Suns vs Lakers Odds, Picks, and Predictions Tonight: Nurkic Dominates the Glass Against Los Angeles

The Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers entered the season with Finals aspirations. While the NBA odds still don’t hate their chances, both teams need to start stringing together some wins if they plan on making that a reality.

The two Western Conference foes face off in L.A. tonight with LeBron James and the Lakers listed as very slight home favorites over Kevin Durant and the Suns.

Phoenix enters this matchup at 19-18 and has dropped two in a row, including a humbling beatdown handed to them by the Clippers. Meanwhile, the Lakers halted a four-game losing streak with back-to-back wins over the Clippers and Raptors.

I break down this matchup of future Hall of Famers and bring you my best bet in our NBA picks and predictions for Suns vs. Lakers on January 11.

Suns vs Lakers odds

Suns vs Lakers predictions

Despite the disappointing campaign that the Phoenix Suns have endured up until this point, you have to believe that a team featuring Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal will figure it out at some point. The issue lies in the fact that those three haven't had much on-court experience together at this juncture, totaling just seven games heading into tonight's matchup.

Luckily, the Los Angeles Lakers have been just as disappointing. They enter this game at 19-19 and are coming off a, let’s say, controversial win over the Toronto Raptors, which saw them get a couple of calls go their way and make 23 trips to the free throw line.

On top of that, rumors are swirling that head coach Darvin Ham has lost the locker room. LeBron James and a coach not getting along?.. Who could have imagined?!

While the Suns’ problems look fixable with more time on the court, the Lakers are simply a flawed team.

While their shooting woes remain, their biggest problems are on defense. They rank 12th in defensive rating, and they allow opponents to hit more threes per game than any other team in the NBA. On top of that, despite having Anthony Davis down low, they are not a very good rebounding team.

The Lakers rank 17th in rebounding rate and 20th in opponent rebounds per game. This means it could be a big night for Suns center Jusuf Nurkic to clean the glass. 

The Phoenix big man is pulling down 10.3 rebounds per game this season, and even though Nurkic has had a few down games, he’s still had double-digit rebounding games in nine of his last 13 games overall. He’s also had plenty of battles vs. Davis throughout his career and is averaging 9.7 boards over 19 games against AD.

With Davis being the key to the Lakers' success these days, you can expect a lot of minutes for Nurkic in this matchup and plenty of opportunities for rebounds. I like the Over on his rebounding prop tonight.

My best bet: Jusuf Nurkic Over 9.5 rebounds (+100)

Suns vs Lakers same-game parlay

Jusuf Nurkic Over 9.5 rebounds

Jusuf Nurkis Over 2.5 assists

Bradley Beal Over 18.5 points

+600 at bet365

We'll be double-dipping with Nurkic on Thursday, as the Suns big man can also be an excellent distributor of the basketball, averaging 3.5 assists per game this season. Nurkic has racked up 14 assists in three matchups against the Lakers this season, and his assists prop is sitting at 2.5 for this matchup. Let’s add the Over.

And let’s close this SGP out with Beal to go Over 18.5 points. Whether or not the Suns go far this season will depend greatly on whether Beal can find his groove playing alongside both Durant and Booker. This looks like a good matchup for Beal and I like him to sneak Over this number.

Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.

Suns vs Lakers spread and Over/Under analysis

This is already the fourth time these two teams have faced off this season, and the Lakers have won all three to this point. The Lakers opened as 1-point home favorites for tonight's contest, and that’s where they remain as of writing. 

Both teams have been bad bets this season. The Suns have been one of the worst in the NBA at covering spreads at 13-23-1 ATS, while the Lakers aren’t much better at 16-22 ATS.

If I had to lean one way though, it may be toward the Suns on the moneyline. They feel like a team that can get better with more minutes playing together, and despite their struggles, remain ahead of the Lakers when it comes to net rating. I also wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a little call correction going on after the outcry on social media following the perceived beneficial whistles the Lakers got against the Raptors.

When it comes to the total, the O/U hit the board at 237 and has been bet up slightly to 238. Thanks to some underperforming defenses, Phoenix enters tonight 21-16 to the Over, with Los Angeles at 20-18. That said, they have played well below tonight's O/U of 238 in two of the three head-to-head matchups this season.

Suns vs Lakers betting trend to know

The Lakers have only hit the first-quarter moneyline in 38 of their last 91 games for -24.35 units. Find more NBA betting trends for Suns vs. Lakers.

Suns vs Lakers game info

Suns vs Lakers latest injuries

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