Game Time: 10:30 PM ET, Monday, March 14th, 2022 

Venue:  Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles California

Where to Watch: NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread:  Raptors -3.5 

Fanduel:  Spread:  Raptors -3.5

BetMGM:  Spread: Raptors -3.5

Raptors: 37-30, 7th place Eastern Conference

Lakers: 39-37, 9th place Western Conference

A non-conference matchup between two recent former Champions.  The Toronto Raptors won a Championship 3 seasons ago.  The Kawhi left them and they took a brief tumble into mediocrity… They have been rebuilding expertly under the best basketball mind of his generation, GM Masai Ujiri… and are currently a winning team, just not a contender.  The Los Angeles Lakers won an NBA Championship 2 seasons ago in the “bubble”.  They have since suffered from the Anthony Davis curse.  Anthony simply can not play a full season in the NBA, his body won’t let it happen.  The “bubble” Championship would never have happened if Davis hadn't had 4 months of rest between the season and the playoffs in the bubble. The Lakers made some bad moves and have now fallen past mediocrity to bad.  They are simply a bad team.  They are in contention for a “play-in” spot… at an embarrassing 8 wins below .500.  The “play-in” tournament is a good idea if there is a reason for it… like the 7-10 spots are close.  The Western Conference actually stops having good teams at the #6 spot… this year’s play-in tournament will just be an embarrassment.

The Toronto Raptors have assembled a quality roster since mostly dismantling the Championship team that Kawhi Leonard abandoned.  The Raptors actually lucked out when they were spurned because the Clippers pay through the nose for Kawhi to never play… and not deign to let anyone know if he ever will again.  The Raptors have two stars if you ask a casual NBA fan… PF Pascal Siakam (Ujiri discovery) and PG Fred VanVleet (Ujiri discovery) who lead the team in points, assists, and rebounds… but the real reason the Raptors have a bright future is the rookie who leads the team in FG%.  Rookie Scottie Barnes is the future of Toronto basketball.  He is a multi-talented two-way player who could be slotted into 4 of the 5 positions on the floor. Scottie lifts the future of the Raptors high because GM Masai Ujiri can literally take “the best player available” at any draft number… knowing that if they hit on any player Scottie can slide and dominante another position.  The problem with the team is they have a collection of young Power Forwards playing Center… Chris Boucher, Khem Birch, Precious Anchuwa.  All three bring different strengths to the game, but none are a true capable centers.

The Los Angeles Lakers are taking a lot of public shame at the moment.  Fans point to Lebron building a team of all his over the hill buddies.  GM Rob Pelinka is the single biggest GM failure in the NBA… he simply took a job and did whatever a star player on the team told him to do … he did it whenever he was told 100% of the time…. Then why bother having a GM?... What purpose did he serve to begin with.  The media (and most fans) say Russell Westbrook is terrible… to the point that Russ doesn’t want to bring his family to the games.  Coach Frank Vogel is just a puppet… he reportedly asked permission to sit Russell Westbrook at the end of games.  A coach that asks permission is not a coach.  The literal job title implies Frank is  supposed to know what to do… and will do what it will take to win in the moment.   All this sounds like a mess because it is.  The owner of the entire mess… the ringmaster of monumental failure is Jeannie Buss.  Jeannie Buss inherited control of her father’s business interests and simply does not have what it takes.  She doesn’t seem to understand what it is she is supposed to do… so she often cites calling Magic Johnson or Kurt Rambis or her former boyfriend/fiance Phil Jackson for advice.  Her father Jerry Buss built the Lakers legacy by having and owning his own convictions not by constantly checking with other people's opinions. In a recent episode of Hollywood Medium (really) Jeannie Buss appeared on the show to have the celebrity medium tell her whether or not her father was proud of her… The Medium lied to her… and not just about whether he was speaking to the dead.  

The Toronto Raptors have won 5 of their last ten games.  They went 4-6 ATS during that stretch.  With 4 Overs and 6 Unders.  The Raptors MAY be missing PG Fred VanVleet who is questionable and Will be missing SF OG Anunoby who will be out with a finger injury until Late March.  That leaves the rookie Scottie Barnes with more chance to run the offense… which may be a good thing in the long run… but it will definitely mess with the Raptors floor spacing and usage rates in this game.  PF Pascal Siakam had 33 points last night in a win against Denver… look for him to do more of that until Fred can return.

The Los Angeles Lakers have won 3 of their last ten games.  They only went 4-5-1 ATS during that stretch.  They have been mightily struggling.  To make matters worse the resulting good draft pick from having a bad season will fall into the hands of someone else as all their 1st round draft picks have been traded away for quite some time.  They still have LeBron James… who has been forced into playing Center.  LeBron is still one of the best players in the league and when his career is done he will be remembered as the GOAT by anyone who takes the time to look at the mountain of numbers he will have amassed.  Yes, I know… Michael Jordan was perfect in the NBA Finals for 6 rings… he also missed the Finals every other year he played.  LeBron has been to 10 Finals and won way more Conference Finals than Michael… etc etc.  Also LeBron has to deal with today’s athletes not yesterday’s porky hand-checkers.

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Toronto is 37-30 on the season, but 38 and 29 ATS.  They have logged 35 Overs and 32 Unders.  They are 20-15 in road games.

The Lakers are 29-37 on the season, but 28-37-1 ATS.  They have notched 36 Overs, 29 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 20-16 in home games.  The Lakers definitely play better at home. 

The Raptors are 19th in scoring with 108.8 ppg, 12th in rebounds with 45 per game, and 18th in AST/TO ratio with 1.7.  On defense, the Raptors rank 9th while holding opponents to 107.4 ppg.  

The Lakers are 13th in scoring with 111.1 ppg, 16th in rebounds with 44.4 per game, and 23rd in AST/TO ratio with 1.6.  On defense, the Lakers rank 26th while allowing 113.2 ppg.

Our prediction for Monday, March 14th is…. Raptors 118 - Lakers 101

The Lakers will keep losing and keep on not covering.  Yes, LeBron has the ability to take over the whole game for stretches… but the Raptors have Laker kryptonite… an entire roster of young, long, lean, athletic players.  The Raptors will be able to run the Lakers off the floor.  It won’t help the Laskers that their athletic players Stanley Johnson, Austin Reeves, Russell Westbrook are also the worst defensive players.

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Toronto is 27-17 ATS versus Lakers since 1996.
Toronto is 2-0 vs the Lakers at Los Angeles the last 3 seasons.
Both games in L.A. have gone OVER the last 3 seasons.

Toronto: PG Fred VanVleet (knee) Quest , SF OG Anunoby (finger) Out

Lakers: PF Anthony Davis (ankle) Out ** PG Kendrick Nunn (knee) Out

Raptors:  SF Gary Trent Jr, PF Pascal Siakam, C precious Anchiuwa, SG Scottie Barnes, PG Armoni Brooks

Lakers:  PF Stanley Johnson, SF Austin Reeves, C LeBron James, SG Russell Westbrook, PG Malik Monk

Raptors

Points: Pascal Siakam 21.8

Assists: Fred VanVleet 6.8

Rebounds: Pascal Siakam 8.3

Steals: Gary Trent Jr 1.8

Blocks: Chris Boucher 1.0

Lakers

Points: LeBron James 29.7 

Assists: Russell Westbrook 7.2

Rebounds: Anthony Davis 9.7

Steals: LeBron James 1.5

Blocks: Anthony Davis 2.3

Raptors: Nick Nurse

Lakers: Frank “dead man walking” Vogel