Game Time: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 19th, 2022 

Venue:  Capitals One Arena, Washington DC

Where to Watch: NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread:  Wizards -1.5; O/U 230.5

Fanduel:  Spread:  NL

BetMGM:  Spread: 

Lakers: 29-40, 9th place Western Conference

Wizards: 29-39, 11th place Eastern Conference

An NBA matchup of Eastern Conference nobodies vs Western Conference play-in game contenders.  This illustrates the current strength in each conference.  The bad team in the East has a better record than the middling team in the West.  The East is loaded with good teams and tough teams and teams with promise of greatness if only a certain player would get vaccinated.  The West has 3 great teams at the top and junk below. Now I’m not calling the Utah Jazz junk specifically… but they won’t contend for anything.

What the Hell Happened?  I turned my back for three days to focus on the NCAA tournament where I accurately predicted the Iowa upset and Richmond inexplicably moving on.  I did not however  see Kentucky bouncing so easily so early… Like 97% of you my bracket is busted.  Also my bankroll did not enjoy the bad beat Gonzaga gave out by winning by 21 points when the spread was 22?!!!!!  I do what I always do on a .500 betting week… I run, don’t walk back to the NBA where the outcome is pretty obvious.  But what the hell happened?  In the three days I wasn’t paying attention, I had left the Lakers as the worst team in basketball since the all-star break…. AND THEY GOT WORSE?!  How is that possible?.  The Lakers have LeBron… right? 3 losses SU AND 3 losses ATS with the Toronto Raptors tonight and the Washington Wizards tomorrow!  It is rough going.  That brings us to the Wizards matchup on Saturday night.  Let’s make some money NOW… before I’m forced to check in on my $3300 on dozens of bets still riding on the NCAA tournament.  .500 is unacceptable.  The vig will take 10%!

The Los Angeles Lakers have only won 2 of their last ten games.  They are rotten from the inside out.  They are currently on a 3-game losing streak outright and ATS. The good news for Laker fans is the last team they beat was the Washington Wizards 122-109 back on March 11th.  The bad news for Laker fans is that Kristaps Porzingis and Kentavious Caldwell Pope had bad games that night… while LeBron scored 50!  That does not even have a chance of happening again.  LeBron mat have a great game… that seems to be all the Lakers star is using the rest of the season for… but Kristaps AND Pope having duel bad shooting night again?... not likely.  The Lakers also have to contend with a completely fractured team since that game.  SG Russell Westbrook has gotten the hint:  He is not wanted by the team’s terrible owners (the awful Buss Brats), the team’s coach sees Russ as the entire problem, and the fans boo him when he touches the ball.  Also the other player’s are supporting him less and less.  The Lakers have gotten worse since the Wizards win.

The Washington Wizards are terrible by the way.  The Wizards have only won 2 of their last 10 games… same as the Lakers.  They are only 3-7 ATS. They are on a 5-game losing streak.  The big problem in Washington is the loss of SG Bradley Beal to the injury list.  The Wizards have officially held onto Bradely Beal for too long.  He was at the height of his trade returns 2 seasons ago. Now as an older, undersized player with a recent injury history… the idea of getting multiple players and multiple picks for him is gone.  He may be worth players and picks still, but not as good of either.  Without Beal on the court the Wizards are a mix of disparate parts/  They picked up Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and a former sixth man of the year plus a pick for Russell Westbrook.  If the Wizards would take Westbrook back right now… the Lakers would only want Pope and a second round pick.  The Wizards also picked up the Unicorn Kristaps Porzingis… the 7’3 Center that could do it all… except now he can’t do it all… Now the Unicorn is noticeably pedestrian.  He seems more like a donkey than a unicorn.

This game is about which loser can rise up for a single game.  There are things we know before going in.  LeBron James is only interested in scoring 30-35 points before sitting down.  LeBron’s teammates can not play defense.  For the Wizards C Kristaps Porzingis will not face any center that can either stop him or slow him down… so if Kristaps had another bad game… then it may be all over for him. SF Kyle Kuzma who would be the second best player on the Lakers right now had he not gotten traded, will always be out for blood against the Lakers.  He liked LA… he liked his house… he liked his life… and the Lakers screwed up by trading him in the first place.

Sean extends his RED HOT 33-13 NBA run and makes it FIVE STRAIGHT NBA side winners with his 10* Western Conference Game of the Week on Friday night! Hop on board now and make plans to COLLECT on the pro hardwood AGAIN with Murph! WizarGet Sean Murphy's 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 29-40 on the season, but 28-40-1 ATS.  They have logged 37 Overs, 31 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are a dreadful 9-23 in road games.

The Wizards are 29-39 on the season, but 33-36 ATS.  They have notched 35 Overs and 34 Unders.  They are 14-19 in home games.

Los Angeles is 13th in scoring with 110.9 ppg, 18th in rebounds with 44.2 per game, 24th in AST/TOo ratio with 1.6.  On defense they rank 26th while allowing 113.7 ppg.

Washington is 21st in scoring with 108.4 ppg, 24th in rebounds with 43.3 per game, 9th in AST/To ratio with 1.9.  On defense they rank 18th while allowing 111.6 ppg. 

Our prediction for Saturday, March 19th is…. Wizards 122 - Lakers 111

The Wizards will get their revenge at home.  Kristaps is due for a big game and the Lakers will have no one playing actual defense on him other than Dwight Howard and a way out of position Lebron who is not currently interested in defense.  Pop will also not shoot as badly as he did last time… it is inconceivable that he would as the last matchup was Pope’s worst shooting performance in the last 9 games.  Also the Lakers DO NOT travel well.  Austin Reeves and Stanley Johnson are still fringe NBA players no matter how the home crowd treats them.

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The Lakers are 8 Over and 1 Under against Southeast Opponents.

Washington is 0-8 ATS versus Pacific division opponents.

Washington is 5-20 ATS in non-conference games.

Lakers: SF LeBron James (finger) Quest ** SG Talen Horton-Tucker (ankle) Quest ** PF Anthony Davis (ankle) Out ** PG Kendrick Nunn (ankle) Out

Wizards: PF Vernon Carey Jr (calf) Out ** SG Bradley Beal (wrist) Out 

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

Wizards: SF Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, PF Kyle Kuzma, C Kristaps Porzingis, PG Raul Neto, SG Corey Kispert

Lakers

Points: LeBron James 29.5

Assists: Russell Westbrook 7.0

Rebounds: Anthony Davis 9.7

Steals: LeBron James 1.4

Blocks: Anthony Davis 2.3

Wizards

Points: Bradley Beal 23.2

Assists: Bradley Beal 6.6

Rebounds: Kyle Kuzma 8.6

Steals: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 1.1

Blocks: Daniel Gafford 1.5

Lakers: Frank Vogel

Wizards: Wes Unseld Jr