The Charlotte Hornets and Los Angeles Lakers headline the first night of NBA action following the all-star break.
The pregame narrative: I'm bullish on the Lakers for the rest of the season and I'm taking them to cover an alternate spread in their first game back. I also have picks on Luka Doncic and LaMelo Ball in this +325 SGP.
Check out my Hornets vs. Lakers same-game parlay predictions for Feb. 19.
Hornets vs. Lakers predictions
Parlay: Lakers -9.5 | Doncic 3+ threes | Ball over 10.5 rebounds/assists (+325)
Lakers -9.5 (-220): I don't know if it's the hype surrounding the Lakers' trade for Doncic or their recent play, but I'm buying in.
- Since Jan. 21, L.A. is 10-2 with a +12.3 average point differential.
- The Lakers covered this spread in 6/10 of those wins.
Fans haven't seen the full potential of the Doncic and LeBron James duo yet, either.
Doncic played just 23 minutes in each of his first two games with the Lakers. The all-star break gave the Slovenian superstar extra time to settle into his new home while getting back to peak fitness.
The Hornets are 2-11 in their last 13 and 13-39 overall. I feel good buying some extra points in favour of the Lakers.
SGP legs
Doncic 3+ threes (-195): Even in Doncic's lacklustre 16-point performance against the Utah Jazz, he was able to drain three triples.
That exemplifies his sky-high floor as one of the NBA's highest-volume shooters.
Even in a year filled with injuries, Doncic averages 3.3 threes on 9.5 attempts per game. In 46 minutes through two starts with the Lakers, he has attempted 15 threes.
The hope here is Doncic has a slight uptick in minutes as his conditioning improves. But he's capable of clearing this line even with a reduced workload.
Ball over 10.5 rebounds/assists (-143): To start, Ball averages 12.3 rebounds/assists, which is obviously above the number I'm looking for Wednesday.
Ball has dealt with an ankle injury that forced him out in the first quarter in two of his last three starts. But he's had the entire all-star break to tend to the issue.
If Ball is good to go on Wednesday, I expect big minutes. If he's ruled out, this leg will be void and there's no harm.
In the past eight games where he's played more than 20 minutes, he is averaging 14.4 RA and has cleared this mark seven times.
On Jan. 27, Ball played just nine minutes against the Lakers. He went 4-1 against this line in five previous meetings with L.A.
Picks made at 2:18 p.m. ET on 02/18/2025.
