Suns @ Lakers Predictions: Suns to win the 1st Quarter

In the night cap, we have LeBron James and the Los Angeles returning to the Staples Center, looking to avoid elimination at the hands of Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns.

I’m curious to see how this game does in terms of TV ratings, as LeBron elimination games tends to draw much more interest and eyeballs than a Utah-Memphis elimination game, no offense to either of those teams. Jazz Twitter, please don’t come after me.

Obviously, LeBron looking to avoid elimination on his home court, the storyline that’s just as big is the health of Anthony Davis. Davis suffered a groin injury in Game 4 and missed Game 5 to said injury. He is listed as a game-time decision for Game 6.

Even if Davis is able to suit up, how much of an impact will he have? Groin strains injuries tend to linger and will make jumping and lateral movements more difficult. I think he could still have a similar impact on the offensive end, but LA’s cheat code has been sliding Davis to the five and letting him be a helpside defense guy.

Phoenix came out on fire in Game 5 and it really was never a game.

I think Phoenix looks to do the same thing tonight. Chris Paul wants to get the best of his buddy LeBron and he smells blood in the water with this Lakers team. In addition to Davis’ injury, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope left Game 5 with knee soreness after sitting out Game 4.

We saw what happened when Dennis Schroder had to step up and be the No. 2 or No. 3 option; he scored zero points in 25 minutes on the floor on 0-for-9 shooting. If Schroder can’t get at least 15 for the Lakers, they’re cooked. You can’t rely on Andre Drummond or Marc Gasol to be your No. 2 option facing elimination.

Like I said above, I think Paul looks to push the pace, despite being No. 26 in the league in the regular season. In earlier pieces, I’ve said the playoffs often comes down to players playing outside of themselves. Phoenix’s Deandre Ayton and Cam Payne have been doing exactly that this series.

I think that’s part of the brilliance of Paul. He’s going to look to get guys like Ayton and Payne going and confident early, but will likely turn to the reliable Booker late.

My pick: Phoenix Suns 1Q +105.

LeBron is going to do the same as Paul; look to get his supporting cast going early and then taking things into his hands late in the game.

If you’re looking for a prop for this game, I’d recommend LeBron’s under 8.5 assists. If AD can’t go or is limited to 25-30 minutes, James will be relying on a supporting cast that did next to nothing to help him in the last game.

You can get it at -110 at BetMGM and PointsBet, and -121 at BetMGM, BetRivers and Unibet.