The NBA is back and I'm pumped --- tonight, I'm Locking In the Lakers ML (-150) and let's see why!

Let's start with my model prediction, which is currently the #1 model on Predict for NBA Winners. My model has the Lakers winning nearly 53% of the time.

If you read my post this morning detailing the O/U strategy for the Net/Bucks game, you'll see that I like to take a look at how the teams have done over time -- i.e., how do teams perform throughout the season.

Unlike the Nets/Bucks trends, which start hot at the beginning of the season, Golden State is cold at the start of the season and then picks up steam. The Lakers, however, start off strong and then trail off as the season continues. This implies that the Lakers will score more than Golden State at the beginning of the season, i.e., tonight, and ultimately win the game.


Finally, I like to take a look at opponent scores to see how many points each team gives up over the course of the season. As we would expect, Golden State gives up the most points at the beginning of the season and the Lakers tend to give up the least. 

Given my Predict model, the fact that the Lakers are likely to come in hot tonight against Golden State, and that Golden State usually gives up the most points at the start of the season as compared to the Lakers, I like LA to win on the ML tonight!