Raptors vs Lakers

NBA odds, picks, and predictions for the Toronto Raptors at Los Angeles Lakers on March 10. NBA betting best bet and free pick analysis.

Offensively, the Raptors still struggle in the half-court, and the Lakers continue to be a subpar shooting team. The Raptors are ninth and the Lakers rank first in defensive rating over the last 10 games. They’ll slow this game down and make the Lakers play at their pace. The Raptors and Lakers have similar mediocre records, but both sides are playing better basketball since the trade deadline. The total hit the board at 224.5 and that is where it remains as of Friday afternoon. Over the last 10 games, both teams boast a Top 10 defensive rating while also ranking in the bottom third of offensive rating. In what should be a close matchup, I would lean toward the Raps. ranks 23rd in the NBA when it comes to opponent scoring in the paint this season. [Los Angeles Lakers](https://www.covers.com/sport/basketball/nba/teams/main/los-angeles-lakers) team that has been getting beat up down low. In 10 games as a starter with the Raps, the big man is averaging 15.6 points per game on 72.3% shooting. They dropped a 118-113 decision to the Nuggets which featured the latest Scott Foster performance piece, and followed that up with a 108-100 loss to the Clippers on Wednesday night. The Toronto Raptors aren’t feeling too happy lately.

Things are looking bleak after a 1-3 start to the trip.

The final 92 seconds of game time took 16 minutes and 15 seconds of actual time to play. His last game against the Raptors came in May of 2021, when Kyle Lowry was still a Raptor! And I’d like to issue a hearty “fuck off” to those folks. That’s 16 minutes spent watching a basketball game where no one scored a basket, and the outcome was not decided by anyone actually playing basketball. There were seven fouls called in total, plus Scottie Barnes’ technical foul and ejection, in those 92 seconds; there were also two coach’s challenges and the accompanying video reviews. Can I get my thoughts out of the way first though?

The latest Toronto Raptors injury report against the Los Angeles Lakers shows that Fred VanVleet is healthy and LeBron James is not.

Center Mo Bamba is not as fortunate, however, as he will miss a month with his own ankle sprain. March 16 vs. March 14 vs. The Raptors risk potentially slipping out of the play-in picture with a few more rank performances. Otto Porter Jr, as always, remains out with his season-ending injury. Having said that, the Lakers are banged up right now.

The Toronto Raptors cap a five-game road trip tonight at Crypto.com Arena, where they'll face the Los Angeles Lakers.

At around 30 minutes per night for the Raptors, Poeltl has a good chance to hit the over. Given that he’s also failed to hit the over so far with Russell, we’re happy to fade him in a tough matchup. [ NBA odds ](https://online.northstarbets.ca/page?key=ej0xMzUzNDc2MiZsPTEzNTM0OTEwJnA9MTc2OTk%3D) as of 12:08 p.m. [ Poeltl to record a double-double (+150) ](https://online.northstarbets.ca/page?key=ej0xMzUzNDc2MiZsPTEzNTM0OTEwJnA9MTcxMjc%3D&utm_source=thestar&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=NorthStarBetsawareness2023_NorthStarBets_&utm_content=custom/tracking_textlink): We’re reaching for some value here, and it might not sound super enticing with the knowledge that Poeltl only has two double-doubles as a Raptor (11 games). And speaking of Poeltl, he’s got some interesting value on his double-double prop tonight. [ Poeltl over 12.5 points (-121) ](https://online.northstarbets.ca/page?key=ej0xMzUzNDc2MiZsPTEzNTM0OTEwJnA9MTcxMjc%3D&utm_source=thestar&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=NorthStarBetsawareness2023_NorthStarBets_&utm_content=custom/tracking_textlink): Poeltl is coming off a rare inefficient night, in which he shot just 4-of-8, but that isn’t enough to deter us from backing the big man.