It’s the penultimate night of the 2018/19 NBA regular season on Tuesday, with a few games that mean something and many more that don’t.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
For example, in the latter category we have the Golden State Warriors at New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers at Los Angeles Lakers. It’s the final game for both the Pelicans and Lakers as they play out the string on hugely disappointing seasons.
Their offseasons are intertwined because there’s no question that Tuesday will be the last game in a Pelicans uniform for Anthony Davis, although he’s surely not going to play. Davis hasn’t played since March 24 because of injury but really because the Pelicans are tanking and Davis doesn’t want to be there.
Davis will be traded this summer, it’s just a matter of where. He and his agent, who is also LeBron James’ agent, tried to orchestrate a deal to the Lakers at the trade deadline but the teams couldn’t make a trade work. Most believe that if Davis isn’t a member of the Lakers to open next season that he will be playing for the Boston Celtics.
The Warriors have nothing to play for in New Orleans as they have clinched the West’s top seed. Golden State is 2-0 against the Pelicans this year, and New Orleans is just 1-9 ATS in its past 10 at home.
LeBron’s first season with the Lakers ended a few games ago, and it will be interesting to see which big-name player is alongside him in purple and gold to open the 2019/20 campaign. The Lakers will get someone via trade or free agency even if it’s not Davis. Portland does have the fourth seed in the West to play for (magic number of one) but is without its third-best player in the injured Jusuf Nurkic (out for season).
The Lakers are 2-1 against the Blazers this season, but all three games were played before November 15. The road team is 7-2 ATS in the past nine meetings between these teams; Portland is set as a 9-point betting favorite.
Tuesday could be the final home game for the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade, easily the face of that franchise and a Hall of Fame player who is retiring. The Heat, who play again Wednesday in Brooklyn, are fighting to get into the playoffs but expect quite the ceremony for Wade just in case the team doesn’t make it in (and it’s not looking good). Miami hosts Philadelphia, which has clinched the third seed in the East and should rest most of its key players. The Heat are 1-9 ATS in their past 10 games on a Tuesday.
And it’s a matchup of the past two league MVPs as James Harden and the Houston Rockets visit Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder in what could be a first-round playoff preview. Harden is going to win the NBA’s scoring title, while Westbrook impossibly is going to average another triple-double. OKC is 2-1 against Houston this season, and the Thunder have covered five of the past seven in the series.
