With almost nothing at stake, what belongs in your NBA picks for Thursday’s Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State Warriors matchup?
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors
Thursday, April 07, 2022 – 10:00 PM EDT at Chase Center
This isn’t the first time the Los Angeles Lakers have screwed things up. Think back, way back, to the 2003-04 season; two years after winning the last of their three-peat titles, the Lakers added veterans Karl Malone and Gary Payton to play alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.
It almost worked, but they couldn’t beat the Detroit Pistons in the Finals, and L.A. completely fell apart the next season.
Nearly two decades later, here we are with a similar failed experiment – but worse. Two years after winning their most recent title, the Lakers (31-48 SU, 33-45-1 ATS) tried putting Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony together with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and they won’t even make the playoffs.
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Tuesday’s 121-110 loss to the Phoenix Suns (–12.5 away) sealed their fate. So how will the Lakers respond to Thursday’s meaningless game with the Golden State Warriors (50-29 SU, 39-36-4 ATS)? Good question.
This game isn’t entirely meaningless for Golden State; heading into Wednesday’s action, they’re one game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks for third place in the Western Conference with three games remaining for each club.
Maybe that’ll be enough motivation for the Dubs to beat the NBA odds after opening as 10.5-point home faves overseas.
Resting Warrior Face
Maybe. There isn’t really all that much to lose for the Warriors, though. They’ll still get home-court advantage in the first round if they fall into the fourth seed, and either way, they’ll probably end up hosting either the Utah Jazz or the Denver Nuggets. Pick your poison.
We’re not even sure at press time who will play for Golden State. This isn’t necessarily a “maintenance day” situation – the Dubs finish the regular season with back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday.
But maybe they’ll take it easy with veterans like Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala, the latter having just returned from a long injury layoff.
THT Injection
This isn’t a purely meaningless game for the Lakers, either. There’s bound to be some serious roster turnover this offseason, so Thursday night should be audition night on TNT for youngsters like Malik Monk, Austin Reaves, and Talen Horton-Tucker.
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All three factored into Tuesday’s ATS victory over the Suns, with James sidelined by a sore ankle. I would promise to eat a bug if King James isn’t shut down for the rest of the season, but as it turns out, bugs are delicious when prepared correctly.
In the end, we’re making your typical end-of-season contrarian best bet here at the home office. And we’re throwing in a final score prediction, too, one that has the Warriors beating Los Angeles by nine points – close enough to the 8.5 points projected by the fine folks at FiveThirtyEight. Bet accordingly, and may the sphere be with you.
Final Score Prediction: Lakers 107, Warriors 116
NBA Pick: Lakers +13 (-110) with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
