The Los Angeles Lakers will be without Kyle Kuzma for the second straight game.
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The Los Angeles Lakers continue their five-game road trip on Friday with a visit to Miami where the Heat look to stay undefeated. And if the Lakers are to give the Heat their first home loss off the season, they’re going to have to do it without one of their most prolific scorers outside of their superstar tandem.
Kyle Kuzma will miss his second straight game with an ankle sprain, according to Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times. The injury report also says that Rajon Rondo is probable to play after missing the last two games with a hamstring injury that took him out of last week’s win in Portland.
Kuzma has done a solid job coming off the bench for the Lakers this season but hasn’t had some of the huge scoring games he had last season. He’s averaging 11 points per game while shooting 36 percent from the 3-point line and 50 percent on 2-point shots. However, his 23 minutes are by far the lowest per game number of his career. A lot of that has to do with Anthony Davis playing a lot of power forward, Kuzma’s usual position.
Previewing Friday’s Los Angeles Lakers at Miami Heat sports betting odds and lines, with NHL betting picks, tips and best bets.
The Los Angeles Lakers (22-3) visit the Miami Heat (18-6) Friday at American Airlines Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET as LeBron James faces one of his former teams. We analyze the Lakers-Heat odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.
Place a legal sports bet on this NBA action or other games at BetMGM.
Lakers at Heat: Key injuries
Lakers
SG Avery Bradley (leg) probable
C Anthony Davis (shoulder) probable
PF Kyle Kuzma (ankle) out
PG Rajon Rondo (hamstring) probable
Heat
SG Dion Waiters (suspension) out
SG Tyler Herro (illness) questionable
PF James Johnson (illness) questionable
PG Justise Winslow (back) out
PG Goran Dragic (groin) out
C Udonis Haslem (illness) questionable
Lakers at Heat: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated at 12:05 p.m. ET.
The LAKERS (-239) are riding a five-game win streak as they play their second of five on the road. They hold top spot in the Western Conference and are 12-1 as visitors this season, while outscoring all opponents by an average of 9.9 points per game.
The Heat (+190), second in the East, have won three straight, but each of the last two games went to overtime against the grossly inferior Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks. They’re perfect at home (11-0), but will suffer their first home loss of the season.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Lakers to win outright returns a profit of $4.18.
The LAKERS (-4.5, -129) are a much more valuable play when laying the points. They’ll need to win by at least 5, as they have in each of their last six victories. LA is 16-9 against the spread overall and 8-5 on the road while Miami is 15-8 ATS overall and 9-2 at home. Each of the Heat’s six losses on the year was decided by a margin of at least 7 points.
Miami’s injury/health concerns, particularly to Herro, Winslow and Dragic, will be too much to overcome against LeBron, Davis and the Lakers.
Take the OVER 212.5 (-106). The Lakers will be able to fill up the stat sheet against the undermanned Heat. Miami will have plenty of garbage-time run in the fourth quarter to send this one Over the number.
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LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are looking to give Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat their first home loss of the season.
It’s the winter and once again LeBron James is flying down to South Beach as his Los Angeles Lakers continue their five-game road trip against a team that has been one of the biggest surprises in the NBA this season and is a franchise associated with the best basketball of LeBron’s career.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis each had major parts in the win for the Lakers in early November but the Heat have been playing even better over the last few weeks. While the Lakers have earned the benefit of the doubt more than any team in the league, the Heat’s gritty ethos on their home court makes them someone to fear.
As it stands, the Heat are 18-6 on the season and they’ve done an amazing job despite Jimmy Butler not being the alpha dog player everyone assumed he would be. Center Bam Adebayo is dishing assists like prime Bill Walton while also being one of the league’s most fearsome defenders. He locked down Pascal Siakam only nine days ago in Toronto, holding the dynamic scorer to 5 for 14 from the field and just 15 points.
New acquisition Meyers Leonard has provided some quality floor spacing and solid defensive rebounding at center while veteran guard Goran Dragic has been a shot in the arm off the bench on a nightly basis for Miami.
The Lakers have been running through teams over the last few weeks no matter where they are and with LeBron in a familiar environment, the location shouldn’t be a difficulty. What will be difficult is a Heat team that is playing well, playing together and playing seriously enough to give the Lakers a good game on South Beach.
Los Angeles Laker star LeBron James spoke about his feelings regarding his son’s upcoming game against his high school alma mater.
