The Los Angeles Lakers are underdogs to make the NBA playoffs following the latest LeBron James update.
James originally suffered a right foot injury Saturday vs. the Dallas Mavericks. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Tuesday that James will be reassessed in two weeks, adding the timeline to return is "expected to extend beyond that checkpoint."
The 29-32 Lakers are the No. 12 seed in the Western Conference entering Tuesday.
With only 21 games left and James on the shelf, the Lakers are -290 at FanDuel Sportsbook to miss the playoffs and +225 to make the playoffs.
It's a big blow for a franchise that, despite missing out on Kyrie Irving at the Trade Deadline, made a bevy of moves at the Trade Deadline for the stretch run.
"If I adjust for the Lakers’ roster additions at the deadline and then for James’ absence, my projections have the Lakers finishing with 38 wins and in 13th place in the Western Conference if James doesn’t return" said our own NBA senior writer Matt Moore (check out his full analysis here).
The Lakers have unsurprisingly struggled this season in 14 games without James – they're 5-9 straight up and have recorded just four wins against the spread.
Overall, the Lakers have been a bad bet to cover in 2022-23, going 29-31-1 (48.3%) against the spread.
Using Tankathon.com, the Lakers have the fifth-easiest schedule from here on out. That stretch begins tonight on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Lakers are sizable underdogs Tuesday. They've scuffled as visitors, recording a 14-17-1 mark against the spread.
Be sure to visit our live NBA odds page to keep track of daily spreads and totals, and check out our free prediction tonight vs. the Grizzlies here.
