Basketball betting on Christmas Day is highlighted by the game on ABC as the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant host LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Lakers are favored in this premier NBA betting matchup. Here is a look at some of the trends and stats for this matchup on Friday between the Cavaliers and Lakers.
Basketball betting has the Cavaliers completing a four-game road trip while the Lakers are playing the finale of a brief two-game homestand. In this basketball betting series, the Cavaliers have actually won six of the last ten meetings and they are 6-4 against the NBA betting odds. The teams met twice last basketball betting season and the Lakers won big both times. They won at Cleveland by a score of 101-91 and they won at Staples Center by a score of 105-88 in basketball betting. The Cavaliers had won the previous five games between the two teams. The last four games between the two teams have gone under in and overall, eight of the last ten have gone under the basketball betting total.
Cleveland has been a much better basketball betting team on the road than at home. The Cavs have a bad record laying points at home but on the road they have been okay in NBA betting. Cleveland has the fourth best defense in the basketball betting league and that helps them on the road. Their offense is suspect other than LeBron James and Mo Williams so they have a hard time covering big basketball betting numbers.
The Lakers are the best team in the NBA in terms of straight up records. They are just about .500 though at home versus the basketball betting line. The Lakers are always laying points at home and sometimes that proves to be difficult. Los Angeles is 7th best in the basketball betting league in scoring which is well above Cleveland’s mark. They are also 5th in the league in defense and that is right with the Cavaliers as NBA betting statistics indicated.
This basketball betting matchup will be billed as Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James but the Lakers simply have more weapons on offense and defense than the Cavaliers. Unless Shaquille O’Neal discovers his old self for this homecoming to Los Angeles, the Lakers are probably going to get another home win.