NBA Basketball: New York Knicks VS Los Angeles Lakers Pick and Predictions 03/12/2023

Game: 9:10 PM ET,  Sunday, March 12th, 2023

Venue: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California

TV:  ESPN

Knicks: 39-30, 5th place Eastern Conference

Lakers: 33-34, 9th place Western Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread: Lakers -3.5, O/U 225.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Lakers -3, O/U 226

Fanduel: Point Spread:  Lakers -3, O/U 225.5

Knicks: PG Jalen Brunson, SG Quentin Grimes, SF RJ Barrett, PF Julius Randle, C Mitchell Robinson

Lakers: PG D’Angelo Russell, SG Malik Beasley, SF Troy Brown JR, PF Jarred vanderbilt, C Anthony Davis (DD)

We are fascinated.  We can’t help it.  We want to see all the twists and turns of the Los Angeles Lakers.  The historic NBA franchise has been the epicenter of so many great players and so many storylines in NBA history the last 50 years… THAT we must watch them!  The New York Knicks… eh.  The New York Knicks are in 5th place in the Eastern Conference.. They seem to have found a working mixture of high quality NBA players that will get them into the playoffs and make them a very hard out.  They do not however have a top-ten NBA player… or a perennial All-Star that gets the headlines.  The Los Angeles Lakers have had LeBron James, The King, The Goat, The best player of the last 2 decades and possibly all-time for the last 4 seasons.  They have won the NBA Championship once and missed the Playoffs 3 times.  This season they were one of the worst teams in the league with just LeBron and an oft injured Anthony Davis surrounded by G-Leaguers and 2nd round draft picks… The New Orleans Pelicans were celebrating daily because they own the right to swap draft picks with the Lakers. Then the league simply handed the Lakers a better roster by taking away their terrible contracts and some useless 2nd round picks and 1 2027 1st round pick… and the league gave the Lakers D’Angelo Russel, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley!  They now have a team… and with that team they leaped from 13th place to 9th in a short amount of time! (passing the Pelicans and killing their dreams along the way).  The great betting opportunity here is in knowing which Lakers will be available to play.

The New York Knicks have won 7 of their last 10 games but are on a sad 3-game losing streak.  They went 7-3 ATS during that stretch.  They last lost to the Los Angeles Clippers 106-95. In the loss they got 26 points from PG Isaiah Quickley while PG Jalen Brunson missed the game in the injury list.  PF Julius Randle had 19 & 8 rebounds.  C Mitchell Robinson, SF RJ Barrett, and SG Quentin Grimes all had quiet nights on the same night… and the loss was in the bag.  A problem the Knicks have is getting consistent play out of Barrett and Grimes instead of the up and down results that have become commonplace.

The Los Angeles Lakers have won 7 of their last 10 games and are on a 3 game winning streak.  They are 4-2 since LeBron James got injured… and that is a very good sign for their postseason hopes.  They won their last game 122-112 against the Toronto Raptors.  In the win they got only 8 points & 9 rebounds from C Anthony Davis in 32 minutes… but at least he is playing!  PGs D’Angelo Russell and Dennis Shroder brought home the win with 28 and 23 points respectively… .not to mention a combined 16 assists from the pair. The current hero of undrafted players everywhere is SF/SG Austin Reeves who scored 18 points and keeps proving to the NBA that older college players that are great scorers in college may be just as useful as a teenager that is a great scorer in your imagination.

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Our prediction for Sunday, March 12th is…. Knicks 122 - Lakers 118

Bet on the Knicks.  Anthony Davis is being managed closely to ward off swelling in his knee… and the Knicks are much better than the Raptors.  PF Julius Randle should be up for a big game since it was the Lakers that bailed on him to make room for Anthony Davis in the first place.

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The Knicks are 51-30 ATS when the line is +3 to -3 the last 3 seasons.

The Knicks are 5-1 ATS after 3 consecutive UNDERS this season.

The Lakers are 11-5 ATS after a home win this season.

Knicks:  PF Julius Randle.  Julius is a fringe NBA all-star.  He has spent the last several seasons being high quality and AVAILABLE… The Lakers may have messed up by getting rid of all the young guys and picks to bring in Anthony Davis?... But does Julius have the type of production that would ever get a ring?

Lakers:  PF Jarred Vanderbilt.  Jarred is the best fit among the guys the Lakers brought in at the trade deadline.  He plays with such hustle at the power forward position that it is a wonder that he couldn’t find a permanent spot with the Utah Jazz? This former 2nd round pick will be a Laker for a long time.

Knicks: Tom “life is a party” Thibodaue 

Lakers: Darvin “Hammy: Ham