The Phoenix Suns are looking to avenge a 100-95 defeat to the LA Lakers from the opening week of the NBA season as the teams meet up for a rematch at the Valley tonight. I’ve prepared a Same Game Parlay for the game, which tips off at 10:00 pm ET on ESPN.
Don’t forget to check out our NBA predictions for all of Friday’s 9-game slate, but now let’s dive into my SGP bet!
The Lakers haven’t had the start to the season they hoped for, to put it mildly. They have been slowed down by injuries, with several rotational players being in and out of the lineup, and Anthony Davis now struggling with a groin issue. In 8 games played they’ve been outscored by a total of 74 points in the 1st quarter, which is the worst mark through 8 games in NBA history. Three-point shooting has also been a disaster, and they have become the first team in NBA history to have a lower percentage and fewer threes made than their opponents in each of their first 8 outings.
On top of all that they are way too dependent on 38-year old LeBron James. In 116 non-LeBron minutes they are -87 on the +/-, while with him on the court they are +29. They beat Phoenix 100-95 earlier in the year, but that game was played at Crypto.com Arena. Kevin Durant and co. are coming back home from a 3-game road trip which ended with 2 wins. Devin Booker will likely sit this one out, but there’s a chance that Bradley Beal plays. The Lakers are just a hot mess right now and I really like the Suns’ chances.
Friday’s NBA mega parlay has +1868 odds!
Austin Reaves had only 10 points in the win over Phoenix earlier in the season, but since then he’s shown improvement in his play, elevating his scoring average from just 10 points per game in October to 16.3 in November. In the loss to Houston he scored only 7 points on a bad shooting night, but a bounce-back performance could be in the cards.
He’s had 20+ points in 2 of his last 3 against the Suns and with Anthony Davis most likely sitting this one out, he should get way more than the 9 shots he took against the Rockets. Phoenix has also been trending in the wrong direction when it comes to defending the 3-ball, allowing teams to shoot 38.4% against them in their last 3 games. They give up 9.6% more threes at home than they do on the road, so maybe that’s something Reaves can work with.
Check out my Nets vs Celtics Same Game Parlay
