Game Time: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, April 7th, 2022 

Venue:   Chase Center, San Francisco, California

Where to Watch: TNT

DraftKings:  Spread:  Warriors -10.5; O/U 224.5

Fanduel:  Spread:  Warriors -11

BetMGM:  Spread: NL

Lakers: 31-48, 11th place Western Conference

Warriors: 50-29, 3rd place Western Conference

An NBA Western Conference matchup between two teams in an absolute funk.  The Los Angeles Lakers, despite having 5 future Hall of Famers (though not all first ballot), were mathematically eliminated from the Western Conference “play-in” tournament… not the Western Conference Playoffs… but the “play-in” tournament. The math on the season says that the Lakers with leBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Antony Davis could do no better than 11th place in the West this season.  LeBron is still contending for the scoring title, but those other two were disasters from start to finish.  Though it is not AD and Westbrook’s fault.  The blame lands squarely on Jeannie Buss and GM Rob Pelinka.  Coach Frank “dead man walking” Vogel should be fired and he will be… though the terrible roster decisions happened entirely above his pay grade.  The GOAT LeBron James is stuck on a terrible team that he helped make terrible by lobbying for his friends instead of for the teammates he inherited when he got here.  Let’s review who LeBron could of been teammates with had he not made waves 1) Lonzo Ball- leads the Bulls in assists and has dramatically improved from 3-point territory (though he has been injured) 2) Brandon Ingram- the #2 guy on the Pelicans who routinely posts double doubles, 4) Julius Randle who leads the Knicks in points, rebounds, and assists from the power forward spot, 5) Kyle Kuzma- the active best player on the Washington Wizards this season…. 6) Alex Caruso- a defensive stalwart for the Bulls and perfect bench guy… there are other names to add to the list… oh and 6 first round draft picks who could have been anybody.  Now that team plus Lebron would beat the current Lakers team plus LeBron 10 times out of ten.  The Warriors have been losing recently and the stink of it has put their golden reputation on blast.  It hasn’t helped that PF Draymond Green missed a month of action immediately followed by PG Stephen Curry (the greatest shooter of all time) missing a month of action.  Word is that they will all be good to go for the Playoffs… still the worry is at an all-time high in the Golden State.

The Los Angeles Lakers have won 2 of their last ten games.  They went 5-5 ATS during that stretch.  They are on a 7-game losing streak.  They have been mathematically eliminated from making the play-in game, let alone the play-offs.  They are the butt of jokes and they have given the Michael Jordan fans the world over a brand new talking point in the GOAT conversation… one that LeBron will need a miracle to ever live down.  Yes, LeBron is a season away from being the all-time scoring leader in NBA history.. He will also nab several places of prominence on the rebounds, assists, and steals, and blocks list… and if he does play the necessary amount of time to play a full season with his son as a teammate?  And even if he has a steady reduction in stats, say 30-40% during that time... he will eventually put the scoring mark so far out of contention it will not be broken until everyone reading this is long in their graves.  The Lakers management has recently put this season's blame on LeBron through Jeannie Buss using Magic Johnson as a seemingly impromptu, but totally not, spokesperson… so that finish line with his son Bronny will almost certainly be elsewhere. Most likely the Clippers since LeBron has 2 houses and big business concerns in Los Angeles.

The Golden State Warriors have also won only 2 of their last ten games.  They went 4-6 ATS during that stretch.  The Golden State Warriors are being viewed with gloom and doom… meanwhile they had a 50 win season and are guaranteed to finish as either the 3rd or 4th seed in the Western Conference.  They will open the playoffs with Stephen Curry at point guard, Klay Thompson at shooting guard, Andrew Wiggins at small forward, Draymond Green at power forward and Kevon Looney at Center with a deep bench to draw from.  The shame of this season is that 2nd year player and #2 overall pick in the draft C James Wiseman was unable to return from knee surgery.  He gave it a go, but the knee started to swell… oh well… maybe next year.  That leaves Center as a major weakness for the Warriors.  Kevon Looney is nice, but he is no Nikola Jokic or Karl-Anthony Towns or Steven Adams or Deandre Ayton or Zubac and Hartenstein or Rudy Gobert… heck he will be the worst center in the Western Conference playoffs.  He will need help from every direction.  Kevon Looney is not bad… he is possibly a bit below average… in the playoffs that makes you the worst.  If for some reason the Warriors had to face the Pelicans, Kevon would lose to Jonas Valanciunas.  The Warriors made a big mistake when they did not address this need at the trade deadline and instead opted for hoping for Wiseman’s return.

Al McMordie CASHED (for most bettors) his 5* NBA Game of the Month last night, and is on a 20-8 Basketball run (Big Al also won last night on the San Antonio Spurs and Milwaukee Bucks. Big Al's stepping out on Wednesday with his NBA Elite Info play out of a super 11-2 ATS angle. Go get it!Get Big Al’s 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 31-48 on the season, but 33-45-1 ATS.  They have logged 44 Overs, 34 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 11-28 in road games.

Golden State is 50-29 on the season, but 39-36-4 ATS.  They have notched 33 Overs, 44 Unders, and 2 Push.  They are 30-10 in home games.

The Lakers are 12th in scoring with 111.6 ppg, 20th in rebounds with 43.9 per game, and 23rd in AST/TO ratio with 1.7.  On defense they rank 26th while allowing 114.8 ppg from opponents.

The Warriors are 15th in scoring with 110.7 ppg, 8th in rebounds with 45.5 per game, and 12th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8.  On defense they rank 5th while holding opponents to 105.5 ppg. 

Our prediction for Thursday, April 7th is….. Warriors 118 - Lakers 104

The Lakers may get a pop now that they are eliminated officially… it may free them up to play with abandon… but the writing is on  the wall… This team is just no good.  The mixed up pieces never gelled.  The best players and the worst players live in different worlds entirely and have no chemistry whatsoever.  The Warriors have been waiting for a “get right” game… this is it.  Wiggins will drop 30 while being guarded by a combination of Staley Johnson and Austin Reeves … Klay Thompson will have a huge game against the Lakers as he always does since his dad is the radio announcer and retired Laker who tried to sell the team on trading for a pick to get Klay in Klay’s draft… The Lakers did not… cause they had an ancient Kobe to tend to.

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Golden State is 11-3 ATS revenging a same season loss.
The Lakers are 10-24 ATS after a game where they covered the spread. 
The Lakers are 3-1 ATS versus Golden State at Golden State the last 3 seasons.

Lakers: SF LeBron James (ankle) Quest ** PG Kendrick Nunn (ankle) Out

Warriors: C James Wiseman (knee) Out for Season ** PG Steph Curry (foot) Out

Lakers: PF Anthony Davis, SF Malik Monk, C Dwight Howard, SG Russell Westbrook, PG Avery Bradley

Warriors: SF Andrew Wiggins, PF Draymond Green, C Kevon Looney, PG Gary Payton II, SG Jordan Poole

Lakers: Frank “dead man walking” Vogel

Warriors: Steve “so many rings” Kerr