NBA 2021/22 on Monday, 03/14/2022
The NBA duel between the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers represents a must-see for every basketball fan – even if the guests are nowhere near as good as they were two years ago when they clinched the title!
Nevertheless, LeBron James is still worth his ticket money! However, I expect the home side to tame The King. A low-scoring game is the focus in my Suns Lakers tip here!
LeBron James has done it again! Just as Michael Jordan defied gravity, the icon is currently defying age. Because in yesterday’s 122-109 win over the Wizards, The King cracked the 50-point mark for the second time in a week!
Incidentally, this represents a new record. Because James is the first over 35-year-old NBA player in history who has cracked this mark in several games at once! That alone shows how extraordinary his performance was.
Nevertheless, we must not let this blind us. Because the Lakers are miles behind their expectations. With a negative record of (29-37), it’s not even clear if the Californians will even participate in the playoffs.
The overall winners from two years ago continue to struggle as a collective.
Bottom line, Los Angeles has thus won only two of its last eight NBA games! Incidentally, these are exactly the two games against Wizards and Warriors in which LeBron James broke the 50-point barrier!
However, when The King had an “excellent” evening and scored around 30 points, it was never enough to win! Meanwhile, against the defensively stout Suns, his teammates are not expected to go above and beyond.
The Suns recently had to do without Chris Paul and Devin Booker at the same time! Accordingly, the Arizonans have not been quite as dominant as we know them to be lately – “only” six wins out of the last ten games!
But in the meantime, at least Devin Booker is back, who once again made the difference in the win over the Heat (111:90). However, this was immediately followed by a somewhat surprising 112-117 loss to the Raptors.
Still, there’s no reason to sound the alarm! Because with already seven wins ahead of second place, it is not to be assumed shortly before the start of the playoffs that the Black Violets will take too many more risks.
Just because the Suns don’t have to win every game anymore, I’m holding off on a win bet tonight! Nevertheless, the almost same Defenisv corset will be on the parquet, which already held the Lakers in check in the last duel.
Against the Raptors were namely Booker, Ayton, Bridges, Crowder and Payne in the starting five. Except for Paul for Payne, by the way, this is the same formation that held the Lakers well under 100 points in December.
By the way: In the aforementioned 108-90 win for the Arizonans, LeBron James still scored 34 points that night! Chris Paul’s absence on the Suns’ side, meanwhile, will mean we can expect even more of a low-scoring game this time around
Because CP3 is the assist machine of the NBA, irreplaceable especially in the Suns’ playmaking! His absence will mean that the offensive potential of the Arizonans will not be able to unfold as usual.
By the way: The German betting providers trade a home win of last year’s NBA Finals participant at an unsurprising 1.26. A success of the Californians, on the other hand, is offered at about 3.90.
Summary: LeBron James is in outstanding form! Breaking the 50-point mark twice at the tender age of 37 – and doing it in the span of one week? Insane!
However, even The King won’t get very far tonight. Because the Suns’ defense is phenomenal! They were able to hold the Californian offense to well under 100 points in their last duel.
But I also expect problems for the Black and Violets on the way forward. Chris Paul is the linchpin of the home side’s offense and he will be out tonight due to injury.
My Suns Lakers tip : Under 234.5 points!
