The NBA’s two Los Angeles teams go head to head on Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena. Local bragging rights and playoff seeds are at stake for both teams coming into this game. Fans in the area will surely turn up to back their side of the local battle.
The Lakers are in ninth place in the Western Conference right now and need to start getting wins on the board. If they don’t, Lebron and company could be watching the NBA playoffs from home. The Clippers, on the other hand, need to keep getting good results so they can secure home-court advantage for the playoffs.
Now that you know what’s at stake, let’s dive into the Lakers vs. Clippers betting odds and best bets for this game.
Bet on Lakers vs. Clippers
LAL +9.0
LAC -9.0
Lakers vs. Clippers odds
| Lakers Moneyline Odds | +280 |
| Clippers Moneyline Odds | -360 |
| Over/Under | 234.0 points (over -110, under -110) |
| Spread | Clippers -9.0 (-110) |
| Time/Date | Jan. 23, 10:00 p.m. ET |
| TV | Broadcast: TSN3/4 Stream: NBA League Pass (How to watch the NBA in Canada?) |
All odds courtesy of 
About the Lakers (22-22 SU, 20-25-0 ATS, 23-22-0 o/u)
The Lakers have been in a downward spiral since winning the NBA In-Season Tournament last month. Lebron’s Lakers have just a .333 record since beating the Pacers on December 9 in the IST championship game. They’ve played 21 games since then, so this is a significant slump. There are some positive signs now though that the Lakers are finally breaking out of this slump.
Darvin Ham’s Lakers team has won five out of their last ten games and three of their last four. Their scoring numbers have been up recently as well. The Lakers have scored over 120 points in five of their last seven matches, and they have a top-10 true shooting percentage in the league, meaning that the Lakers are shooting the ball well more often than you might think. However, as good as the offence has been, they haven’t been very good defensively.
After their 130-112 loss to the Nets on Friday, Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell called out his teammates and blamed the loss on defensive miscommunication. The Lakers won their next game on Sunday against the Trail Blazers, so Russell’s comments might have already been forgotten, but they shouldn’t be.
The Lakers have looked out of sorts at times during this recent slump. After starting the season with a respectable defence, the Lakers now have one of the worst defences in the league. They have had a defensive rating over 120 in four of their last seven games. For context, the lowly Pistons’ defensive rating on the season is 120.7.
The Lakers have real defensive problems and that could come back to bite them against the Clippers.
About the Clippers (27-14 SU, 22-19-0 ATS, 18-22-1 o/u)
The Clippers had some growing pains to work through after James Harden joined the team back in November, but now, they’re firing on all cylinders.
Led by their Big Three of James Harden, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers are in fourth place in the Western Conference, just 2.5 games behind the Timberwolves in first. A strong run to end the season could easily see the Clippers finish the season top of the West.
Given Tyronn Lue’s tendency to rotate his stars, we wouldn’t bet on the Clippers finishing first. Securing home-court advantage is the Clipper’s goal from this point on. As long as they stay in the top four, the Clippers are guaranteed at least one home playoff series. Will they finish the season as one of the top four seeds? We think so.
The Clippers have the fourth-best net rating, fourth-best margin of victory, and the ninth-best defence in the league according to points allowed. Oh, and don’t forget that the Clippers have three of the best players in the league, giving them a ton of star power in a league where that’s a valuable commodity.
With Harden, George, and Leonard firing, the Clippers are one of the best teams in the NBA. They have won eight of their last ten matches. On paper, they should beat the Lakers, but one of those two losses came against the Lakers, so this should be an exciting game.
James Harden (LAC) over 8.5 assists
-140
Injury Concerns
- Lebron James, Anthony Davis, and Cam Reddish are coming off injuries, but they should play against the Clippers since they all played 20+ minutes against the Trail Blazers in the Lakers last game. Taurean Prince missed the Portland game and will likely be out for the Purple and Gold against the Clippers on Tuesday. Gabe Vincent is still sidelined with a long-term knee injury.
- The Clippers are coming into this match with a much healthier team than the Lakers. Ivica Zubac is the only key player expected to miss this match for the Clippers. Xavier Moon is questionable.
Betting Trends
- The Clippers have won against the spread in eight of their last 11 games. One of the games they lost against the spread was against the Lakers. The Clippers were 4.5-point favourites in that match. The Clippers also lost against the spread to the Lakers back in December.
- Six of the Lakers’ last seven matches against teams with better records than them have failed to hit the over. Against all teams, the Lakers are pretty much 50/50 when it comes to hitting the over. With that being said, the Lakers have hit the over in three of their last five matches.
- The Lakers have won against the spread in three of their last four matches. This recent run broke a bad run of form the Lakers had been on. In their last ten matches, before their recent run, the Lakers had a 3-7 record ATS.
Player Prop Trends
- Lebron James is always a fan favourite with player prop bets, especially in marquee games. He’s scored over 24 points in each of his last four matches, including a 28-point performance on Sunday when he was struggling with an injury.
- James Harden was held to just 15 points the last time the Lakers and Clippers played. However, he had a game-high nine assists in that game. Even if the Lakers shut Harden out again on Tuesday, he should still get plenty of assists.
Wagers to Consider
- Lakers +9.0 (-110): Lakers vs. Clippers games are always close. When you add in the fact that the Clippers have just a 52% win record against the spread in matches where they have an equal amount of rest between matches as the other team, the Lakers look like a solid choice here ATS.
- Under 234.0 (-110): Apart from their huge win against the Mavericks last Wednesday, the Lakers aren’t putting up big score lines against teams with a better record than them. The Heat held them under 100 points just two weeks ago. The Clippers are a great team and have a great defence, so the under makes sense here.
- Lakers moneyline (+300): The Lakers are on a roll right now. At the same time, their season is very much in the balance. If the Lakers are going to kick-start their season, this would be the game to do it in. When you consider these odds, it becomes a very savvy bet.
