Trail Blazers set for unique Clippers-Lakers back-to-back

Nov 29, 2022 - 8:35 PM

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Last week, I built a parlay that I tried to base on stats and historical precedent and said that if we lost, it’d come because of a historical performance. So Anthony Davis went out and did something entirely unprecedented in NBA history.

Right. Lesson learned.

Still, if we had just taken the over on rebounds, we’d have hit. But Vegas is rolling in money because of “if only” regrets. On we move to this week in a game that doesn’t directly feature the Lakers but features their next opponent.

DraftKings odds

The Lakers’ final home game before a lengthy road trip comes against Portland on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Blazers play the Clippers in a back-to-back that isn’t uncommon, but this one features a Portland home game.

The ineptitude and struggles of the Lakers to start this season has allowed the Clippers to just kind of skirt under the radar. At 12-9 and sporting a net rating ranking 17th, they aren’t nearly as bad as the Lakers. They do, though, have an offensive rating of 29th and Kawhi Leonard is who everyone thinks Anthony Davis is when it comes to missing games.

On Tuesday, Leonard will be joined by Paul George, Luke Kennard and John Wall on the injury report and the bench, but Damian Lillard is also out on the other side. So it’s a battle of The Other Guys.

And for a number of years now, The Other Guys for the Clippers have been pretty dang good. Notably, Ivica Zubac nearly had a 30-30 game this weekend against the Pacers, who also had a Clippers-Lakers back-to-back. Guys like Reggie Jackson, Robert Covington, Nicolas Batum and Norman Powell are all bonafide NBA players that can have expanded roles in this contest.

Our friends at DraftKings have the Clippers as a 3.5-point underdog. We’re banking on The Other Guys in this one for the Clippers. No fancy, multi-leg parlays this time. Lets try to keep it simple and avoid some of the “if only” on this bet.

Check out DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.

For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.