NBA: Los Angeles Lakers VS Los Angeles Clippers Pick and Predictions 11/09/2022

Game: 10:10 PM ET,  Wednesday, November 9th, 2022

Venue:  Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California

Where to Watch: ESPN

Lakers: 2-8, 14th place Western Conference

Clippers: 6-5, 7th place Western Conference

DraftKings:  Point Spread: Clippers -3.5; O/U 220

PointsBet: Point Spread: Clippers -3.5; O/U 221

Fanduel: Point Spread: Clippers -3.5; O/U 220

Lakers: SF Troy Brown Jr (who?), PF Wenyan Gabriel (who?) C Anthony Davis, PG Kendrick Nunn (who?), SG Austin Reeves (who?)

Clippers: PF Marcus Morris SR, SF Paul George, C Ivica Zubac, PG Reggie Jackson, SG Terrance Mann

A Western Conference battle between teams that share a city, a stadium, and expectations.  The Los Angeles Lakers have historically and recently met those expectations by winning NBA Championships… The Lakers share the cream of the NBA crop spotlight with the Celtics and it is not even close among ALL the other teams.  Golden State has been a dynasty, Chicago has been a dynasty… but no story tells NBA history more than the Lakers.  The Laker have had the best players, the most Championships (tied with the Celtics at 17), and the most intriguing storylines.  From Jerry Buss gambling and winning thousands of times on his franchise, to Chick Hearn broadcasting forever, to Wilt, Kareem, Magic, Shaq, Kobe… and now LeBron.  When Lebron takes the all-time scoring title from Kareem Abdul Jabbar.. It will be a Laker taking a record from a Laker. However… The Lakers stopped being the Lakers when Jerry Buss died and Jeannie Buss inherited the team.  Jeannie Buss is not good at owning the Lakers!  She hired and fired her brother as GM… Then she hired an agent who has no business being a GM as the GM… The result is one Championship (in the bubble) and 7 losing seasons in 8 years.  Yes, you do want to win a Championship … but the Anthony Davis trade gave them that Championship and is looking like it may have sunk the Lakers for the next 2 decades.  The Clippers are different.. They had a terrible owner forever… Just after Jeannie got the Lakers the Clippers were sold to a good owner… and since the Clippers, winners of nothing forever… have NBA Championship expectations AND have beaten the Lakers head to head more times than not.  They also have a deep, talented roster, they also now (unthinkable 8 years ago) have Championship opportunities… except the Clippers are stuck with Kawhi Leonard on a Max contract… and he is hobbled with a permanent knee injury. The Clippers have MUCH MORE upside than the Lakers this season and beyond.  Circumstances will have to break exactly right… but the Clippers are more likely to get the next NBA chip for Los Angeles!  A phrase that was unthinkable for 40 years while Jerry Buss owned the Lakers.  Sell Jeannie… Sell.  No other NBA owner would consult with a retired backup Center and his wife before making wrong decision after wrong decision.

The Los Angeles Lakers lost their last game… a phrase I have written 8 times over ten NBA games…. to the Utah Jazz 139 -116.  Everyone expected the loss because the Jazz are good and the Lakers are bad… and the Lakers were playing without LeBron James.  Still?  23 points?  No fight… no defense?.  7 Jazz players scored in double figures while two others finished a basket away from double figures during thin bench minutes.  The Lakers had no defense whatsoever.. In turn the Jazz simply didn’t have to play defense either. Lakers Center Anthony Davis got 29 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists… while not affecting the game at all.  Newly minted 6th man for the Lakers PG/SG Russell Westbrook got 22 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists in 24 minutes… The problems on this team are so deep that you would need Coach K to break it all down for you.  I can tell you they have no defense AND no shooting… but it is really worse than that.

The Los Angeles Clippers won their last game against the Cleveland Cavaliers 119-117… but that is not the whole story.  The Clippers were down by 10 points with 2 minutes left… Then Paul George smacked the Cavs in the mouth and when the dust settled the Clippers had the win. SF/PF Paul George is like Miami’s Jimmy Butler or Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan… he won’t get real mentions for MVP… but he is the most important player on his team and as such the reason for wins when winning seems improbable. Paul George finished with 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. He was one of 6 Clippers players in double figures… Like Marcus Morris SR getting 20 points, Reggie Jackson getting 18 and Terrance Mann getting 16.  The Clippers are deep… They have a lot of working parts that can make it happen on any given night…. SG/SF Norman Powell put up 17 points while going 5 for 6 from the field, 1 for 1 from 3-point land and 6 for 7 from the charity stripe… he did it in 27 minutes.  The Clippers are deep… which pays a great dividend when they have to play a team like the Lakers who are not.

Nelly’s Sports is 5-1 in NBA picks the last 7 days for a profit of $3,900!! You should be following a handicapper all season long! Get Nelly’s Sports  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!

 

LAL: 2-8, 2-8 ATS, 5-5 O/U, 0-4 in road games… but this is not a real road game.

LAC: 6-5, 4-7 ATS, 2-9 O/U, 2-3 in home games… but this is not a real home game.

The Lakers are 26th in scoring with 108.4 points per game, 11th in rebounds with 45.1 per game, 24th in AST/TO ratio with 1.5, and 15th in blocks per game with 5.5.

The Clippers are 30th in scoring with 103.8 points per game, 21st in rebounds with 42.5 per game, 28th in AST/TO ratio with 1.4 per game, and 17th in blocked shots with 5.5 per game.

Our prediction for Wednesday, November 9th is….  Clippers 120 - Lakers 101

Bet on the Clippers ATS.  While Laker vs Clipper matchups at Crypto.coom and Staples Arena before this year are always Laker home games no matter who is listed on the marquee… this isn’t the year that the Lakers will get any of these head to heads.  The Clippers have too much shooting while the Clippers have too little.  The Clippers have too much defense while the Lakers have practically none.

Don't miss our champion handicappers' Free NBA Picks and Premium Selections every day here at Bigal.com. Just click on Shop Picks for our Lakers/Clippers  Best Bets, or click on Shop Subscriptions to join for a week or a month. And if you enjoyed this  preview, be sure to bookmark Bigal.com for our daily Game Previews and Predictions.  Get help with all your college football picks, National Football league, NCAA brackets, or any prop bets on your season schedule. 

(will update)

Lakers:  PF LeBron James.  LeBron missed last game (a loss) with foot soreness. He is listed as questionable… but should play.  The good thing about watching the Lakers is that LeBron should play most games because of that looming record for most points scored in the NBA ALL-TIME.  That is something he wants… also in a normal year… a team like this would shut down LeBron and simply lose out for the amazing NBA draft coming up… but the Lakers owe their pick to the Pelicans… If the Lakers get the #1 pick in this coming draft FOR THE PELICANS… the Anthony Davis trade will forever be among the worst in league history!  Good job Pelinka!  You could have had the same trade for a lot less and everyone knows it…. And if that trade didn’t work out you could have gotten LeBron a dozen shooters with what you gave up?

Clippers:  PF Paul George.  Paul George has sparked multiple HUGE comebacks just in the last week.  We have to see if he will ever spark a full blown lead so a comeback isn’t necessary.

Lakers: Darvin “When does the season start?” Ham

Clippers: Ty “don’t count us out” Lue