The Luka Doncic era is officially underway in Los Angeles, as the famed Hollywood sign even acknowledged his Lakers debut.
The five-time All-Star finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists in a blowout win over the Utah Jazz on Monday.
Doncic played 24 minutes, while only one Laker played more than 30 minutes in a game that was decided by the fourth quarter.
While fans were exploding with excitement, leave it to sharp bettors to rain on the parade.
For his prop bets, they rightfully pounded Under 26.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists. After all, Doncic had not played in seven weeks after suffering a left calf strain.
Right before tipoff, sideline reporter Mike Trudell shared that the Lakers would monitor Doncic’s minutes and ease into his workload. I had never felt dumber for betting Over a points prop, thinking LeBron James would defer to his new running mate and enable Doncic to light it up.
Doncic made only one of his seven 3-point attempts, so there was a conceivable path to cashing the Over. Nonetheless, I was on the wrong side.
Winning is hard enough, so I am extremely annoyed when my thought process overlooks key angles.
Lakers vs. Jazz odds
| Team | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakers | -8.5 (-114) | -375 | o235 (-110) |
| Jazz | +8.5 (-106) | +300 | u235 (-110) |
These same two teams run it back on Wednesday, but this time in Salt Lake City.
The Lakers are 8.5-point favorites, and I am laying it. Doncic aside, the roster is coming into full form.
Sharpshooter Gabe Vincent finally seems healthy and the same goes for Jarred Vanderbilt. Rui Hachimura also appears much more settled.
In Monday’s loss, the Jazz were embarrassingly lazy to loose balls and disjointed on offense. Missing point guard Collin Sexton has proved much more significant than I originally anticipated.
Betting on the NBA?
Plus, the Lakers’ length is significant and the team is playing rejuvenated basketball with Doncic’s arrival.
The Lakers have a thin frontcourt, but Utah cannot truly exploit it with Isaiah Collier and Jordan Clarkson operating the offense. Collier is young and inept, while Clarkson is more gunner than distributor.
I am backing the Lakers to handle their business professionally and head into the All-Star break by smacking the Jazz and then hosting the lowly Hornets on Thursday.
The Lakers are 17-5 against teams below .500 and are fighting for playoff seeding.
BET: Lakers -8.5 (-110, BetMGM)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Doug Kezirian is a New York Post contributor who currently serves as the Chief Content Officer for Only Players, a sports betting media company. Doug has over two decades of experience in the betting space, including spending 11 years at ESPN as a host, columnist and betting analyst. He’s also the rare personality who has documented success – 14th place in 2023 Circa Million and Las Vegas SuperContest ($37K), two top-10 finishes in 2022 William Hill College Football Challenge ($58K) and also grabbed headlines with a $297K win on the 2021 NFL Draft.
