Los Angeles Lakers (15-6) at Atlanta Hawks (10-9)
The Lakers 7 game road-trip finally ends on Tuesday as they meet the Hawks in Atlanta. In their latest outing, they held on for an important 96-95 win over the Celtics in Boston. LeBron was held in check by the Celtics defence for most of the game but Anthony Davis led the charge with 27 pts / 14 rebounds. Harrell also added 16 pts off the bench. With LeBron and Davis continuing to be on the injury report, they may look for some rest after a long road-trip and will welcome a few home games in the next week or so.
Meanwhile, the Hawks season seems to be on track after 5 wins in their last 7 and they should enjoy this challenge against the Lakers. The Hawks will be coming off a comfortable win over the Wizards as Trae Young had one of his best games of the season. He finished with 41 points and hit 5 threes. However, he will likely have a tougher outing against the Lakers defence. Clint Capela will also be important on defence against Davis.
With the Lakers enduring a long road-trip and they've been flat in their last few games, the Hawks should be able to keep this one close for the 4 quarters. They have a good home record recently and only just lost to the Lakers by 5 pts in the last meeting at home.
Stadium Record
The Hawks have won 4 of their last 5 home games. Los Angeles has a 4-2 record at this venue.
Head to Head Record
The Lakers won the last meeting 101-96, which was also at this venue. Since 2015, the Lakers are 7-3 against Atlanta.
Best Bet
Portland Trail Blazers (10-8) at Milwaukee Bucks (11-8)
Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers road-trip continues to Milwaukee on Tuesday and they'll be looking for some more magic from Lillard. He nailed a buzzer beating 3 against the Bulls last time out as Portland ended a 2 game losing streak with a 123-122 victory. He finished with 44 points and was well supported by Kanter (22 pts) and Trent (18 pts). The Bucks have trouble defending point guards so look for a huge game here from Lillard as he controls the offence without CJ McCollum.
Meanwhile, the Bucks won't be happy after 2 straight defeats against teams they really should beat. Previously, they lost to the Pelicans in New Orleans 131-126 and then easily went down to the Hornets 126-114 last time out. Their defensive struggles against point guards continued as Ball scored 27 points off the bench. Meanwhile on offence, Giannis did his best with 34 points and 18 rebounds. He should be a handful against the Blazers, a team with plenty of front court injuries.
As mentioned, the Trail Blazers have trouble defending the paint and that makes Giannis extra dangerous in this matchup. So we're looking at the 14+ rebound market here. He's totalled 18 rebounds in 2 of the his last 3 games so 14+ does seem good value in a favourable matchup against Kanter.
Stadium Record
The Bucks are 7-2 in their last 9 home games. Portland has lost their last 5 at this venue.
Head to Head Record
Milwaukee has the wood over the Trail Blazers with 8 wins in the last 10 meetings.
Best Bet
G. Antetokounmpo 14+ Rebounds $2.15
Memphis Grizzlies (8-6) at San Antonio Spurs (11-9)
After a lengthy string of postponed games, the Grizzlies returned with a bang as they smashed the Spurs 129-112. So they'll look for a similar result as they meet the Spurs once again. As a team, they showed no shooting rust as they went 56% from the field. Ja Morant was at this usual best with 11 assists and 19 points. But even more impressively, their bench added 50 points between Dieng, Bane and Melton.
The Spurs 3 game winning streak ended as they went down to this Grizzlies team by 17 points on Sunday so they'll be looking to bounce back. But their inconsistent form at home is a concern as they've now lost 6 of 11 on their home court this season. DeRozan also had a very quiet game for his standards with just 5 points in 25 minutes.
Considering the Grizzlies just beat the Spurs by 17 points at this venue on Sunday, it's tough to back against them. The impressive part about the win was their bench and they looked well rested after a long break from playing. Their defence against DeRozan was also very good and that should be the key in another victory over the inconsistent Spurs on their home court.
Stadium Record
The Spurs have a 4-2 record at home in their last 6 games. The Grizzlies have won 3 of the last 4 at this venue.
Head to Head Record
The two sides met a few days ago and the Grizzlies easily won by 17 pts (129-112).
Best Bet