[lawrence-related id=23045]LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will start a five-game road trip on Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic that will take them through five Eastern Conference cities, but the coming weekend is going to be an important one in the James family household for reasons beyond the Lakers keeping a perfect record away from Staples Center.
This Saturday, LeBron James’ eldest son Bronny Jr. and his Sierra Canyon Trail Blazers squad will be in Columbus, Ohio to face off against LeBron’s alma mater, St. Vincent-St. Mary’s High School from Akron, Ohio. As the Lakers are between games on Saturday, James is expected to be in attendance if the weather allows. James opened up about how that day will feel in an interview with ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
Obviously, everybody knows that St. Vincent-St. Mary is when people started to recognize me from a national standpoint and for it to be 15 years later and my son is about to play a high school game versus my alma mater in our home state, the only thing that would have been more emotional is if my son was playing St. Vincent-St. Mary at the LeBron James Arena in Akron. That would have been like, that would have been too much.
It’s just a pretty cool thing. You don’t know how things are going to line up in life and it almost seems like it’s all coming back full circle seeing my oldest son doing the things that he’s doing. I’m proud of him and his basketball club. They got a great team but more importantly, they are great kids.
James was able to see his son play during some fall league games but since the Lakers season has started and Sierra Canyon’s season has started, there have been a lot of conflicts. But if James does show up, expect him to be somewhere near fellow Sierra Canyon basketball dad Dwyane Wade.
James, of course, burst onto the national scene as a junior with St. Vincent-St. Mary’s after he was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. During his senior season, he also was the first player to have his game airing on ESPN, with college commentators Jay Bilas, Bill Walton and Dick Vitale on the call.
While this game won’t have quite as much pomp and circumstance, it’s hard to imagine how much this game will mean to James and his family after all these years.
Over the last decade the Basketball Gods have bestowed some glorious storylines upon us.
We saw three future MVPs on one team in Oklahoma City that never won an actual championship. We saw the Warriors break the 72-10 Bulls’ regular season win record. We saw LeBron James’ Miami Heat rip off one of the longest winning streaks in NBA history.
I haven’t even gotten to Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs drama or the James Harden’s Rockets. We’ve been blessed this decade, folks. We’ve seen dynasties rise and fall, we’ve seen one-off titles that will last forever, and we’ve seen failures we’ll never forget.
But which teams were the best of the decade? We’re ranking them all right here.
Honorable Mentions
2009-10 Lakers
(PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)
It’s hard to keep a champion out of the top 10 on this list, but this feels right. These Lakers were a great team — they won 57 games and were a repeat champion. But they were a year older and a bit worse than the season before. They also came right before the league’s 3-point boom. Had they been around in the next era, it’s hard to tell if they would’ve had the same success.
2010-11 Dallas Mavericks
(DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)
The same thing goes for these Dallas Mavericks. They had an amazing title run and were legitimately one of the best stories of the decade. But, pound for pound, they only had a single All-Star in Dirk Nowitzki. It’s hard to compare them to other teams later in the decade.
The All-Decade list
10. 2017-18 Houston Rockets
(AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)
Okay, okay. I get it. The Rockets can’t get over the hump, James Harden’s playoff struggles, blah blah blah. Yes, we know. But the Rockets were the only team in the West that could even challenge the Kevin Durant-era Warriors. No, they never won, but neither did anyone else when they were fully healthy. They had an MVP, won 65 games and pushed the best roster ever to seven games. No one else can say that.
9. 2013-14 San Antonio Spurs
(Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports)
This team was by far the best in the league that season. Their 9.1 net rating was tops in the league, they had four future Hall of Famers and a bunch of scrappy role players that moved the ball and defended at a top notch level. This is the team that shaped Kawhi Leonard into the player he is now. Speaking of which…
8. 2011-12 Miami Heat
(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
I’m totally afraid that I’m underrating this Miami Heat team. Though they weren’t at the peak of their powers just yet, they were still spectacular in a lockout shortened season where they won 46 of 66 games. Their season culminated in a dominant 4-1 Finals win over a Thunder team that they’d never see in the postseason again.
7. 2015-16 Golden State Warriors
(Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
This team could’ve very easily been closer to the top. They won a league record 73 games, had the longest winning streak to start a season ever (24), and had a UNANIMOUS MVP on their team. Yet, they also could’ve missed it completely after blowing a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. They were the NBA’s biggest success and failure of the decade, all at once.
