are also 8-5 against the Eastern Conference, as they have not faced that many EC teams this season.
Star Battle
LaMelo Ball has been excellent for the Hornets this season and appears to be the clear favorite to win ROTY (15.7 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 6.2 APG). Although most NBA fans might be excited to see him finally face LeBron, Ball himself said he is not very excited to face James. This does not feel to be personal, but rather he might just be showing that he’s all business and hoping to keep the Hornets in the playoffs.
LeBron James (25.5 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 8.1 APG) is again putting up monster stats and is also an MVP candidate himself. He is doing this all without Anthony Davis and is attempting to keep his team in line, which it appears they are finally turning the corner and playing better since Anthony Davis’s injury.
Hornets vs Lakers Prediction
The Hornets suffered a brutal loss last night and are surely looking to bounce back. They will need all their players to be aligned to get a bounce-back win against a determined Lakers team. The Lakers want to remain a top team in a tightly contested Western Conference final.
My prediction is that the Lakers will win this game easily. The Hornets are a tough opponent, but given the fact that the Hornets have to go back-to-back nights in different Cities, I do not see them pulling off the upset against the lakers.
Free Pick: Lakers -7
