Sixers vs. Lakers prediction and odds for Sunday, January 15 (Expect lots of points)
By Peter Dewey
The Philadelphia 76ers are in Los Angeles on Sunday for the second night of a back-to-back.
After beating the Utah Jazz on Saturday night behind a big game from James Harden, the Sixers are just 3.5-point favorites on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Usually, I’d expect a healthy Philly team to be laying much more against the Anthony Davis-less Lakers, but Tobias Harris is questionable with an injury and the team could sit a star like Joel Embiid or Harden since it is a back-to-back.
That is likely factored into the spread for this game, so bettors are going to want to watch the injury report before wagering on a side.
The Lakers have been solid this season as home underdogs, but they failed to cover in that spot on Thursday night against the Dallas Mavericks.
Here’s a look at the odds and my best bet for this game.
Sixers vs. Lakers odds, spread and total
Sixers vs. Lakers prediction and pick
Since there may be injury/rest questions on the Sixers’ side, I’m going to look to the total for my best bet in this game.
Both of these teams are elite OVER teams this season, with Philly ranking second in the NBA at hitting the over in its games (26-16-0).
The Lakers (24-18) on overs, play at the second fastest pace in the NBA, which helps them play a lot of high-scoring games even though they rank just 20th in the league in offensive rating.
If Embiid and Harden both end up playing, I like the over even more since they can take over a game on their own.
However, I still think there is value in it given how fast Los Angeles plays. The Lakers are also a below-average defense, ranking 17th in the NBA in defensive rating.
If you want to bet the spread in this game you can, but you may not get the best number as a result. I’ll side with the total instead and root for plenty of points to be scored.
Find Peter Dewey’s full betting record here.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.