Lakers @ Suns Predictions: Suns -200 for the win

In perhaps the most interesting game of the night, the Los Angeles Lakers will take on the Phoenix Suns with the series tied at two with the Suns being a five-point favorite.

Perhaps the biggest storyline coming in is that Anthony Davis is doubtful after suffering a groin injury in Game 4. On the other side of that, Chris Paul scored 18 points in Game 4 after the shoulder injury visibly bothered his shot in the first three, scoring less seven or less in those games.

This puts the Lakers in a very weird spot. The Lakers could feel that they had Phoenix where they wanted them before Davis went down. LeBron James will now how to go full alpha mode, similar to some of those vintage Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers performances.

I know Montrezl Harrell is talented, but the style the Lakers run has made it almost impossible to get on the floor. He got Coach’s Decision DNPs in the first two games and played a little less than five minutes in Game 4.

Marc Gasol has looked like the better option than Andre Drummond at the moment for the Lakers. He has a better feeling when out there with LeBron, while the play designs have been far less creative when it’s been Drummond out there.

On the other side, Drummond has been getting toasted by Deandre Ayton. After averaging 14 points per game in the regular season, Ayton stock is higher than ever after scoring 21 in Game 1 and 22 in both Game 2 and Game 3.

While Ayton went back to his average of 14 in Phoenix’s Game 4 win, he wasn’t called upon to do as much. His free-throw percentage has concerned me, but he’s been so efficient from the field, currently shooting 80 percent while averaging 13.5 points per game.

When everyone picked the Lakers, it was primarily because of LeBron and AD, and the fact that Drummond would outplay Ayton, but that hasn’t been the case.

The Lakers will be relying on guys like Dennis Schroeder and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope more than ever. Similar to what I talked about in my article about Denver this evening, some of those guys will have to play outside of themselves for the Lakers to not find themselves facing elimination heading back to the Staples Center.

It’s one of the more expensive lines, but I’m taking Phoenix -200 to win and putting it in a parlay with the under in the Celtics-Nets game.