NBA: Los Angeles Lakers vs Golden State Warriors Pick and Predictions 10/18/2022

Game: 10:00 PM ET, Tuesday, October 18th

Venue:  Chase Center, San Francisco, California

Where to Watch: TNT

Lakers: last season 33-49, MISSED PLAYOFFS 0-0 this year…a fresh start

Warriors: last season 53-29, NBA CHAMPS; 0-0 this year… a fresh start

DraftKings:  Point Spread: Warriors -6, 227 O/U

Don Best: Point Spread: Warriors -6, 227 O/U

William Hill: Point Spread: Warriors -6, 227.5 O/U

Lakers: PG Russell Westbrook, SG Kendrick Nunn, SF LeBron James, PF Anthony Davis, C Damian Jones

 

Warriors: PG Stephon Curry, SG Klay Thompson, SF Andrew Wiggis, PF Draymond Green, C James Wiseman 

The 2022-23 NBA season is HERE!  The NBA Champion Golden State Warriors kick off the Western Conference action as the second half of a TNT double bill…. against a team that missed the postseason last year… the lowly Los Angeles Lakers.  But before you go thinking it is a terrible mismatch to give the Warriors an easy exhibition-like game win… you have to remember the Lakers spent much of last season with injuries to their stars.  Given health this could be a good game.  

The Los Angeles Lakers have spent the last 3-4 seasons as a warning against greed.  Plain and simple the single best NBA player of the last 20 seasons is LeBron James… It is not close.  He has competed in ten NBA Finals… he only won four of them…. But his greatness is undeniable.  Now an old man for an NBA player… he still competed for last season’s scoring title.  He still posts amazing statlines.  He still has just enough juice to remain an undisputed top-ten NBA player.  The greed part came when Jerry Buss’s kids showed their ineptitude by hiring a former agent to be their GM… That guy traded an entire team of young talent and some first round draft picks to land PF/C Anthony Davis… a guy who is often injured all throughout his decade of an NBA career… but when he has been healthy he has shown an ability to be a top-5 to top-3 player.  LeBron and Davis quickly won an NBA Championship…. And then strangely the odd duck GM kept trading picks and young players in favor of signing older guys with poor defense.  That coupled with yet another Anthony Davis injury and a BIZARRE trade for non-shooter (but former MVP) Russel Westbrook… led to last season’s Lakers being the worst NBA team LeBron had ever played on.  It was a Laker disaster… and if they want to change course now?... They can’t.. They have no more first round picks to barter with… and they shouldn’t.  So where the Lakers stand right now…. They have LeBron… and if Anthony Davis stays healthy… they will have a decent team… but if that health doesn’t appear.  LeBron will spend his Golden Years on the outside of the postseason.

The Golden State Warriors have the best front office and ownership in the NBA… They find the right guys almost anywhere.. They go WAY over the cap to sign and retain them… and they have taken a dynasty of a few seasons ago and rebuilt it into a potential second dynasty. They also have Steph Curry… the games best shooter and legit All-Star/MVP. They do have one turd in the punchbowl:  PF Draymond Green feeling the heat of young guys taking his minutes and star power… hauled off and decked SG Jordan Poole… Poole is a key piece of that future dynasty (inked 4 years 140 million extension TODAY) … It was all caught on tape and now everyone is embarrassed.  Also it could force the Warriors hand early if Poole demands some answers about Draymond's future!  However… Teams have gotten over worse.  The Warriors were last season’s Champs… They are returning the big three of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green with the same host of amazing young talent… AND they get to add C James Wiseman!  A #2 overall pick who has been sidelined with injury… He is healthy now though… and he looked fantastic in limited time during preseason ball.  The Champs could be better this year?

Last season Jack Banks was 78-42 (+ $31,270) in the NBA You should be following a handicapper all season long!  Get Jack Banks'  picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. BigAl.com can help you with all your bets from NCAAF, NFL, MLB, NHL… get positive value from all your bets! Remember: winning a bet is way more fun than making a bet!

The Lakers ranked 11th in points per game last season, but sadly 28th in defense of points, 8th in field goal percentage with 46.9%, 22nd in 3-point shooting percentage with 34.7%, and 18th in offensive rebounds.  IF Anthony Davis stays healthy this year… their ppg will go up and their defense of points will improve magically… we will see

The Warriors ranked 15th in points scored with 111 per game, 10th in field goal percentage with 46.9%, 8th in 3-point percentage with 36.4%, and 7th in offensive rebounds.  The Warriors defense was through the roof… we have to see how it survives as the team makes the transition from Otto Porter Jr and Kevon Looney on the front line to James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga (or Andrew Wiggins, depending on where Kuminga fits best).

Our prediction for Tuesday, October 18th is…. Warriors 110 - Lakers 103

Bet on the Warriors.  The Lakers will have a real problem: Russell Westbrook.  Westbrook is proud and angry and if he sees the court?.. He will chuck shots and be the worst teammate you EVER saw… until the Lakers decide to send him away from the team.  He already started in the preseason when he refused to huddle with his teammates.  This will get darker until Russ is at home getting paychecks and not even required to come to work.

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The Lakers are 70-90 ATS the last 3 seasons.

The Warriors are 43-27 ATS as a home favorite.

The Lakers are 25-12 ATS in road games where the total is 220-229.5

Lakers:  SF LeBron James,  We have limited time with the guy who is about to take the all-time scoring record from Kareem Abdul Jabbar… maybe just two seasons left?  Get every minute you can.  One day you’ll be telling some kid about what he missed.

Warriors:  C James Wiseman, We have been waiting for seemingly two years.  It’s time we saw what this kid can do.  BTW He can do it.  7 feet tall, skilled like a PF, good footwork and body.  If he stays healthy the Warriors will be even better than they were last season. 

Lakers: Darvin “Making my debut” Ham

Warriors: Steve “most successful coach/player combo in the history of the league” Kerr