6. 2018-19 Toronto Raptors
(Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
These Raptors reaped the benefits from those 2014 Spurs. They essentially took Leonard on loan and rode him all the way to a title. They’re are the only team to win a playoff series against the Durant-led Warriors — even if they weren’t healthy. That’s a big achievement in itself.
5. 2014-15 Golden State Warriors
(Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
You can say what you want about this Warriors team — sure, they beat an injured Cavaliers team and they had a bit of luck on their way to a title. Most champions do. The bottom line is they won 67 games with a league MVP in Stephen Curry and a spectacular defense. They were incredible.
4. 2017-18 Golden State Warriors
(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
It’s hard to go back-to-back in this era of NBA basketball where stars are bouncing all over the place and the balance of the league is forever shifting. These Warriors were able to do it behind the brilliance of Curry and Durant once again — even with seeds of discord being sewn in the team.
3. 2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
This team is so hard to rank. They were a soap opera. These Cavaliers fired a coach with a 30-11 record midseason, subtweeted each other, and still felt failure of the Finals loss from the season before. But they made up for it with the most epic comeback in league history. You know — 3-1 deficit, unanimous MVP and all that good stuff.
2. 2012-13 Miami Heat
(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
This team’s 27 game winning streak on their way to 66 wins on the season is the second longest streak in NBA history. Only the 1971-72 Lakers’ 33-game streak is longer. They had LeBron James at the peak of his powers — that alone makes them one of the best teams in league history.
1. 2016-17 Golden State Warriors
(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
This is quite simply the greatest collection of basketball talent we’ve ever seen – outside of an All-Star team – headed by Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant at their best. They rode that to a 67-win season and a 16-1 record in the playoffs, matching the unstoppable 2001 Lakers’ playoff run.
LeBron James has been a user of the Calm app for a long time and students at his I PROMISE school will also have access to it.
LeBron James is one of the athletic marvels of modern sport. He’s currently playing better than any Year 17 player we’ve ever seen to start the season and that’s without considering that James has played the most playoff minutes in NBA history, a total he almost certainly adds to this season. But to accomplish those things, as well as all the other things that LeBron does, also takes the precision of the mind. James is now sharing his routines and advice on “mental fitness” through a new partnership with the Calm app.
James unveiled the partnership last night in Los Angeles, which includes a TV spot for the app featuring James. “What’s a strong body without a sound mind,” James asks in the new commercial.
James and his routines with athletic trainer Mike Mancias, the constant care of his body and seriousness of that, have often been the main focus of LeBron and his training. But training his mind is just as important, according to him.
“As an athlete, there’s a lot of focus on physical fitness, ” James said. “This partnership with Calm is all about mental fitness. It’s something I’ve always prioritized, and it’s just as important to my game, my career, and my life than anything I can do physically. The ability to focus and calibrate everything going on inside your mind is a skill that can be strengthened over time, and Calm helps me do that. Through this partnership, I’m also excited to share that important tool with the youth in my Foundation and across the country.”
As part of the partnership, LeBron will be featured in the “Train Your Mind” series, featuring “10-minute inspirational wisdom sessions” featuring James on the topics of “managing emotions, sleep and maintaining balance.” In addition to that, students at LeBron James’ I PROMISE School will have access to the Calm program where it will be implemented in the day’s curriculum. Counseling and trauma therapy are already major parts of the I PROMISE School curriculum.
“Calm’s mental fitness and mindfulness practices align perfectly with the I PROMISE School’s trauma-informed curriculum and intentional approach to educating the whole child,” Michele Campbell, Executive Director of the LeBron James Family Foundation, said. “For the population of at-risk students we serve at IPS – many who are experiencing various forms of trauma – mental toughness and the ability to process what they’re going through is a matter of survival. We’re excited to add Calm’s tools and techniques to the supports we’re able to provide in this critical area.”
Previewing Tuesday’s Atlanta Hawks at Miami Heat sports betting odds and lines, with NBA betting picks, tips and best bets.
The Atlanta Hawks (6-17) visit the Miami Heat (17-6) Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET at AmericanAirlines Arena. We analyze the Hawks-Heat odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.
Both teams are coming off Sunday wins. The Hawks won at the Charlotte Hornets 122-107 with PG Trae Young leading the charge with 30 points and nine assists. They won two of three last week after enduring a 10-game losing streak.
The Heat, behind SG Tyler Herro’s 27 points and last-minute, go-ahead 3-pointer, beat the visiting Chicago Bulls 110-105 in overtime for a second consecutive win. Miami has won five of six, and 11 of 14.
