The Lakers are back in STAPLES Center tonight after a two-game road trip, and play host to a five-win Orlando Magic team. The Magic played in this building last night, losing to the Paul George-less Clippers 106-104 on a Reggie Jackson game-winner.
The Lakers enter this contest as double-digit favorites, but nothing seems to come easy for the purple and gold this year, who are a league-worst 10-17 ATS and only 14-13 SU.
Can the Lakers take advantage of one of the NBA's worst teams and start moving in the right direction? Keep reading our free NBA betting picks and predictions for Magic vs. Lakers to find out.
Magic vs Lakers odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
The opening lines had the Lakers as 11.5-point favorites, but has been bet down to -10. The total opened at 221 and now sits at 220.5 at the time of writing.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right until tip-off and be sure to check out the full NBA odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.
Magic vs Lakers predictions
- Prediction: Lakers -10 (-110)
- Prediction: Over 220.5 (-110)
- Best bet: LeBron James Over 25.5 points (+100)
Predictions made on 12/12/2021 at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
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Magic vs Lakers game info
• Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Date: Sunday, December 12, 2021
• Tip-off: 9:30 p.m. ET
• TV: Spectrum SportsNet, Bally Sports Florida
Magic vs Lakers betting preview
Injuries
Magic: Jalen Suggs G (Out), Markelle Fultz G (Out), E'Twaun Moore G (Out), Jonathan Isaac F (Out), Michael Carter-Williams G (Out).
Lakers: LeBron James F (Probable), Anthony Davis F (Questionable), Trevor Ariza F (Out), Kendrick Nunn G (Out).
Find our latest NBA injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Over is 9-2 in the Magic's last 11 games on the second night of a back-to-back. Find more NBA betting trends for Magic vs. Lakers.
Magic vs Lakers picks and predictions
Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.
Spread analysis
This matchup is a tough one to predict against the spread. The Lakers have been incredibly inconsistent all season long (look no further than their recent two-game road trip) and have been a coin-flip to win most games, let alone cover a double-digit spread like this one (0-4 ATS as double-digit favorites this season).
They rank 12th in defensive rating, which may not appear that bad, but compared to their top-three ranks in each of the last two years, it's very far from where they'd like to be as a team. Even so, it's been the effort and inconsistency on that end that's been hard to overcome. They rank 23rd in offensive rating but are fourth in scoring because of their second-highest pace.
They may also be without Anthony Davis tonight, who missed Friday night's game in OKC with left knee soreness and is listed as questionable for tonight. There isn't much clarity on the origins of his knee issues, so monitor his status as we get closer to tip-off.
The Magic, on the other hand, has been one of the NBA's worst teams all year. They rank dead-last defensively, 28th offensively, and have the NBA's worst net rating (-10.4), which includes 13 losses by 11 or more points.
LeBron James has been rounding back into form after his return to action a few weeks ago and is averaging 30/8/7 on 51% shooting over his last seven contests. He should be able to score at will and help the Lakers, who rank in the top half of most shooting categories, create some quality looks from beyond the arc.
This is only a slight lean, as it's hard to have any real confidence in the Lakers with this large of a spread (especially with AD's status in question), but I think they'll seize the opportunity to get right at home against a really bad team on the second night of a back-to-back.
Prediction: Lakers -10 (-110)
Over/Under analysis
Over their last 10 games, the Magic have allowed 115.3 points per game and the Lakers have scored 115.2 in their last 10 contests. When you account for the second night of a back-to-back (albeit still at STAPLES Center), it shouldn't take a heroic effort for the Lakers to approach 120 points against this league-worst Magic defense. If they do, you may only need 100 or so from Orlando to reach the Over.
The Lakers force 15.7 turnovers a game, the seventh-best mark in the NBA, and both of these teams sit inside the Top 6 in turnovers per game. In addition, the Lakers have the second-highest pace in the NBA (Orlando is 10th), creating a recipe for quick and easy baskets on both sides.
Give me the Over in this game.
Prediction: Over 220.5 (-110)
Best bet
As mentioned above, LeBron has been putting up strong numbers as he tries to get this Lakers train back on its track. His points total sits at 25.5 tonight, a number he's surpassed in five of his last seven games.
In those seven games, he's averaging 29.7 points on 51% shooting. Tonight, he goes up against the league's worst defense, and could be leaned on even more to score if AD sits out. At even money, this is too good to pass up.
Pick: LeBron James Over 25.5 points (+100 at DraftKings)
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