Warriors vs Lakers Picks and Odds
- The Los Angeles Lakers are 9-point home favorites over the Golden State Warriors on Monday night (Jan. 18, 10 pm EST) in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day game at the Staples Center
- The Lakers have won five games in a row and their 11-3 record is the best in the NBA
- Odds, lines and the spread for Lakers-Warriors can be found here with analysis
The Los Angeles Lakers look to continue their winning streak and end some Martin Luther King Jr. Day frustration when they host the Golden State Warriors at 10 p.m. ET Monday at the Staples Center.
The Lakers have won five consecutive games – four in a row against the spread — to raise their record to an NBA-best 11-3. However, Los Angeles has lost on MLK Day in each of the last three seasons.
Back-to-back losses have dropped the Warriors to .500 at 6-6. Though it has won nine of its last 11 MLK Day games, Golden State is a sizeable underdog on this holiday.
Warriors vs Lakers Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Spread | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden State Warriors | +315 | +9 (-110) | Over 223.5 (-110) |
| Los Angeles Lakers | -400 | -9 (-110) | Under 223.5 (-110) |
Odds taken Jan. 17 from FanDuel.
MLK Day Unkind to Lakers
The Lakers not only have a losing streak on MLK Day, but they have dropped the three games by a combined 60 points.
However, Los Angeles has momentum coming into this game. Its latest victory was over the New Orleans Hornets 112-95 on Friday night at home as an 8.5-point favorite. LeBron James led the Lakers with 21 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.
Never lose sight of LeBron James 🔨
(📺: @SpectrumSN) pic.twitter.com/jq6ABkzour
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 16, 2021
Anthony Davis added 17 points despite playing with lower back stiffness. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made four 3-point field goals and finished with 16 points. Montrzel Harrell also scored 16 points.
Seven Lakers had at least 9 points. Kyle Kuzma had 11 points and a season-high 13 rebounds off the bench and reserve Alex Caruso was a plus-28 in 18 minutes.
Los Angeles also had a season-low eight turnovers while forcing the Pelicans into 20. The Lakers have won their last 28 games when holding its opponent under 100 points.
ADefense 〰💪 pic.twitter.com/7zSqeMNVU9
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 16, 2021
The Lakers fell behind by 15 points in the first half but ended up winning going away. Down 70-67 late in the third quarter, the Lakers went on a 42-15 run to take a 24-point lead.
Oddly, the Lakers are just 4-3 at home but 7-0 on the road.
Curry Climbing the Charts
This will be the first time the Warriors have faced the Lakes with James on MLK Day.
However, Golden State did square off against James when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers in three straight MLK Day games from 2016-18. They limited James to 68 points in those three games while Stephen Curry scored 78 points for the Warriors.
Curry had a big game in a losing effort Thursday night, scoring 35 points as the Warriors lost to the Nuggets 114-104 in Denver as 4.5-point underdogs. Curry shot 14 of 23, including 5 of 11 on 3-point attempts.
the rotation on this shot is special pic.twitter.com/Laq5sDZB6j
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 15, 2021
Curry raised his career 3-point total to 2,545, 15 from tying Reggie Miller for second place on the NBA’s all-time list. Ray Allen holds the record with 2,973.
However, the rest of the Warriors made just six of 18 shots from long range.
Rookie James Wiseman scored 18 points, his second-highest total behind the 19 he scored against the Brooklyn Nets on opening night. Wiseman also had an embarrassing defensive moment in Denver.
Left him in the dust 💨 pic.twitter.com/jKjuw7dbk5
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 15, 2021
Andrew Wiggins added 16 points. He has been in double figures in all 12 games this season.
The Warriors’ scheduled game Friday at Phoenix was postponed because of the Suns’ COVID-19 issues. That gave coach Steve Kerr the opportunity to hold practice on back-to-back days for the first time since training camp.
It was Lake Show in 2019-20
This is the first meeting of the season between the teams, but the Lakers went 3-0 against the Warriors in 2019-20. The Lakers won 120-94 at home as 8.5-point favorites then twice at Golden State, 125-120 as a 14-point picks and 116-86 as 10.5-point choices.
James missed the last of those three games, but the Lakers still won by 30 points Davis had 23 points and Kuzma added 18 points in a reserve role. Eric Paschall topped the Warriors with 23 points in 26 minutes off the bench
The Lakers are hot and they’ll easily end their MLK Day skid in this one.
Pick: Lakers -9 (-110)
John Perrotto has been covering and writing about sports for various outlets for over 40 years. His work has appeared in the likes of USA TODAY, ESPN.com, SI.com, Forbes.com, The Associated Press, Baseball Digest, and more. John is based out of Beaver Falls, PA.
