Los Angeles Lakers vs. Los Angeles Clippers – 7/30/20 NBA Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers duke it out at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex on Thursday night.

The Los Angeles Clippers were one of the most highly touted teams at the start of the season following their success in acquiring Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in a blockbuster trade to become the deepest team in the league. Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell continued their terrific play off the bench which was expected after what they produced last season, but we really didn’t see the Clippers find their groove with their new lineup as George was playing through a shoulder injury while Leonard played on a minutes restriction for load management purposes. As if the Clippers weren’t deep enough, they made another sneaky move at the trade deadline to acquire Marcus Morris who was having a career year with the New York Knicks.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers will be looking to pick up where they left off after working their way towards the top spot in the Western Conference. LeBron James has put together another MVP-worthy season and he has plenty of support as the Lakers built a solid supporting cast which has recently been bolstered by the recent additions of Dion Waiters and JR Smith who will have to fill in for injured players in Avery Bradley and Rajon Rondo. Anthony Davis will be key to the Lakers’ success, but he could miss Thursday’s game with an injury to his left eye.

Looking at the betting trends, the Clippers are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games as a road underdog and 21-8-1 ATS in their last 30 games playing on three or more days rest. The Lakers are 4-1 ATS in their last five games against a team with a winning record, 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall and 4-1 ATS in their last five games against a team above .600.

Head to head, the under is 4-1 in the last five meetings overall and the Clippers are 6-0 ATS in the last six meetings in Los Angeles.

The Clippers could be very shorthanded for this one as Montrezl Harrell, Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams and Landry Shamet are all in danger of missing this one.Meanwhile, the Lakers could be without their two best centers as Davis is dealing with discomfort in his left eye while Dwight Howard was limited at practice with a knee injury. These two teams have already met three times this season with the Clippers winning the first two meetings before the Lakers won by 112-103 back on Mar 10. Both teams will be shorthanded for this one, but it’s definitely the Clippers who will have to deal with more disruption coming into this one and I think that’s going to be the difference. I think this will be close for three quarters, but I like the more settled Lakers lineup to get the win and cover here.