The Lakers’ performance this season leaves much to be desired, particularly struggling in the initial halves of their matches.

Our NBA selectors believe that the scoring-hungry Kings might put them in an early hole, with De’Aaron Fox leading the pack.

In a midweek clash between two teams grappling for form in the heart of the Western Conference, the Sacramento Kings collided with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Following the Memphis Grizzlies’ defeat last night, the odds for the Lakers are slightly unfavorable, marked as -1.5 favorites. Can the Kings start achieving some success from last season and alleviate their mid-season woes?

For our best bets on this West Coast showdown between the Kings and the Lakers with free NBA picks for Wednesday, November 15, let’s dive into the Kings vs. Lakers prediction.

The current season has witnessed a rather lackluster performance from the Los Angeles Lakers, with their strength notably lacking in the early stages.

While Anthony Davis is making strides from where he left off last spring (assuming good health), the rest of the team is underperforming, forcing coach Frank Vogel to bench LeBron James for nearly 30 minutes to avoid exceeding his cap.

One area where the Lakers have notably struggled is their slow start, but if they can catch their horses, we might see a turnaround in a moment.

At present, the Sacramento Kings find themselves leading the standings, outpacing the Lakers. Franchise player De’Aaron Fox has played only four games so far, delivering a strong performance against the defensively top-ranked Cavs (number 1 in defensive rating) on Monday night, scoring 132 points in his return.

With Sacramento still above the Lakers in the standings, the return of Fox adds a dynamic element to their game. The Kings led the entire NBA last year, and so far this season, they have maintained a top 10 rating, sidelining their best scorer to a large extent.

Returning to the Lakers, their initial performance hasn’t captured the same allure witnessed in the opening seasons of “Game of Thrones.

The broadcast delay for the Lakers show this season, compared to the first-half broadcast, was a frightening 1-10, which is good for -83.06% ROI. Inspirational material.

The only cover for the Lakers came last night, as they sent the Grizzlies packing in the first 18 minutes, effectively ending the game halfway through – take it with a grain of salt, as Memphis is struggling and injured to start the season. This performance also helped the Lakers climb to 29th place in net rating, ahead of only Memphis.

I won’t dwell too much on the back-to-back obstacle for the Lakers, as both games are at home, and no team has had a significant advantage in the blowout (LeBron played only 23 minutes).

But I feel that the Lakers have been quite harsh in the first part of this season, making them pale in comparison to a better team that quickly racked up a lot of scores and reestablished their turbocharger.
Drawing from the preceding storyline, it appears the Kings are preparing to swiftly notch up points against the Lakers.

The responsibility to lift that burden falls mostly on Fox, whose season average is over 30, and we might see an increase in scoring against the Lakers’ defense, while Domantas Sabonis has wrapped up Davis in a battle for NBA Defensive Player of the Year odds.

However, while Sabonis is sure to clash with Davis, he will get to see more minutes. For tonight’s matchup, both backup bigs, Trey Lyles and Alex Len, have been removed.

Mike Brown will have to dust off his magic wand in the fourth quarter to beat Domas, but against the formidable Davis and skilled backup Christian Wood, don’t expect much overmatching on those fronts. Sabonis averages 12.4 boards this season, putting him above average as a presence in that area.

Broadcast and Over/Under Analysis for Kings vs. Lakers:
As of Wednesday morning, the Lakers sit comfortably in this effective pick as a 1.5-point favorite, which has them excited with their home-court advantage at the Crypto.com Arena.

Some smaller books that opened at -2.5 have distanced themselves from the Lakers, although industry giants DraftKings and FanDuel have jumped into the leapfrog to unanimously set the Kings as 1-point favorites.

The Kings might see some buyback before tip-off, and they could be undervalued in this spot as a significant part of their season has been played without Fox. His numbers are hidden, but it’s challenging to measure the sense of freedom and consistency he has brought to the lineup for other players.

The total sits at 235 in most shops, holding at 234.5 after a significant increase from the opening 232.5 at BetMGM and some other shops.

This makes sense given Sacramento’s reputation as a high-scoring team that plays little defense. Fox’s return breathes life into that mentality, and while the actual value may end up in the total, quick money is worth a bet here.

Trends in Kings vs. Lakers Betting for the Season:

This season, the Lakers are 1-10 against the first-half spread. Explore more NBA betting trends for Kings vs. Lakers.