LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers make their lone visit to Madison Square Garden this season as they take on another marquee NBA franchise in the New York Knicks.
James and Anthony Davis both sat out last night’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets, but they should be ready and well-rested to put on a show in the Big Apple as they continue their playoff push.
Meanwhile, Giannis Antetokounmpo – fresh off his second 50-point game of the season – will be looking to deliver another big game when his Milwaukee Bucks host the Charlotte Hornets, who handed Giannis and co. one of their worst defeats of the season.
Read on below as SBOTOP previews all five games on the upcoming NBA schedule.
Miami Heat @ Cleveland Cavaliers
The Miami Heat saw their three-game winning streak come to an end as they were stung by the lowly Charlotte Hornets. Despite a great game by Jimmy Butler (28 points on 11-14 FG) as well as a mostly complete lineup, the Heat simply had no answers defensively.
The Heat will have to tighten up their defence as they visit the dangerous Cavaliers, who just rained down 20 3-pointers in a 122-99 win over the short-handed Clippers.
The Cavs have been struggling with consistency of late as they’ve gone just 6-7 in their last 13 games. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell has gone cold of late as he’s averaging just 15 points over his last four games, but he’s bound to heat up at any time.
Los Angeles Lakers @ New York Knicks
The Lakers can’t seem to gain ground in the Western Conference playoff race. They remain 13th in the West at 23-28 after losing three of their last four games. They lost last night 121-104 to the Brooklyn Nets as both LeBron James and Anthony Davis sat out the first night of their back-to-back.
But the two superstars should be ready to take on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. James, who is closing in on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record, is coming off a 41-point performance in the Lakers’ close overtime loss to the Celtics. He also dropped 46 points in a losing effort recently against the Clippers.
Meanwhile, Davis is doing well on his return from injury. He is averaging 18.5 points and 11 rebounds in his first two games back.
The Lakers will look to get back to winning ways against the Knicks, who are also struggling as they’ve lost five of their last seven games. After good wins against the Cavs and Celtics, they lost to the neighbouring Nets 122-115 last time out.
Jalen Brunson has had an unbelievable January, averaging 28 points on 46 per cent shooting on 3-pointers for the month. Julius Randle and RJ Barrett have also been in fine form for the Knicks.
LA Clippers @ Chicago Bulls
The Clippers are finally coming on strong. Prior to their heavy loss to the Cavs, which they played without either Kawhi Leonard or Paul George, the Clippers had won a season-high five games in a row.
The outstanding play of Kawhi and PG-13 has been a big factor in the Clips’ fine run of NBA 2023 results. Leonard is averaging 27 points on nearly 55 per cent shooting this January and has scored 24 or more points in 10 straight games.
The Clippers could be significantly shorthanded with John Wall out and Reggie Jackson, Marcus Morris and Robert Covington all questionable, so Kawhi and George may need to carry a heavy offensive load against the Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls have been up and down for several weeks now. They are 9-7 in their last 16 games, alternating winning streaks and losing streaks. After two bad losses to the Pacers and Hornets, they bounced back with a blowout win over the Magic.
The dynamic duo of DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine had 32 points apiece to lead the way. The two are playing their best basketball of the season and are averaging a combined 54 points per game in January.
Betting Tip: LA Clippers Asian Handicap -3.00 @ 1.92
Charlotte Hornets @ Milwaukee Bucks
Giannis Antetokounmpo is on another tear at the moment. He dropped 50 points against the New Orleans Pelicans to lead the Bucks to their fourth win in a row and sixth in their last seven games.
After missing five games with knee soreness, Giannis has returned to average 38.3 points and 12.8 rebounds during that four-game win streak.
Giannis is listed as probable to face the Charlotte Hornets, which will give him a chance to avenge Milwaukee’s 138-109 defeat in their first meeting. The Bucks surrendered an NBA-record 51 points in the first quarter of that game as Giannis had his worst performance of the season with just 9 points and 4 rebounds in 22 minutes.
Betting Tip: Milwaukee Bucks Asian Handicap -11.50 @ 1.87
New Orleans Pelicans @ Denver Nuggets
The Pelicans have fallen precipitously. After flying high atop the West early in the season, the Pels are now down in the play-in tournament amid an eight-game losing skid. While Brandon Ingram has returned from his toe injury, All-Star Zion Williamson is still not back from his hamstring issue.
Ingram and CJ McCollum both missed their blowout loss to the Bucks last time out, but the two are expected to return to the lineup, which should be a massive boost. McCollum is averaging nearly 25 points and over 5 assists per game in January amid the absences of Ingram and Williamson.
However, the NBA 2023 odds will not favour the Pelicans to end their long losing skid in Denver as they take on a Nuggets team that is 22-4 at home this season.
Denver still lead the West despite a two-game losing streak against the Bucks and Sixers. Reigning two-time MVP Nikola Jokic missed the game at Milwaukee and was out-duelled by Joel Embiid in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, point guard Jamal Murray, who is averaging 23.6 points on 50 per cent shooting in his last five games, is listed as day-to-day.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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