The Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers meet Monday in NBA preseason action at the T-Mobile Arena. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

Brooklyn Nets Betting Preview

The Brooklyn Nets won 45 games last year and enter the first full season under coach Jacque Vaughn. The Nets no longer have the drama of Kyrie, Harden and Durant, and they also said goodbye to Yuta Watanabe, Joe Harris, Seth Curry and Patty Mills. The Nets added Lonnie Walker, Dennis Smith, Harry Giles and Darius Bazley. A lot of roster turnover in terms of role players, but the Nets’ success will come down to Spencer Dinwiddie, Mikel Bridges, Cameron Johnson and Nic Claxton, a respectable core for a team that recently lost 3 superstars. Of course the elephant in the room is the health of Ben Simmons who is on the court and says he’s good, but he’s played in just 100 games since 2020-21. The Nets have the potential to be sneaky good this season, but the health and production of Simmons is key. 

Los Angeles Lakers Betting Preview

The Los Angeles Lakers look for a bounce back effort after losing their preseason opener to the Warriors on Saturday. The Los Angeles Lakers are averaging 108 points on 41 percent shooting and allowing 125 points on 47.4 percent shooting. D’Angelo Russell is averaging 15 points and 1 rebound, while Max Christie is averaging 15 points and 2 rebounds. Anthony Davis is the third double-digit scorer and Rui Hachimura is grabbing 7 rebounds. The Los Angeles Lakers are shooting 39.5 percent from beyond the arc and 55 percent from the free throw line. The Los Angeles Lakers are allowing 36.2 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 46 rebounds per game.

Trends

The Nets are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 Monday games and 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The under is 7-3 in Nets last 10 overall. The Nets are 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings in Los Angeles.

Randy’s Free Pick

The Los Angeles Lakers have a preseason game under their belt to knock the rust off and probably should win this game assuming LeBron, AD, and others actually play. The problem is the Lakers haven’t cared about preseason the last few years and their key players sit out most games. Also, the Lakers have lost 12 of their last 13 preseason games overall. I can’t lay chalk with the Lakers in the preseason. Give me the Nets and the free buckets.