Los Angeles Lakers (13-4) at Cleveland Cavaliers (8-8)
The return of LeBron James to his face former team and hometown is the major storyline here as the Lakers look for their 14th win. They're coming off a thrashing of the Bulls after they led 63-33 at the half and that gave the Lakers the chance to give their starters a breather. Especially after a tough win over the Bucks previously. So the Cavs defence will need to be ready for a fired up LeBron or this could get ugly!
After a couple of solid wins over the Nets, the Cavaliers came crashing back to Earth in a shocking 38 point loss to the Celtics in Boston on Monday. They couldn't stop Jaylen Brown who scored 33 points in 19 minutes. While on offence, the Cavs shot just 40% from the field and despite a good matchup, Andre Drummond had a poor outing.
The LeBron factor should be too much for the Cavs struggling defence in what should be a huge outing for their former star. Lakers also have a 5-2 ATS against the Cavs and have covered in their last 5 road games.
Stadium Record
The Cavs are 7-3 in their last 10 home games. The Lakers hold a 1-4 record at this venue, however most of those games would've been against LeBron.
Head to Head Record
The Lakers won last season's meeting, 128-99.
Best Bet
Denver Nuggets (9-7) at Dallas Mavericks (8-8)
A slow start to the season is in the rear view mirror for the in-form Nuggets after 3 straight victories. They beat the Suns twice in OT in Phoenix and should be confident once again on the road to Dallas. Jokic continued his stellar form with 29 points against the Suns last time out and Murray also added 26 pts. His matchup with Doncic will be something to monitor in this clash as well.
With injuries crippling the Mavericks at the moment, they went down to the Rockets 133-108 in their last game. Doncic led the Mavericks as usual with 26 pts but they really missed a presence on Cousins (28 pts). The good news is that Porzingis is expected back from injury and he'll be tasked with stopping Jokic on a dodgy knee, good luck!
At the moment, the Mavericks front court is severly undermanned due to injury and that's likely going to hurt them against the Nuggets and the likes of Jokic. The Serbian hasn't scored under 25 points in his last 4 games and we can't see Dallas stopping him either. So get on Jokic to continue his 25+ pt streak on Tuesday.
Stadium Record
Dallas hold a 2-4 record in their last 6 home games. The Nuggets have a poor record in Dallas with just 3 wins in their last 11.
Head to Head Record
The Mavericks beat the Nuggets 124-117 earlier this month. But since 2018, the Nuggets are 6-4.
Best Bet
Oklahoma City Thunder (6-9) at Portland Trail Blazers (9-6)
The Thunder's road-trip continues on Tuesday as they head to Portland looking to break a 3 game losing streak. Previously, they lost 2 straight against the Clippers in LA and also were no match for the Nuggets in Denver (119-101). The key for success will start with PG Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who's scored 23 and 30 pts in back to back games. But he simply needs more help from his team-mates scoring wise to ease the pressure.
Damian Lillard led the Trail Blazers to victory on Monday with 39 points against the Knicks as Portland secured an important close win, 116-113. With SG CJ McCollum sidelined for the next month, the Trail Blazers hopes will ride with Lillard and their bench overcoming the loss of CJ and also the injured Nurkic at Centre.
With both sides missing key players through injury, this feels like it should be a low scoring affair. The Trail Blazers will also be coming off a back to back and hold a 4-2 Unders record in their last 6 games. The Thunder also have a 8-4 Under record on the road and 6-3 at this venue.
Stadium Record
The Trail Blazers have won 5 of their 9 home games this season. Meanwhile, the Thunder are 1-4 at this venue in their last 5.
Head to Head Record
Portland hold a 6-4 record since 2019 but the Thunder won the last meeting, 119-106.
Best Bet
