The Los Angeles Lakers haven’t had much rest lately. Winning the NBA in-season tournament on Saturday was a big deal, but it has come at a cost: LeBron James sat out the second leg of a back-to-back set on Wednesday, and now Anthony Davis may sit out their third game in four days tonight. Let’s dive into the most recent Anthony Davis injury update for Wednesday to discuss his odds of playing and a player prop pick. If you’re hungry for more action, check out our NBA betting promos!
Anthony Davis Injury Update: Is Los Angeles’ Star Playing Tonight?
Is Anthony Davis Playing for Los Angeles Tonight?
The Los Angeles Lakers have some difficult personnel decisions to make tonight. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are both questionable as they enter a particularly grueling spot in their schedule. The Lakers just played a back-to-back set on Tuesday and Wednesday, meaning they’ll now play their third game in four days.
The silver lining for Los Angeles is that the squad won’t have to play again until next Monday, but that doesn’t change the fact Davis has played 116 minutes over the last six days. Davis has only been held out of one game so far this year, but we’ve usually seen his minutes managed a bit better when the Lakers find themselves in spots like this one.
So is Anthony Davis playing tonight? I doubt it, and if he does suit up, I don’t expect to see another 37-plus-minute performance. The fact the Lakers held out LeBron for just the second time this year on Wednesday means sitting a superstar like Davis is very much on the coach staff’s mind.
Davis’ heavy workload has corresponded to plenty of scoring. The power forward has racked up point totals of 41, 37 and 37 through his last three appearances, also tailing a double-double each time he saw the floor.
I’m skeptical of Davis’ availability tonight, and so are the sportsbooks. The Lakers are still trading as a 7.5-point favorite over the beleaguered San Antonio Spurs, but few books are taking action on Davis’ player props, with most settling with just offering props for LeBron James. You’ll find Davis’ points prop set to 25.5 on the two books where it is offered. Meanwhile, LeBron — who is also questionable — owns a points prop of 27.5 across the market. LeBron is averaging only 25.3 points per game this year but scored just 18 points in a blowout loss to the Houston Rockets without Davis earlier in the year.
LeBron James Player Prop Pick
How much stock should we put into LeBron’s poor performance against the Rockets without Davis? Not much. LeBron averaged 34.5 points per game without Davis last year to go with 8.4 rebounds and 7.3 assists, including a 39-point, 11-rebound and 3-assist showing against the San Antonio Spurs.
I locked in LeBron to go over 27.5 points at odds of -106 via FanDuel. Every other book had it at -113 or worse. I expect this line to get bid up heavily once Davis is announced as out. Even if he isn’t ruled out, LeBron is much fresher and should see a larger share of both minutes and usage.
LeBron James Player Prop Pick:
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