Pinnacle -5½ -105 BET365 -5½ -110 SportsInteraction -5½ -110 BetOnline -5½ -108 Bookmaker -5½ -110

Posted at 5:15 PM EST. 

L.A. LAKERS -5½ over Golden State

10:00 PM EST. Can the Warriors offense score enough to upset the Lakers in the play-in game? A pre-game story in a paper wants to know. Valid question. Since mid-March, Golden State has averaged 1.13 points per possession, which is in Knicks/Spurs territory, but when you take a look at the opposition they played as the regular-season wound down, it looks like a Who’s Who of NBA Bad Defense: Washington, Sacramento, Dallas, Minnesota, New Orleans (three times), Oklahoma City twice, all within their final 14 games since Apr. 21. The Warriors closed out the regular season with six consecutive home wins. They play this on the road, against an opponent that beat them here 117-91 on Feb. 28, then 128-97 here on Mar. 15. Assuming Lebron James and Dennis Schroder are healthy and good to go, the Lakers have the defensive length to hold the Warriors under 100 again, and full offensive capabilities – the latter of which they haven’t had in a while. The line has moved from an opener of Lakers -7 down to its current price. The efficient market has spoken once again and with all things being equal (and in the rebounding department and at the rim, they most certainly are not equal) maybe the efficient market knows something about why things may not equal. We’ll pay to find out.

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