The Daily Sweat: Can the new-look Lakers make it two in a row?
Well, folks, football season has come to an end.
After a thrilling Super Bowl on Sunday night, it’s time to fully turn the page to basketball — both pro and college.
The NBA trade deadline was last week and we’ve got a week of action before the All-Star break, beginning with 11 games on Monday night. Included in Monday night’s slate is the new-look Los Angeles Lakers traveling to Portland.
Even with LeBron James sidelined by ankle soreness, the Lakers notched a 109-103 road win on Saturday over the Golden State Warriors. Three new Lakers — D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley — contributed nicely in the win.
Russell, now in his second stint with the Lakers, was inserted into the starting lineup and posted 15 points, six assists and five rebounds. Vanderbilt had 12 points and eight boards in 17 minutes. Beasley missed all six of his 3-point attempts, but is a proven scorer and was quickly included in the team’s rotation.
With those deadline acquisitions suddenly making the Lakers look a lot more formidable, can they make it two in a row?
On Monday night in Portland, the Lakers are 1.5-point underdogs at BetMGM with the total listed at 237.5.
On Sunday’s injury report, James was listed as questionable to return to the floor on the heels of becoming the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. If he does return, he’ll have some intriguing new pieces to work with as the Lakers try to string some wins together.
It’s been an uneven first half of the season for the Lakers, but the West is so tight that it takes stringing only a few wins together to make a significant move in the standings. With two games to go before the break, the Lakers are 26-31 overall. That’s two games out of the play-in and only four games out of the No. 6 spot in the standings.
Perhaps Saturday night’s effort can carry over to Monday, and James and the Lakers can begin to turn the corner back into a playoff push.
What else is going on in the NBA?
The Miami Heat have won seven of their last 10 games, but most recently eked out close wins over two of the worst teams in the NBA. The Heat beat the Houston Rockets by two on Friday and then needed overtime to get past the Orlando Magic on Saturday.
The Heat have a much tougher opponent on Monday night with the Denver Nuggets in town. The Nuggets are in first place in the West and are trying to cap off a three-game East Coast road trip with a win. The Nuggets have been dominant at home, but are just 13-14 on the road this season. That includes an 11-16 ATS mark as a road team.
In this matchup, the Heat are favored by 1.5 points at BetMGM with the total listed at 220.5.
Other notable games on the schedule include the Brooklyn Nets going across town to face the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks are 2.5-point favorites.
Additionally, the Luka Doncic-Kyrie Irving tandem will make its home debut as the Dallas Mavericks host the Minnesota Timberwolves. Dallas is favored by 7.5 points.
3 games to know in college hoops
It was overshadowed by the Super Bowl, but there was a huge upset in college basketball on Sunday as No. 1 Purdue lost to Northwestern in Evanston. That loss will shake up the rankings as we inch closer to Selection Sunday.
Monday night’s slate is dominated by low and mid-major action, but there are three major conference games to keep an eye on.
First, No. 19 Miami heads on the road to face North Carolina. UNC, which snapped a three-game losing streak by blasting Clemson by 20 points on Saturday, is favored by 5.5 points at BetMGM. Miami enters Monday night’s game on a four-game winning streak that includes an 81-59 blowout over Duke a week ago.
The Hurricanes, who are just a half-game behind Pittsburgh and Virginia for first place in the ACC, have been very reliable for bettors.
Miami is 11-4 ATS in ACC play and 7-2 ATS as a road team. As a road underdog, the Hurricanes are 3-0 ATS. UNC, meanwhile, is just 5-8-1 ATS vs. conference opponents and 6-6 ATS as a home favorite.
The spread opened with UNC as a four-point favorite, so money has clearly come in on the UNC side with the number moving a point and a half.
Over in the Big 12, No. 5 Texas is going on the road to face Texas Tech, while No. 14 Baylor hosts West Virginia. Baylor is favored by 6.5 points over the Mountaineers while TTU is a 4.5-point underdog at home.
This marks just the second time all season that Texas Tech is a home dog.
