After a rollercoaster year that has been headlined by early season chemistry issues among teammates, marquee injuries, big name trades, fights and feuds involving help from a certain former NFL tight end, as well as an all-time scoring record, against all odds the seventh-seed Los Angeles Lakers hold a first round series lead and the momentum over the second-seed Memphis Grizzlies. Now, with Game 4 ahead of them on their home floor, with a chance for a commanding 3-1 advantage , we're finally willing to admit it: the time to bet the Lakers for the NBA championship is now, according to our NBA predictive futures model.
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LA Lakers Making an NBA Playoffs Charge
There's been nothing conventional about the Lakers this season. After a dismal 2021-22 campaign where they were pre-season title betting favorites but missed playoffs, LeBron James and his team headed into the new year with minimal expectations among the fans, media and sportsbooks, listed at +7000 to win the title. The lack of hype around this team was matched with an awful 2-10 start as questions around the fit of the 'Big Three' of LeBron, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook continued to ring louder.