Washington Wizards vs LA Lakers Prediction and Betting Tips | Jan. 21, 2024

The LA Lakers continue to be inconsistent as their NBA 2024-25 season inches close to the halfway mark. With a 22-18 record and sixth in a stacked Western Conference, the Purple and Gold continue to struggle with familiar issues, that at this point see them as a playoff side at best. Having been outplayed by the LA Clippers earlier this week, they host the bottom-placed Washington Wizards at the Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday.

The Wizards are on a league-worse 10-game losing streak and are in the middle of a six-game road trip. Their four-game California trip saw them lose to the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings. They play the Lakers and head to the Intuit Dome before jetting off to Phoenix. While LA cannot afford to take the Wizards lightly, the matchup is still a winnable one for LA to tie with the Dallas Mavericks for 23 wins and inch closer to the Clippers (24).

The good news for the Purple and Gold will be the availability of guard Austin Reaves. He went down in the fourth quarter against the Clippers and was seen limping to the bench while diving for a loose ball. Head coach JJ Redick later confirmed that Reaves had banged his knee, but would be a go for the skirmish against Washington.

It's been a torrid run for the Wizards who are not able to buy a win despite averaging 120+ points in their last three games. The game also holds significant importance given some of the trade assets that the Capital City has in its fold. The likes of Kyle Kuzma, Jonas Valanciunas, and Malcolm Brogdon are potential trade candidates and have all been linked to the Lakers at some point.

It remains to be seen if GM Rob Pelinka would swing for any of the aforementioned names but with the deadline just days away, it will be interesting to see what pans out on the sidelines of the game and serve as trade fodder.

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Washington Wizards vs LA Lakers Preview, Predicted Starting Lineups, Betting Tips, Odds, and Predictions

The Washington Wizards vs LA Lakers skirmish tips off at 10:30 pm ET. Local coverage will be on SportsNet LA and MNMT2. The game can be streamed live on Fubo TV (regional restrictions may apply) and on the NBA app with a subscription to the NBA League Pass. Here are the odds as listed at the time of writing:

Teams	Spread	Total (o/u)	Moneyline
Washington Wizards	+13	o229 (-114)	+572
LA Lakers	-13	u229 (-110)	-835

Note: Odds are subject to change closer to tip-off.

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Washington Wizards vs LA Lakers Preview

The rebuilding Wizards are one of those sides undone by a lack of star power, reliable and consistent performers, and more importantly an inexperienced roster. Having Kyle Kuzma does little with the rest of the outfit struggling to cope with NBA pressure. This has led to poor performances on both ends of the floor.

Jordan Poole leads the Wizards with 21.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 4.7 assists. Kuzma is second with 14.4 points and 5.3 rebounds. Rookie Alex Sarr is averaging 11.6 points and 6.7 rebounds along with 1.5 blocks per contest. Washington is 25th in scoring offense with 108.6 points per game and averaging 103.4 points per 100 possessions. They are 28th in field goal offense (44.1%) and 29th in 3-point offense (33.5%).

The Lakers need consistency and upgrades. While the latter isn't on them, they will need to up the ante on defense to fend off the threat of allowing teams to get off to hot starts. The LA Lakers are 18th in scoring offense averaging 111.4 points per 100 possessions. They are 10th in FG offense (47.4%) and 19th in beyond the arc (35.3%). On scoring defense, they are better-placed with a league-best 17th place allowing 113.2 points per 100 possessions while the visitors are at the bottom with 117.4 points per 100 possessions.

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Washington Wizards vs LA Lakers Predicted Starting Lineups

The Wizards will be without Malcolm Brogdon (right foot plantar fascia contusion), Saddiq Bey (left ACL knee surgery), and Marvin Bagley III (right knee sprain). They will likely stick to the same lineup from their last game against the Kings.

Position	Player
PG	Bub Carrington
SG	Jordan Poole
SF	Bilal Coulibaly
PF	Kyle Kuzma
C	Alex Sarr

The Lakers have familiar names on the injury list. LeBron James (left ankle sprain) is listed as probable. Anthony Davis (right calf soreness) is questionable. Jalen Hood-Schifino (left hamstring strain), Jarred Vanderbilt, and Christian Wood (surgery recovery) are ruled out. Expect LA to stick to the same lineup they usually field.

Position	Player
PG	Austin Reaves
SG	Max Christie
SF	Rui Hachmura
PF	LeBron James
C	Anthony Davis

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Washington Wizards vs LA Lakers Betting Tips

For the Wizards, Kyle Kuzma comes with an o/u of -120/-106 on points. Jordan Poole is -110/-128 on points, and Jonas Valanciunas is -109/-125 on points and rebounds. Watch out for LeBron James with an o/u of -105/-114 on points and rebounds, and Austin Reaves (-106/-110) on points and assists.

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Washington Wizards vs LA Lakers Prediction

The Wizards are poor on both ends of the floor, but they can spring a surprise if they can find a way to exploit the LA Lakers' erratic play at times. The hosts are still favorites to win the contest. Expect the Lakers to notch up a good win on Tuesday.