The marquee matchup for opening day of the 2025 NBA playoffs on Saturday pits the No. 3 Los Angeles Lakers in opposition to the No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Enviornment, and we have assembled three skilled participant prop picks for this highly-anticipated showdown.
Listed below are the three participant prop picks to think about, together with an OVER on 6.5 assists for the legendary LeBron James (-136) on April 19.
Sequence Preview: No. 3 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves
Sport Preview: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 8:30 p.m. ET
LeBron James OVER 6.5 Assists vs. Timberwolves (-136 at FanDuel)
The LeBron James period remains to be ongoing for the purple and gold, however the highlight has shifted to not simply being on him now that Luka Doncic has gone Hollywood (via no selection of his personal, thoughts you). We have witnessed what Doncic is able to in opposition to the Timberwolves within the 2024 Western Convention finals, famously drilling a game-winning 3-pointer over the outstretched arm of Rudy Gobert in Sport 2 on the Goal Heart whereas scoring 32 or extra factors in 4 of the 5 encounters. That is the Doncic everybody anticipates seeing 11 months later, this time in Lakers colours, however we will not merely neglect about James on this equation after the numbers he simply produced on the age of 40.
The perfect-case state of affairs for Los Angeles is for James to take extra of a backseat to Doncic, particularly early. Father Time is undefeated, it doesn’t matter what James’ longevity would make you consider, so ought to the Lakers have true aspirations of capturing a championship, James cannot be drained after the primary spherical and count on to keep up a excessive stage over the following month or two. That is why his assists prop is so alluring, as a result of if the scoring falls upon Doncic to ship, and even Austin Reaves to a lesser extent, James will be concentrate on operating the offense and creating scoring possibilities for his teammates, whether or not it is by drive and kick or just utilizing his unworldly courtroom imaginative and prescient to conjure up these appears.
James averaged 8.2 assists for the seventh-highest variety of his 22-year profession. Within the 79 video games he performed, he went OVER 6.5 dimes 52 occasions at just below a 66-percent clip. Now he got here up brief doing so even as soon as versus Minnesota, however as we’ll contact on shortly, his surrounding core has undergone fairly the makeover since.
Rudy Gobert UNDER 23.5 Factors + Rebounds vs. Lakers (-140 at FanDuel)
Gobert’s peak and size as a 7-foot-1 middle would appear advantageous for a matchup akin to this contemplating Los Angeles lacks the inside measurement to fight him, nevertheless it may finally result in him seeing the pine as a rule. The Lakers are actually going to play small ball as incessantly as doable to play Gobert off the ground, maybe by even giving James some minutes on the 5 spot to make The Stifle Tower extra of a legal responsibility than an asset.
Head coach JJ Redick is aware of his hoops, and it would not shock anybody to see the Lakers implement these lineups virtually instantly to see how Minnesota counters. Keep in mind, when Gobert was averaging a double-double of 14 factors and 13 rebounds versus Los Angeles through the common season, he did so through the Anthony Davis period previous to the Doncic deal going via forward of the commerce deadline. The opposing roster has clearly undergone some dramatic modifications since then, so what was as soon as a power for the Timberwolves in opposition to this particular foe could not be the case.
We’ll simply should see how a lot of an element Gobert can finally be, however Minnesota has frontcourt choices who’re extra cellular and versatile like Naz Reid and Julius Randle if Chris Finch needs to go small himself. Whereas the Frenchman did go OVER 23.5 mixed factors and rebounds in 9 of his final 11 video games, these are completely different circumstances and a Lakers staff at house within the playoffs is a vastly superior menace to any of the groups the Timberwolves battled throughout that stretch.
Naz Reid OVER 16.5 Factors + Rebounds vs. Lakers (-122 at FanDuel)
This Naz Reid wager coincides with the idea that Minnesota will in reality want to sit down Gobert much more than it want to. Final yr’s Sixth Man of the Yr is the right depth piece for simply such a collection, as a result of at 6-foot-9 and a formidable 265 kilos, Reid can do issues defensively that Gobert merely cannot, primarily get away from the basket and never be faucet dancing when squaring up ball-handlers on the perimeter.
Reid’s numbers this season (14.7 factors, six rebounds, and a pair of.3 assists) ere truly stronger than when he was honored with the John Havlicek trophy (13.5 factors, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists) a yr in the past. That might be defined by his minutes leaping from 24.2 to 27.5, after all, however that is additionally a very good signal for the position he could serve within the playoffs after averaging 22.5 through the 2024 run.
Reaching an OVER on 16.5 factors and rebounds 49 out of a doable 80 occasions (61.3 p.c) is not nothing, and Reid might be the beneficiary of a possible lineup change ought to Gobert be unplayable. You clearly cannot anticipate one thing like that, however the writing is on the wall right here with Reid having a higher impression on this collection than his teammate. We’ll know quite a bit after Saturday’s Sport 1 and make changes accordingly.
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