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Hawks at Heat: Key injuries
Hawks
C Alex Len (flu) probable
PF John Collins suspension (eligible Dec. 23)
Heat
C Bam Adebayo (groin) questionable
PG Goran Dragic (groin) out
SF KZ Okpala (Achilles) questionable
SG Dion Waiters (illness) questionable
SF Justice Winslow (back) out
Hawks at Heat: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated at 10:30 a.m. ET.
The Heat (-385) are 10-0 at home this season, explaining why they’re such a big ML favorite. Every $3.85 wagered profits only $1 on an outright win for Miami. One could bet $384.62 to win $100, but that’s just not “smart betting” – an NBA team is always one injury away from losing its advantage.
The Hawks (+290) offer nearly a 3-to-1 payoff where every $1 wagered would profit $2.90 (or $100 bet profits $290) if they win, but that’s not happening. Atlanta is 3-9 on the road. AVOID.
The HEAT (-9.5, +105) are the STRONGEST PLAY. Miami swept Atlanta in back-to-back games in late October by a combined 24 points (112-97 and 106-97), but the Hawks’ Young was injured in the second quarter of the first game and didn’t play the second game. The young point guard’s presence won’t make a difference here. Miami is the best home team against the spread at 8-2.
A slight lean to the OVER 218.5 (-105). Miami averages 111.0 points per game, while Atlanta averages 108.7 PPG. On the defensive end, Miami allows 105.5 PPG, while Atlanta allows 117.3 PPG.
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Johnny’s NBA record: 8-5. Strongest NBA plays: 4-2.
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Each week, HoopsHype’s staff gives our Top 10 candidates for this year’s Most Valuable Player award. Which stars have stood out thus far?
Each week, HoopsHype’s staff gives our Top 10 candidates for this year’s Most Valuable Player award. This list highlights stars who are in the mix for the 2019-20 MVP award due to their impressive play.
Which stars have stood out? Here are our latest MVP rankings:
One of the most productive players in basketball, Karl-Anthony Towns is putting up insane numbers for the Minnesota Timberwolves this season, ranking 10th in points per game, ninth in rebounds per game and ninth in three-point percentage (minimum: 100 attempts) on the year. The advanced stats love Towns’ prowess as a scorer, as evidenced by Synergy Sports ranking the Wolves big as an excellent producer in five separate play-types: as a spot-up shooter, on put-backs, in isolation, coming off screens and as a cutter. Towns would rank higher on this list if his team hadn’t just lost four games in a row by a combined 44 points. Minnesota needs to get their star center some help.
Another star player putting up big numbers for a losing team, Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers have had a tough time getting on track this season, sitting at 9-15 through 24 games. It’s impossible to fault Lillard for that, however, considering how productive he’s been on the year. This season, the Blazers are 12.9 points per 100 possessions better with Lillard on the floor, proving how valuable he’s been to the team. The problem is, Portland completely falls apart during stints with Lillard on the pine, and that’s something that could cost the Blazers a shot at the playoffs. We’ll see if that affects the star floor general’s future with the team, though Lillard has stated multiple times how much he loves it in Portland.
The Boston Celtics are excelling as a team, so it’s tough to pick just one of their players to honor in these rankings, but when forced to choose, Kemba Walker was the clear choice. Walker has acclimated wonderfully to life on a winning team, putting up impressive numbers for Boston while proving to be a fantastic teammate, which could not be said about the All-Star point guard he replaced over the offseason. The Celtics only played twice last week, but they were both matchups against top playoff teams in their respective conferences, the Miami Heat and the Denver Nuggets. Boston battered both opponents by a combined 32 points with Walker leading the way, averaging 23.5 points and 5.0 assists on fiery 51.5/47.4/100.0 shooting splits.
Prior to last week, the Toronto Raptors hadn’t lost back-to-back games all season long. Now, they’re sitting on a three-game losing streak, and it happens to coincide with a slump from Pascal Siakam. Toronto’s burgeoning star swingman averaged 18.3 points over three games last week, shooting 38.9 percent from the floor and a paltry 14.3 percent from three-point range. Regardless, after losing Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors are still exceeding expectations this year with a 15-7 record and a Top-5 league-wide ranking in net rating, and Siakam has been unquestionably the reason why, which explains why we still rank him favorably for MVP.
