Things are looking bleak for the reigning champs. Already playing without All-Star Anthony Davis, the injury-depleted Lakers were dealt another blow Saturday, losing LeBron James to a high-ankle sprain. The early expectation is that LeBron, a four-time champion and last year’s Finals MVP, will miss “several weeks.” To reflect James’ injury, the Lakers’ championship odds have predictably shifted with many prominent sportsbooks (SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas among them) now installing the scorching-hot Brooklyn Nets as title favorites.
Taking the court with a starting five of Marcus Morris, Kyle Kuzma, Dennis Schroder, Wesley Matthews and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the Lakers trailed for all but 32 seconds of Sunday’s loss to Phoenix, dropping them to third in the Western Conference with the Clippers, Denver and Portland all in hot pursuit. Davis, out since mid-February with a strained calf, seems likely to return before James, though neither appear particularly close to suiting up.
The postseason is still two months away, allowing the Lakers plenty of time to get healthy before their playoff push. Still, it’s hard to ignore Brooklyn’s performance over the past month, winning 15 of its last 17 games despite Kevin Durant missing most of that stretch with a bad hamstring.
Per ESPN betting expert David Purdum, James Harden has seen his MVP odds skyrocket to 10-1 at William Hill Sportsbook, a noted improvement from the miserable, 100-1 odds he faced earlier this year. Injuries to James and Joel Embiid have had a significant impact on the MVP race with Nuggets star Nikola Jokic now in the driver’s seat as an overwhelming +110-favorite to win the award. William Hill lists James and Embiid at +450 and +600, respectively.
With six-time All-Star Blake Griffin coming off the bench (he dunked for the first time in almost two years Sunday versus Washington), Brooklyn is as deep a team as you’ll find in the NBA. The Nets, who haven’t reached the Finals since 2003 (they made their home in East Rutherford back then), still can’t play a lick of defense (26th out of 30 teams in points allowed), but with their overflowing well of offensive talent, that deficiency might not matter.
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