Wizards vs Lakers Odds, Picks, and Predictions Tonight: L.A. Takes The District Lightly

Look out Detroit Pistons, the Washington Wizards may be coming for you. Okay, that is being dramatic, but the Wizards are on a 12-game losing streak, can probably count on being NBA odds favorites in no more than three of their remaining 24 games, and have already been caught by the Pistons in the standings.

So that should cover the bigger picture tonight, nearly assuring the Los Angeles Lakers of a win, but is there an opportunity to fade the Lakers the night after their come-from-behind win against the Clippers? Quite possibly.

With the Lakers favored by nine, a touch of doubt in Los Angeles leads our free NBA picks and predictions as we preview the Wizards vs the Lakers on February 29.

Wizards vs Lakers odds

Wizards vs Lakers predictions

Let’s play a call-and-response game:

The Wizards are so bad — how bad are they? The Wizards are so bad, only one of their last 10 games saw them as an underdog of fewer than 10.5 points.

The Wizards are so bad — how bad are they? The Wizards are so bad, they fell short of seven of their last 10 team totals by an average of 6.6 points. 

The Wizards are so bad — how bad are they? The Wizards are so bad, they have the second-worst net rating in the NBA across their last 10 games.

So putting any faith in Washington tonight must be done with skepticism. The odd thing about the Wizards is that they have played relatively competitively. Please note the emphasis on “relatively.”

During this 12-game losing streak, seven of those losses came by single digits. Five of those were thoroughly genuine covers against the spread, not borne out of garbage time. Another was a competitive game, only 5.5-point underdogs against Philadelphia and losing by six. The seventh hovered around a double-digit deficit late into the fourth quarter, but not anything more egregious than that.

Washington has been blown out a handful of times, but it is not thoroughly overmatched on a night-to-night basis. Just somewhat overmatched.

The Lakers are not positioned to rout the Wizards tonight. Los Angeles needed to come back from 21 points in the fourth quarter last night, using a 37-10 run to upset the Clippers. LeBron James needed to not only play 37 minutes but also to star in the fourth quarter. Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves played 36 minutes, while D’Angelo Russell logged 34.

The Lakers might have some juice tonight, but not a full game’s worth. And Washington should be just competitive enough to keep this game within single digits, the only redeeming part of how bad the Wizards have been lately.

My best bet: Wizards +9.5 (-115 at Caesars)

Wizards vs Lakers same-game parlay

Wizards +9.5

Wizards team total Under 116.5

LeBron James Under 25.5 points

Bonus bet promo available

+850 at DraftKings

The sportsbooks’ algorithms to figure out same-game parlay payouts are baffled by betting on the underdog to cover yet also fall short of its team total. That counter-intuitive combination happens, though.

In five of Washington’s seven single-digit losses during this losing streak, it fell short of its team total. The Wizards can absolutely keep tonight relatively close while still failing to put the ball in the bucket, and that bet creates an aggressive value here.

As for James, he should take tonight easy. Maybe that shows up in a reduced workload. Perhaps it comes via passing the ball more often than driving. Regardless, that should torpedo his points prop for the evening.

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

Wizards vs Lakers spread and Over/Under analysis

Shortly after the Lakers slipped by the Clippers, this line opened as high as -10.5 before falling to -9.5 overnight. Early Thursday afternoon saw it drop further to -9. If that's suggesting James and Davis may ease up tonight, that makes sense.

Keep one eye on the standings when handicapping the NBA right now. Los Angeles knows it needs to keep winning, with Golden State looming. But the Lakers also know their next seven games are against winning teams, including three games against the Top-3 teams in the West. Grabbing some version of rest tonight would make sense.

The total opened at 241.5 before climbing, reaching 243.5 early Thursday and dabbling for parts of the morning at 244. Suffice it to say, the above same-game parlay argues rather strongly for the Under.

Wizards vs Lakers betting trend to know

Washington is 18-11-1 against the spread on the road this season. Find more NBA betting trends for Wizards vs. Lakers.

Wizards vs Lakers game info

Wizards vs Lakers latest injuries

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