After not making the Top 10 of our rankings last week, Heat forward Jimmy Butler surges into the Top 6 this time around thanks to an insane four-game stretch in which Miami went 3-1 and Butler averaged 27.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 1.3 steals on 48.4/41.7/77.6 shooting splits. Butler earned Player of the Week honors in the East on Monday thanks to that impressive run. Despite shooting poorly on the season as a whole (43.2 FG%, 30.3 3PT%), Butler still ranks Top 7 in advanced metrics Value Over Replacement Player, Box Plus/Minus, Win Shares and Win Shares Per 48, which speaks to how incredibly valuable he’s been on both ends of the floor. Butler is one of just five players putting up a 20/6/6 stat line this season, and has Miami sitting preetty with a 17-6 and third in the Eastern Conference.
The reigning Player of the Week out of the West, Anthony Davis capped an impressive four-game week with a 50-point (20-of-29 shooting), 4-steal performance for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Davis has been spectacular all season long, making a strong case for Defensive Player of the Year while still ranking seventh in the league in scoring. In years past, there’s been a lot of preseason buzz about Davis turning the corner and becoming the best player in the league, and though that hasn’t happened quite yet, the 2019-20 version of Davis is the closest we’ve come to seeing it, with the Kentucky product playing the role of a legitimate two-way monster who is among the best scorers and fiercest rim-protectors in the league
Davis’ super teammate, LeBron James is also performing at an MVP level, which would explain why the Lakers are widely considered either the best, or second best, team in the league right now. The most impressive part of LeBron’s game is that although he looks like he’s playing in cruise control for the most part, he’s still producing at a ridiculous pace; James’ nonchalant nature of dominance has been downright scary in 2019-20. Per Synergy, the four-time MVP ranks as an excellent scorer out of the post, in spot-up situations, coming off screens and on put-backs. James turns 35 in a few weeks, and he’s still this good. Crazy.
Leading the league in scoring and nightly minutes played, James Harden is having yet another spectacular season for the Houston Rockets. While dropping a 50-spot against the San Antonio Spurs last Tuesday, Harden had a dunk called no-good by officials despite clearly going in, which you could argue cost Houston the game since the contest wound up going to double-overtime before San Antonio prevailed by two points. At the same time, you could also make the case that Harden’s (and Russell Westbrook’s) porous shooting that night were what ended up costing the Rockets the game. In fact, one troubling recent trend regarding the bearded superstar has been his shooting in general. Harden has made just 10 of his last 42 three-point attempts, good for a 23.8 three-point percentage, although he’s making up for it by averaging 16 free throws over his last three games while converting 93.8 percent.
At all of 20 years old, Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic has been one of the very best players in all of basketball this season, putting up otherworldly numbers on a nightly basis while leading Dallas to a 16-7 record and the league’s third-best net rating (+9.4). In Doncic’s rookie season, the Mavs’ net rating was No. 21 league-wide (-1.5) and the year prior to the Slovenian star’s arrival, it was No. 22 in the NBA (-2.9), which goes to show the absurd trajectory both Doncic and Dallas as a whole are on. The one slight criticism that can be made about Doncic recently is that he’s getting too emphatic with his in-game officiating complaints. That’s not to say referees can’t be criticized, but we don’t need another Chris Paul-type of star who becomes hard to watch due to constant complaining. Thankfully, Doncic admitted he’s been too animated with the officials, and that he’s going to try and tone it down moving forward. Good. We would also be remiss not to mention that Doncic recently brokeMichael Jordan’s record of most consecutive 20/5/5 games with 19 straight such games.
All you need to do is read the above stats recap to understand why we ranked Giannis Antetokounmpo at No. 1 of our MVP rankings for the second week running. If Antetokounmpo maintains the pace he’s on, he’ll become just the third player in league history to post a 30/13/5 stat line for an entire season, joining Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor on the illustrious list. Giannis’ impact is far from empty, too, as the Milwaukee Bucks are 20-3 and have the NBA’s No. 1 net rating at +12.9. The league’s second-best team in net rating, the Lakers, are just at a +9.4. As far as Antetokounmpo’s recent form is concerned, the Greek Freak had a marquee matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers and their super wing duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on Friday. Antetokounmpo responded by scoring 27 points, securing 11 rebounds and holding Leonard to 17 points on 5-of-14 shooting. Outrageous averages and elite team success give Giannis the nod for No. 1 in our rankings.
You can follow Frank Urbina on Twitter: @FrankUrbina_.
