The Daily Sweat: Lakers look to lock up playoff berth as NBA play-in tournament begins
Who’s ready for some postseason basketball?
The NBA playoffs begin on Tuesday night with the first two games of the play-in tournament. In the East, the No. 7 seed Miami Heat will host the No. 8 seed Atlanta Hawks while the No. 7 seed Los Angeles Lakers host the No. 8 seed Minnesota Timberwolves out West.
Let’s start out west as the Lakers have ballooned from a 5.5-point favorite to an 8.5-point favorite at BetMGM after a drama-filled weekend for the Wolves. Rudy Gobert, Minnesota’s star center, is suspended for the game after throwing a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson on Sunday. On top of that, forward Jaden McDaniels broke his hand by punching a wall. That means two starters won’t be available to play.
The Lakers, meanwhile, closed out the regular season by winning nine of their last 11 games. With LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the lineup, the Lakers are awfully tough to beat. The trade deadline acquisition of D’Angelo Russell has added to the Lakers’ scoring punch. The team has also been defending at a high level.
But can they cover 8.5 points? The Lakers have been favored by eight or more points five times this season. They are 3-2 ATS and the over is 4-1. The total for Tuesday night’s game is 232.
If the Lakers win as expected, they will move on to face the No. 2 seed Memphis Grizzlies. The loser will host the winner of the other West play-in game — the New Orleans Pelicans vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder — in an elimination game on Friday night.
And in the earlier matchup, Miami is favored by 5.5 points with the total listed at 227.5 at BetMGM.
It’s been an up-and-down season for the Heat, but this is a team filled with postseason experience — particularly with Jimmy Butler and head coach Erik Spoelstra. The Hawks made it to the Eastern Conference Finals back in 2021 but have barely hovered above the .500 mark since. Trae Young had an incredible run through the postseason for Atlanta back in 2021, but struggled mightily last year.
From a betting perspective, these are two of the worst against-the-spread teams in the NBA. The Hawks are 36-45-1 ATS. Miami is even worse, tied with the Dallas Mavericks for the league’s worst ATS mark at 30-49-3. Miami has been particularly bad as a home favorite, going just 11-23-2 ATS during the regular season. The Hawks have performed reasonably well as an underdog, going 14-12-1 ATS as a road dog.
The winner will hold onto the No. 7 seed to set up a first-round matchup with the Boston Celtics. The loser won’t be eliminated just yet. The loser will then face the winner of Wednesday’s meeting between the Toronto Raptors (the No. 9 seed) and the Chicago Bulls (the No. 10 seed) in a win-or-go-home game on Friday night.
Busy night in MLB as Rays go for 11-0
The story of the early part of the Major League Baseball season has been the Tampa Bay Rays, who improved to 10-0 with a 1-0 win over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night.
It’s a historic start to the season for the Rays, who are chasing the major-league record held by the 1982 Atlanta Braves and 1987 Milwaukee Brewers. Both of those teams opened their seasons with 13 consecutive victories.
In Game 2 of a four-game set with the Red Sox, the Rays will look to keep the streak rolling with Shane McClanahan on the mound. McClanahan has allowed only four hits and two earned runs in 12 innings pitched so far this season. The Rays are -175 favorites at BetMGM.
The Rays-Red Sox matchup is one of 15 games on the schedule for Tuesday, so there’s plenty to sort through.
NHL regular season winding down
The NHL regular season will come to a close on Friday and there are still a few teams fighting for postseason positioning.
There are 10 games on the schedule for Tuesday, including a matchup between two of the best teams in the Western Conference — the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche. The Avs are the home team but are actually slight underdogs, listed at +100 at BetMGM. The Oilers, who have won seven straight and 12 of their last 13, are -120.
What's the best bet?
I'll take the over 232 in the Lakers-Wolves game. The Wolves will be significantly worse on defense without Gobert and McDaniels in the lineup. I also think the Wolves, despite a depleted lineup, will be plenty motivated to go out and put up a spirited effort after such a tumultuous weekend. Even after all of that drama, the Wolves managed to get the win on Sunday.
