LA Lakers vs Cleveland Cavaliers: Injury Report, Starting 5s, Betting Odds, Tips & Spreads - March 21st, 2022 | NBA Season 2021-22
The Cleveland Cavaliers will host the LA Lakers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on March 21st.
Coming off a 119-127 loss against the Washington Wizards, the LA Lakers have fallen to the tenth seed in the West with a 30-41 record.
Meanwhile, the Cleveland Cavaliers are coming off a 113-109 win against the Detroit Pistons. With their second consecutive win, the Cavaliers improved to 41-30 on the season while holding onto the sixth seed in the East.
LA Lakers Injury Report
The Lakers will continue to feature a few major absences on their injury report ahead of Monday's game.
Anthony Davis and Kendrick Nunn will continue to be out of the rotation. Davis sustained an ankle injury right before the All-Star break. Nunn is yet to play a regular-season game in a Lakers uniform. He's still recovering from a bone bruise.
LA will also continue to mention LeBron James as questionable for the game with a knee effusion. But he has been playing through this game for a majority of the games. Wayne Ellington has also been listed as questionable with a non-COVID related illness.
While Talent Horton-Tucker and Wenyen Gabriel have been mentioned in the injury report with ankle sprains, they are both likely to play on Monday.
No changes to the Lakers' injury report ahead of tomorrow's game against the Cavs. https://t.co/mh8gPoBizT
Cleveland Cavaliers Injury Report
The Cavaliers will have four names to mention in their injury report ahead of Monday's home game.
While there are no new additions, the Cavs will continue to see an All-Star representative in Jarrett Allen out of the rotation with a finger injury. He is out indefinitely.
Rajon Rondo and Dean Wade continue to feature in the injury report with ankle and knee injuries, respectively. Rondo was upgraded to doubtful in the previous game and may remain doubtful for this game as well. They are both recovering on a day-to-day basis.
Long-term injuries will see Collin Sexton sidelined for the season with an ACL tear.
LA Lakers VS Cleveland Cavaliers Betting Odds & Spreads
The Cavaliers have been favored to win in this matchup against the Lakers primarily because of their recent form and homecourt advantage.
The Lakers have been completely out of sorts this season and with Anthony Davis out of the rotation due to injury, the side is also lacking in terms of size. Playing against a team such as Cleveland with tremendous depth in their big man rotation acts as a natural disadvantage towards LA.
Odds Sourced From: FanDuel SB
LA Lakers VS Cleveland Cavaliers Betting Tips
LA Lakers
- The Lakers rank 27th in the league in opponent points in the paint per game (51.0) in March
- The Lakers have an offensive rating of 109.1.
- LeBron James is averaging 34.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game in his last 10 outings.
Click here to bet on LeBron James recording a double-double to lead the Lakers to a win against Cleveland.
Cleveland Cavaliers
- The Cleveland Cavaliers are 23-12 when playing at home.
- Darius Garland is averaging 26.1 points and 10.2 assists per game in his last 10 outings.
- Cleveland record 55.5% of their points from within the arc.
Click here to bet on Darius Garland notching 10+ assists to see Cleveland through to a win against the Lakers.
LA Lakers vs Cleveland Cavaliers Predicted Lineups
LA Lakers
Considering the extended absences of Anthony Davis and Kendrick Nunn, the Lakers have had a fairly standardized rotation. However, coming up against a bigger lineup such as Cleveland, LA may make some adjustments.
While the guard rotation may continue to comprise of Russell Westbrook and Malik Monk, the Purple and Gold may see Stanley Johnson at small forward with LeBron James play power forward and Dwight Howard as the starting center.
This would give the side some degree of rim protection against a larger Cavaliers side.
Coming off the bench, Austin Reaves, Talen Horton-Tucker, Carmelo Anthony and Wenyen Gabriel will receive a lot of minutes. DJ Augustin may also see some burn as a backup playmaker.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers have also made some adjustments to their rotation in the last few games. Although Caris LeVert is healthy, the side have opted to see the guard come off the bench to ease him back as he recovers from injury.
In this regard, the backcourt comprises of Darius Garland at point guard and Isaac Okoro playing shooting guard. The frontcourt trio will consist of Lamar Stevens at small forward alongside Lauri Markkanen at power forward and Evan Mobley.
Evan Mobley has made some huge strides since starting at center in place of Allen. His performance presents a lot of flexibility for the Cavaliers going forward.
Evan Mobley in 6 games since Jarrett Allen went down with an injury:
20.2 PTS
10.5 REB
2.7 AST
1.5 STL/1.7 BLK
56.8% FG
ROOKIE. OF. THE. YEAR. https://t.co/sNY117z8jf
Off the bench, the Cavs will see Kevin Love and Cedi Osman take up a majority of the bench's minutes.
LeVert completed the bench rotation to make a fairly solid eight-man rotation. However, it wouldn't be out of the question for him to start in Monday's game against the Lakers.
LA Lakers vs Cleveland Cavaliers Predicted Starting 5βs
LA Lakers
G - Russell Westbrook | G - Malik Monk | F - Stanley Johnson | F - LeBron James | C - Dwight Howard
Cleveland Cavaliers
G - Darius Garland | G - Isaac Okoro | F - Lamar Stevens | F - Lauri Markkanen | C - Evan Mobley