Toronto Raptors vs. Los Angeles Lakers – 8/1/20 NBA Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The Los Angeles Lakers and the Toronto Raptors duke it out at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex on Saturday night.

The Los Angeles Lakers will be looking to stay hot after taking down the rival Clippers in a 103-101 win on Thursday. Anthony Davis hit the ground running as he drained 16 of 17 free thitems to lead the team with 34 points, eight rebounds and four assists. LeBron James added 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists while Kyle Kuzma chipped in with 16 points off the bench. As a team, the Lakers shot 39 percent from the field and 11 of 36 from the 3-point line as they dominated the first quarter to lead by as many as 13 points, before having to rally back from an 11-point deficit to win the game on a putback layup from James. JR Smith finished scoreless in eight minutes of action, but Dion Waiters chipped in with a crucial 11 points off the bench.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Raptors have been one of the most consistent teams all season and they were riding a four-game win streak before the season suspension. Pascal Siakam led the team with averages of 23.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, Kyle Lowry averaged 19.7 points and 7.7 assists while Fred VanVleet averaged 17.6 points with 6.6 assists per game. As a team, The Toronto Raptors are shooting 37.1 percent from beyond the arc and 80 percent from the free thitem line.The Toronto Raptors are averaging 113 points on 45.8 percent shooting but where they’ve continued to dominate is on the defensive end where they allow just 106.5 points on  42.9 percent shooting.

Looking at the betting trends, the Lakers are 5-1 ATS in their last six games following an ATS loss and 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games overall. The Raptors are 4-1 ATS in their last five Saturday games, 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games playing on three or more days rest and 10-3 ATS in their last 13 games following a loss of more than 10 points. 

Head to head, the under is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings overall, the Lakers are 1-4 ATS in the last five meetings in Toronto and the Lakers are 7-18-1 ATS in the last 26 meetings overall.

The Lakers will be happy that they were able to get the win over the Clippers on Thursday, but it was a very sloppy performance that could’ve easily saw them lose at the buzzer as the Clippers had a shot to win at the end. The Lakers are still without Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley so they’re going to need more from new recruits JR Smith and Dion Waiters. The Raptors have won the last 10 meetings against the Lakers and they are 18-7-1 ATS in the last 26 meetings overall, so despite the absence of VanVleet, I’m going with the Raptors to pull off the minor upset here.