Los Angeles Lakers vs Phoenix Suns Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 26/10/2023, 09:48  by Joseph King | Modified on 26/10/2023 at 10:20 in NBA Predictions

The LA Lakers and Phoenix Suns meet for their second games of the 2023/24 NBA season on Thursday night in Hollywood. Los Angeles dropped the first game of the season 119-107 to the defending champion Denver Nuggets. Jokic and company picked right back up where they left off after sweeping the Lakers out of the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers will now attempt to respond against another one of the West’s expected top teams in the Suns. Los Angeles added depth in the offseason and it certainly showed in game one, despite the loss. Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, Gabe Vincent and Christian Wood all made their debut last night, with the former looking the most impressive. Prince was the team’s second leading scorer at 18 points behind LeBron James’ 21. At 38 years of age, LeBron James is expected to have a reduced load in the regular season as the King played only 29 minutes last night.

Phoenix made a statement win to open their campaign, beating the 2021/22 champion Golden State Warriors by a score of 108-104. The Suns only had two of their ‘big-three’ as Bradley Beal missed out on the season opener with a back injury. The former Washington Wizard shooting guard is expected to miss out again for the trip to LA. Phoenix will also have to deal with the potential absence of Devin Booker as he has been listed as questionable for this encounter. Booker led the way for the Suns in the win over Golden State, pouring in 32 points and dishing out eight assists. It was his playmaking down the stretch and the Suns defense that stole the headlines. Frank Vogel’s team held the high-octane Warriors offense to just 35.6% shooting in their own gym where they won 33 of 41 games last season.