Game Time: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, March 21st, 2022 

Venue:  Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland, Ohio

Where to Watch: NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread:  Cavs -5

Fanduel:  Spread:  Cavs -5.5

BetMGM:  Spread: Cavs -5.5

Lakers: 30-41, 9th place Western Conference

Cavaliers: 41-30, 6th place Eastern Conference

An NBA matchup between a King coming home… and the Prince that stole his kingdom.  The Los Angeles Lakers are a swamp of bad feelings.. The butt of jokes.. A comedy of dunces.  They have very poor leadership, very poor stewardship, they lack teamwork, they lack joy, and Showtime is over just in time for a cable show to help us reminisce about the days of old.  The Cavaliers are the spurned first wives.. They had what they thought was a great guy building a wonderful life with them… but he kept stepping out.   They forgave him once when he returned to their doorstep looking for home cooking and time with the kids… and it was great again for awhile… until he met someone new and left for good.  They didn’t take it as hard the second time. They picked themselves up and found new purpose.  In lots of ways the spurned spouse has rebuilt their home, knowing that time is short and they deserve the life they want… The King isn’t doing so well on his own this time.. But he isn’t young anymore.

Nothing about the above paragraph changes my opinion that LeBron is the greatest basketball player of all time.  Yes, I have heard from a lot of MJ fans... and I even have made a case for Kareem Abdul Jabbar if you look at the entirety of his career including college.  However LeBron has just passed retired Utah Jazz PF Karl Malone (an all-time great PF) for 2nd in all-time scoring... He is not far away from passing Kareem during next season. LeBron is doing something both Karl and Kareem did not do when they were reaching these points in scoring... LeBron is still scoring and playing at a very high level.  The points record he will leave behind will not be broken in my lifetime.  Durant has missed too much time... Curry struggled with health early and is struggling yet again now late... Giannis averaged too little in the first few years of his career... and Luka will need 15 more seasons before we find out if he was able to keep the weight off and stay at the level he is at now.  Remember LeBron won't just break Kareem's 30 year record.. if LeBron does hang around to play a season with his son he'll be dropping 1500 points on top of the record.  He will also be on top of most of the other all time records as well.  

The Lakers have won only 3 of their last ten games.  They have gone 3-7 ATS during that stretch.  They lost Saturday night against a Washington Wizards team that is missing Bradley Beal. LeBron James got his 38 points… that is how he spends his time these days.  Lebron gets enough points to keep his edge over Joel Embiid in the race for the scoring title and then sits the rest of the game watching his terrible teammates take the hard loss. Former Laker SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope dropped 18 on the Lakers as former Wizard Russell Westbrook dropped 22… that would seem the Lakers had won that trade if the trade had not also included SF Kyle Kuzma, a C/PF that was the former sixth man of the year, and picks!  The Lakers lost that trade big time and needed every piece they gave up!  PF/C Anthony Davis is still absent with another sprained ankle… he will attempt a return in about a week.  The Lakers may be much better when AD returns… but every weakness on the roster has been exposed.  A big problem the Lakers suffer from right now is they are playing LeBron James at Center which causes all sorts of problems on the defensive end… as evidenced by the Wizards C Kristaps Porzingis dropping 27 points in 25 minutes of play.  

The Cavaliers have won 5 of their last ten games during a tough stretch that includes the loss of all-star Center Jarrett Allen to a finger injury.  The timetable for Jarrett Allen’s return is uncertain… that has forced rookie PF Evan Mobley to slide over to Center.  The teams star is Point Guard Darius Garland who was also a first time all-star this season… Darius is leading the Cavs in points and assists, 21.3,- 8.5.  This Cavs Team is deep and talented and definitely will enjoy the prospect of an easy win against the struggling Lakers.  Expect Darius to have a really big game… he will be facing Malik Monk from the Lakers (not much) and feeling the energy of the crowd that will be buzzing at just having LeBron back in Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.  6’11 Power Forward Lauri Markkanen is getting a starting spot with Jarrett Allen on the IR and Evan Mobley sliding over… and he is responding (not against Detroit where he only had 8 points).  Lauri is the player that the league has been waiting on… He was taken 7th overall by Minnesota in 2017 and then found himself traded to Chicago where he always had the size and skill… but never found consistent production.  Now Markkanen is a Cavaliers and Cleveland has taken the exact right approach with him… If he produces he will play… if he struggles he will sit.  If he blossoms into a star after a 5 season delay… great!... If he doesn’t, fine… He is more than capable of being a quality bench player during his time in Ohio.  

It was "brooms out" on Saturday as Power Sports delivered a 5-0 SWEEP! We all know that Power is *ON FIRE* w/ NBA sides right now (29-13-1 L43 after yday's win on Detroit!). But he's also won his L3 NBA totals! Furthermore, he was 2 for 2 with yday's NCAA totals, including a 38-point WINNER with the 10*! What are you waiting for? Get Powers Sports' picks!   You can discover the best  picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB, college football… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

The Lakers are 30-41 on the season, but 29-41-1 ATS.  They have logged 39 Overs, 31 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 10-24 in road games.

The Cavs are 41-30 on the season, but 39-29-3 ATS.  They have notched 30 Overs, 40 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 23-12 in home games.

The Lakers are 13th in scoring with 111.2 ppg, 20th in rebounds with 44.1 per game, and 23rd in AST/TO ratio with 1.6.  On defense they rank 27th while allowing 114 ppg.

The Cavs are 24th in scoring with 107.2 ppg, 15th in rebounds with 44.6 per game, and 19th in AST/TO ratio with 1.7.  On defense they rank 3rd while allowing 104.2 ppg.

Our prediction for Monday, March 21st is…. Cavaliers 121 - Lakers 103

The Lakers will take another embarrassing loss.  The Pelicans are missing a great opportunity by not using this chance to jump the Lakers in the standings.  The Cavs should get a big game from PG Darius Garland AND from PF Lauri Markkanen.  The Lakers have no one at either position that is ready to play any defense.  

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(will update later tonight when numbers settle)

Lakers: PF Anthony Davis (ankle) Out ** PG Kendrick Nunn (ankle) Out

Cavs: C Jarrett Allen (finger) Out ** PG Collin Sexton (knee) has missed entire season.

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

Cavaliers: SF Lamar Steven, PF Lauri Markkanen, C Evan Mobley, PG Darius Garland, SG Isaac Okoro

Lakers

Points: LeBron James 29.8

Assists: Russell Westbrook 7.1

Rebounds: Anthony Davis 9.7

Steals: LeBron James 1.3

Blocks: Anthony Davis 2.3

Cavs

Points: Darius Garland 21.3

Assists: Darius Garland 8.5

Rebounds: Jarrett Allen 10.8

Steals: Ricky Rubio 1.4

Blocks: Evan Mobley 1.7

Lakers: Frank “Dead Man Walking” Vogel

Cavs: J. B. Bickerstaff