Game Time: 10:00 PM ET, Friday, February 25th, 2022 

Venue: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California

Where to Watch:  ESPN

DraftKings:  Spread: Lakers -1.5

BetMGM:  Spread:  NL

VegasInsider:  Spread: Laskers -1.5

WynnBet: Spread:  NL

Clippers: 30-31, 8th place Western Conference

Lakers: 27-31, 9th place Western Conference

The Western Conference is being run away with by the Phoenix Suns, the Golden State Warriors, and the Memphis Grizzlies.  Each and every team in the top three is head and shoulders above the Miami Heat who leads the Eastern Conference.  It’s after that that the West struggles.  The bottom 9 teams in the West all face serious issues.  They either have a single star with little talent around them (Nuggets, Lakers) because of injury or because of design (Mavericks, Jazz).  Everyone else has terribly imbalanced rosters and no clear direction until after the coming draft.  That brings us to the Los Angeles Clippers, the #8 team in the West, technically a playoff team, that is keeping their heads above water without their two all-star players.  Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are out with injury and don’t seem terribly interested in being a part of the team at all anymore.  Clippers fans loved getting Kawhi!  It was the greatest day in franchise history since the Chris Paul trade to the Lakers was voided and awarded to the Clippers.  Yet having Kahwi has done nothing.  He has missed more time as a Clipper than he has played. The signing hasn’t produced any better than if they simply kept the roster they had and used the extra money to add pieces.  Paul George is a mystery… a great player that gets great stats and simply does not affect the wins or losses.  Paul is out with injury now too… and also doesn’t seem interested in hurrying up to return.  The Lakers have 5 future Hall of Famers on their roster (maybe more… we don’t know)... and among them only LeBron is still an effective player.  Only LeBron plays at a high level.  PF Anthony Davis will miss most if not all of the rest of the year with injury.  SG Russell Westbrook is unwanted by the Lakers fans, the media, and most Laker players… he isn’t playing well and he can feel the death stares that rain down on him.  

The Los Angeles Clippers have won 5 of their last ten games.  A stretch that perfectly illustrates how they keep treading water at around .500 on the season.  They have also gone 5-5 ATS.  The only place they aren’t even is O/U where they have 7 Overs and 3 Unders during the span.  PG Rggie Jackson is the surprise leader of the team.  SG Luke Kennard doesn’t even start, but could be one of the best shooters in the league, and new guys SF Rodney Hood and PF Robert Covington have barely gotten their feet wet.  The real shame of this season was the trade with Portland that brought swingman Norman Powell home to Los Angeles where he went to college (UCLA).  Norman showed up, had a great 2 games, and now is out indefinitely with a foot injury.  Norman is also at the beginning of a 4 year 90 MILLION DOLLAR contract.  This means that night after night with Claw, PG13, and Master Bates on the bench the Clippers have 100 MILLION DOLLARS a year on the injury list.

The Los Angeles Lakers are a disaster.  Yes, they are only 1 spot behind the Clippers.  Yes, because they have LeBron they can beat any team on any night if things fall right.  Yes, LeBron is stuck in 9th place with just 7 weeks left in the season.  The team just doesn’t work.  The GM used to be a player agent… he was Kobe’s agent… as such he has absolutely no skill set that qualifies him to be an NBA GM.  In fact the best stuff an NBA GM does for any team is turn down trades.  Really.  Every quality NBA GM gets involved in trades only when they solve an immediate problem.  If that immediate problem is a star player acting like a petulant child the GM should find a way to spoon the pablum back into the child… not trade a shooter, starting forward, and former sixth man of the year PF for Russell Westbrook.  The Lakers are in a spot where they have to drop the dreams of turning it around and start the rebuild.  LeBron is having a great statistical season, but this version of the Laskers is over.  PF Anthony Davis should be traded to the Orlando Magic or OKC Thunder on draft day… LeBron should be allowed to pick where he wants to go and send him away immediately after.  It’s time the Lakers start over…. Thanks for the Championship banner guys!  The Lakers have won 3 of their last ten games. They were 6-4 ATS in the same span.

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The Clippers are 30-31 on the season, but 30-31 ATS.  They have logged 30 Overs, 30 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 12-18 in road games.

The Lakers are 27-31 on the season, but 26-32 ATS.  They have notched 32 Overs, 25 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 18-13 in home games.

The Clippers are 23rd in scoring with 106.9 ppg, 22nd in rebounds with 43.9 per game, and 21st in AST/TO ratio with 1.7.  On defense they rank 11th while allowing 107.7 ppg.

The Lakers are 10th in scoring with 110.9 ppg, 17th in rebounds with 44.8 per game, and 23rd in AST/TO ratio with 1.6.  On defense they rank 26th while allowing 112.4 ppg from opponents.

Our prediction for Friday, February 25th is….  Clippers 118 - Lakers 115

The Clippers love beating the Lakers.  The Clippers also make up for a lack of star power with a scrappy bunch of quality defenders.  They share the arena so no matter who the home team is the whole crowd will be ready to cheer for hustle and teamwork… two things the Lakers don’t have left in them.  

The Lakers are favored because more people bet on the Lakers… take the free point and win with the Clippers

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The Clippers are 18-7 ATS in road games when playing against a marginal losing team.

The Clippers are 40-21 ATS in road games after 1 or more consecutive Overs

The Clippers are 57-43 ATS versus the Lakers since 1996.

The Clippers are 7-2 ATS versus the Lakers over the last 3 seasons.

Clippers:  Paul George OUT ** Kawhi Leonard OUT ** Norman Powell OUT

Lakers:  Anthony Davis OUT ** Carmelo Anthony QUEST ** LeBron James QUEST **  Avery Bradley OUT **  Kendrick Nunn OUT

Clippers:  PF Marcus Morris SR, SF Nicholas Batum, C Ivica Zubac, PG Reggie Jackson, SG Terrence Mann

Lakers: SF Stanley Johnson, PF LeBron James, C Dwight Howard, SG Russell Westbrook, PG Malik Monk 

Clippers

Points: Paul George 24.7

Assists: Paul George 5.5

Rebounds: Ivica Zubac 8.0

Steals: Paul George 2.0

Blocks:  Isaiah Hartenstein 1.1

Lakers

Points: Lebron James 29.1

Assists: Russell Westbrook 7.5

Rebounds: Anthony Davis 9.7

Steals: LeBron James 1.6

Blocks: Anthony Davis 2.3

Clippers:  Tyronne Lue, Dead man walking

Lakers: Frank Vogel, Dead man walking