Washington Wizards vs Los Angeles Lakers 3/19/22 NBA Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Washington Wizards play host to the Los Angeles Lakers at the Capital One Arena on Saturday night.

The Los Angeles Lakers have been in a real slump as they’ve lost eight of their last 11 games overall, but they will be feeling much better after putting a halt to a three-game skid with a 128-123 overtime road win over the Raptors last night. LeBron James led the team with 36 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, Russell Westbrook tallied a triple-double of 22 points with 10 rebounds and 10 assists while Wenyen Gabriel chipped in with 17 points on seven of eight shooting. As a team, the Lakers shot 49 percent from the field and 19 of 43 from the 3-point line as they tied the game at the end of the fourth quarter thanks to a clutch steal and running 3-pointer from Westbrook to force overtime where they escaped thanks to a five-point run from Avery Bradley.

Meanwhile, the Washington Wizards have been in a real funk as they’ve lost nine of their last 11 games overall and they will be hoping to arrest a six-game slide after getting stopped by the Knicks in a 100-97 road loss last night. Kyle Kuzma led the team with 18 points and Kristaps Porzingis each scored 18 points, Corey Kispert scored 14 points while Raul Neto and Rui Hachimura scored 11 points apiece. As a team, the Wizards shot 43 percent from the field and 13 of 34 from the 3-point line as they struggled for most of the game and trailed by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter which turned out to be just enough in the end as they cut the deficit to just one point with 42.4 seconds remaining.

Looking at the betting trends, the Lakers are 5-2 ATS in their last seven games playing on zero days’ rest, 1-5 ATS in their last six games against a team with a losing record and 1-5 ATS in their last six games overall. The Wizards are 4-14-1 ATS in their last 19 home games, 4-22-1 ATS in their last 27 games against a team with a losing record and 15-35-2 ATS in their last 52 games overall.

The Lakers are again missing Carmelo Anthony, Talen Horton-Tucker, Wayne Ellington and Anthony Davis while the Wizards are still without Bradley Beal who is out indefinitely. The Lakers were desperate for a win to get out of their ugly slump and they were able to get that with a dramatic overtime win over the Raptors last night, but they will be so disappointed if they had a letdown performance in this spot. The Wizards have been one of the coldest teams in the league over the last couple of weeks and they are only 4-14-1 ATS in their last 19 home games. Give me the Lakers to pull off the minor upset in this spot.