Golden State Warriors vs Los Angeles Lakers NBA Odds, Time, and Prediction

The NBA is back after the All-Star weekend, which saw LeBron’s team lose for the first time since 2017. King James had a disappointing game and even suffered a minor injury, which is why he’s now doubtful for the Warriors at Lakers game. The Warriors too have some injury problems, with their talisman Steph Curry being definitely out. Nevertheless, we still expect this game to be a real barnburner.

Golden State Warriors vs Los Angeles Lakers Odds

*Odds taken from bet365 on Wednesday, February 22, 2023.

When, Where, and How to Watch?

• Place: Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California
• Date: Thursday, February 23, 2023
• Time: 10:00 PM ET
• How to Watch: TNT

Golden State Warriors Aren’t Just About Curry

Steph Curry is the Warriors’ best player, but they do have many other stars on the roster. Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins have been phenomenal this season.

Still, their efforts haven’t been enough for the Warriors to win too many games. They are .500 (29-29) right now, but they do have a decent chance to qualify for the postseason.

What’s got to worry them is that they got some tough games on the schedule in the next couple of weeks, starting with the one against the Lakers. This game is going to be particularly challenging for them, considering that it’s an away game. And the Warriors haven’t been great on the road.

Golden State’s away record this season is 7-22, while they’re 0-4 in their last four games away from San Francisco.

LeBron Remains Doubtful for Thursday’s Game

The chances are that LeBron James will play, but he might not play as well as usual. Actually, the 38-year-old hasn’t been playing great lately, struggling with fitness over the last couple of weeks. Before suffering an ankle injury, however, he was in a point-scoring mood, scoring 38 points in his last game before the injury.

Upon returning, he’s played just one NBA game, which saw him score just 21 points. Then, in the 2023 All-Star game, he scored just 13. Is this something that should worry the Lakers? It should, for the fact that they need to start playing much better basketball in order to challenge for a place in the playoffs. Right now, they’re .458 (27-32) and are sitting in the No. 13 position.

Golden State Warriors vs Los Angeles Lakers Prediction

With or without LeBron, the Lakers need to go for a win on Thursday. The season is heating up, so in order to stay in the race for the postseason, they need to start playing much better. The good news is that they got the manpower to do it. The bad news is that literally the same goes for the Warriors.

That said, we really expect to see a fantastic match on Thursday, probably with plenty of points on both ends. But who will win the Warriors vs Lakers game? We think the hosts will.

Picks: Los Angeles Lakers to win and cover the spread; over to hit