Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Lakers Player Prop: Can We Trust LeBron James?
The Los Angeles Lakers host the Phoenix Suns tonight in the NBA In-Season Tournament quarterfinals. Can we trust Lebron James against the Suns? Ben Rajavuori breaks down his Suns vs. Lakers player prop.
Ben Rajavuori - December 5, 2023, 3:39 PM EST
5 minPhoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Lakers Player Prop: Can We Trust LeBron James?
The Los Angeles Lakers host the Phoenix Suns at Crypto.com Arena tonight in the NBA In-Season Tournament quarterfinals. The Suns are 12-8 and are coming off a 116-109 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Lakers are 12-9 and are coming off a 107-97 win over the Houston Rockets, a game in which LeBron and Rockets Head Coach Ime Udoka were ejected for some heated words exchanged. Tonight, these two teams battle it out for a semifinal spot in the first NBA In-Season Tournament. What can we expect from LeBron?
Suns vs. Lakers Date, Time, and Where to Watch
- Date: December 5, 2023
- Game Time: 10:00 pm ET
- Where to Watch: TNT
Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Lakers Prediction
First off, LeBron James is "questionable" tonight with the same left calf contusion he has had for some time now. For the last few weeks, James has been a regular on the injury reports on game days with that calf injury, but he has played through it for the last few weeks. I think it is more just annoying and painful than it is an injury he could further injure, which makes playing on it annoying, but doable. I'm not sure if there's a 100% correlation, but around the same time this calf contusion happened, LeBron's scoring has dipped.
LeBron James' points line tonight is 26.5. Over the first 13 games of the season, he hit over 26.5 points in 7 of those, going 7-6 to the over. He has now gone under this line in seven straight games. He has even failed to hit 20 points more lately, which is rare for him. LeBron is still the leading scorer, averaging 24.4 points on the season, but over the last seven games, he is averaging just 20.7.
LeBron has played the Suns twice this season already. The first time, he shot 7-14 and had 21 points. The second time, he shot 11-17 (64.7%) and had 32 points. He had a season-high 11 free throws in his second game against them, shot 3-4 from three, and shot nearly 65%, and he only went over 26.5 by five points. With how LeBron's scoring has dropped recently, I have to take the under here. If he misses again tonight, this will be his eighth-straight game going under 26.5 points. It can be scary fading LeBron, but there are other scorers on the Lakers this year that he can dish the ball off to. I like the under on the king again.
Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Lakers Player Prop
2 Unit Play: LeBron James Under 26.5 Points -111 Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
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