Chicago and Los Angeles Lakers square off for the second time in six days. Chicago powered to a 146-115 win at Crypto.com Arena last week on the back of 36 points from Coby White, 31 from Matas Buzelis, and a near quadruple-double from Josh Giddey (15 pts, 10 reb, 17 ast, 8 stl).
LeBron James returned in LA Lakers’ next game, a 118-106 loss at Orlando, before they ended a three-game slide with a 120-119 win at Indiana yesterday with James (13 pts, 10 reb, 7 ast) producing a buzzer-beating tip-in to complement a big game from Luka Doncic (34 pts, 7 reb, 7 ast).
LAL are fourth in the West with a 44-28 record; they will still have designs on a top-two finish…but they could fall back to the play-in positions.
Ninth in the East, Chicago (32-40) won their only game since facing LA Lakers, a 129-119 upset at Denver with White (37 pts) leading the way once again.
LA Lakers are just 5-9-2 against the line as an away favourite, while Chicago are averaging an NBA-best 122.5 points on their current 8-2 tear – eight games of which were on the road. Chicago are also 11-6 with a rest advantage.
Western Conference heavyweights Oklahoma City (60-12) and Memphis (44-28) complete their regular-season series at Paycom Center.
Oklahoma City is on an eight-game winning streak against Memphis, including three wins this season by 13-plus margins. Earlier this month Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 41 points and eight assists in a 120-103 road win for OKC.
Oklahoma City have won 14 of their last 15, picking up road victories over LA Clippers (103-101) and Sacramento (121-105) in the past four days.
With Ja Morant missing Memphis’ last five games, they pulled out of a three-game skid with a 140-103 rout of lowly Utah on the road two days ago. Desmond Bane (21 pts) top-scored in a side that had six players tally 15-plus points.
Oklahoma City are $1.19 favourites giving away a double-digit start, but they are 22-12-2 against the line as a home favourite (second-best in the NBA) and their last four home wins came by at least 18 points.
Second-placed Houston (47-26) hit the road to face last-placed Western Conference rivals Utah (16-57).
Utah won the teams’ only clash so far this season, a 124-115 result in Salt Lake City last month. Keyonte George dropped 30 points for Utah, while Alperen Sengun (27 pts, 12 reb) starred for Houston.
But Utah have won just two of 17 games since, losing their last three at home to big guns Boston, Cleveland and Memphis by at least 21 points.
Houston, meanwhile, have won 10 of their last 11, bouncing back from a disappointing 116-111 loss to Jokic-less Denver with a 121-114 defeat of Atlanta two days ago. Jalen Green scored 30-plus points in both.
Utah are marking time until the end of the season, while Houston should take this opportunity for a tune-up and rack up a sizeable win.
Sacramento and Portland complete their regular-season series at Golden 1 Center in a vital clash for both teams’ play-in tournament hopes.
Ninth-placed Sacramento (35-37) are on a four-game slide amid a tough section of their draw, losing to Chicago, Milwaukee, Boston and Oklahoma City – all at home – by an average margin of 13 points over the past week.
Sacramento will be hoping for more from experienced stars Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan.
Portland (32-41) are in better form but time is running out to squeak into the play-in spots. They followed up an impressive four-game tear – including wins over Memphis and Denver – with losses to heavyweights Boston (129-116) and Cleveland (122-111) in the past four days.
Deni Avdija has been in great form for Portland to take some back-court pressure off Anfernee Simons.
Sacramento won the Western Conference rivals’ first encounter at home in October (111-98), but Portland hit back with victories at Moda Center in November (115-106) and February (108-102).
Portland are an enticing straight-up option as a $2.95 underdog, while Sacramento has the second-worst home record against the line (12-22-3) in the NBA this season.