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The latest installment of the Lake Show is turning into the Miami Heat “Heatles” circa 2011.
Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves headline the most intriguing roster in these NBA playoffs, and anything short of a deep playoff run would be a bitter disappointment for the Lakers.
Los Angeles opens its series against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night and the Lakers are four-point favorites in Game 1 at the time of writing.
Will Hollywood go home happy with a 1-0 series lead?
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Timberwolves vs. Lakers prediction for Game 1
None of the regular-season games played between these two teams is worth looking into, as both clubs were missing key players for those contests.
What we know for now is that Jaden McDaniels will play a key role defending Doncic, who absolutely roasted Minnesota in last year’s playoffs for 32.4 points per game while shooting at insane 43.4 percent from 3-point range.
Keep in mind, the Timberwolves no longer have Kyle Anderson, who drew the assignment of matching up with Doncic last season.
Knowing that, the Lakers will likely look to hunt for Michael Conley and Rudy Gobert to force those two guys out of the rotation, which would lower the ceiling of Minnesota’s defense.
If Minnesota could somehow avoid that, it will be in excellent shape in this series.
But that’s not what I’m projecting. This series could be Lakers in five or six games.
Back Los Angeles to win this game outright and target the Lakers’ first-quarter spread.
Coach JJ Redick has had the Lakers smashing opposing teams in the first 12 minutes of games.
Los Angeles has the league’s second-best first-quarter against the spread (ATS) record at home (23-18), while Minnesota is 20-20-1 ATS on the road.
Doncic, James, and Reaves starting on the floor together is typically a death sentence for opposing teams.
PICK: SGP +156 (Lakers ML [-180] + Lakers first quarter -1.5 [-105])
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