Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers Odds: Who Is Favored to Win?
The Lakers have been favored in two of the first three meetings between the teams: by 6.5 points on Oct. 26, and by 2 points on Dec. 5. The Suns were 2-point favorites on Nov. 10 when they lost 122-119, and were 1-point favorites when they won on Jan. 11 by a 127-109 score.
The final game between these two was played in Phoenix, and the Suns were favored by 3.5 points. Phoenix ended up winning 123-113, covering the spread easily. The Suns' moneyline was set at -166 for the game.
Odds can move significantly over the course of a game day if there is heavy action coming in one one side of the wagering ledger. So the point spread you see at 7 a.m. may look different than the one you see at 7 p.m. You can also improve your odds of winning through the use of AZ sports betting promos.
Latest Suns vs. Lakers Odds, Updates, & News
The Suns' season has gotten off to a much poorer start than expected because of injuries to Beal, who missed 21 of the first 27 games, and Booker, who missed nine of the first 27 games. Durant has missed four of the first 27 games, and center Jusuf Nurkic is the only Suns player to start them all. For the Lakers, James and Davis have each played in 25 of the first 27 games that have counted in the standings (both also played in the final of the NBA Cup, which does not count in the regular season standings).
- 📆 Feb. 25: The Suns defeat the Lakers yet again 123-113, covering the 3.5-point spread.
- 📆 Jan. 11: The Suns beat the Lakers 127-109, with Beal scoring 37 points.
- 📆 Dec. 15: While attempting a jump shot against the Knicks, Beal landed on the foot of Knicks forward Donte DiVincenzo, sustaining a serious ankle sprain. The timetable for his return has been imprecise, with the Suns saying he will be out for "weeks."
- 📆 Dec. 12: Nurkic is whacked by Draymond Green of Golden State as the two got entangled running upcourt, and Green received an indefinite suspension from the NBA -- a development that will have long-term implications on seeding for the West playoffs. The Suns and Lakers could both open the playoffs on the road if they qualify, and in late December both were in the grouping of No. 7-No. 10 play-in teams.
- 📆 Nov. 10: LeBron James had 31 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds and five steals as the Lakers defeated the Suns 106-103 in the quarterfinals of the NBA In-Season Tournament.
- 📆 Sept. 27: Phoenix acquired Nurkic from Portland in a three-team trade with Portland and Milwaukee. The suns also received forward Nassir Little and guards Grayson Allen (from Milwaukee) and Keon Johnson (from Portland).
- 📆 June 24: Acquired Bradley Beal from Washington in a three-team trade, sending Chris Paul and Landry Shamet along with five future second-round picks, four future pick swaps and cash to Washington and one future second-round pick to Indiana.
- 📆 June 6: Hired Frank Vogel as head coach.
- 📆 May 13: Fired coach Monty Williams.
- 📆 Feb. 9: Acquired Kevin Durant and T.J. Warren from Brooklyn in exchange for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four future first-round picks and a pick swap.
What the Suns-Lakers Spread Tells Us
The victories by the Lakers in the first three meetings of the season should have some impact on where the line is set by AZ sports betting apps. All of those games were relatively close, the Lakers winning by 5, 3 and 3. If the Suns are at full strength and Beal has a couple of games under his belt, this could be a pick 'em game when it is broadcast by TNT. Fans of both teams want to see these rivals play with all of their best players healthy and active.
What the Suns Lakers Moneyline Tells Us
The moneyline will be tight no matter who is favored, which is a testament to these teams being equally matched in theory when both are at full strength. The Suns have three superstars and the Lakers have two, but Austin Reaves of the Lakers is having a breakout season and was favored in mid-December (+250) to win the Sixth Man award at sportsbooks like ESPN BET AZ.
Suns' Chances to Win vs. Lakers
Frank Vogel knows the Lakers inside and out because he coached their nucleus to a championship in 2020, and whatever secret tricks he might have for slowing LeBron James and Anthony Davis (if such tricks actually exist) could be revealed in this game. Because the Suns played the Lakers tight in the first three meetings despite not being at full strength, there is very little chance that we see a large spread here at sportsbooks including BetMGM Sportsbook Arizona because recent history will impact where the oddsmakers place the line, especially if both teams are fully healthy.
How the Phoenix Suns Win vs Los Angeles Lakers
The learning curve for the Suns in terms of developing chemistry and cohesion has been impacted by the lengthy injury absences of Beal. In the abstract, the Suns should be able to get 30 points out of all three of them on any given night, and Nurkic has been excellent at center and has been an upgrade over the departed Ayton.
- Strength: Nurkic has reached double figures in rebounds in 11 of the first 27 games, good for the 12th best average in the league.
- Weakness: Davis has been a better rebounder, leading the league in that category through mid-December with an average of 12.6 per game. He will likely battle Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert and Domantas Sabonis for the rebounding title.
How the Los Angeles Lakers Win vs Phoenix Suns
- Strength: When you have LeBron James on your team and he is motivated, Father Time is irrelevant. We saw this during the In-Season Tournament, also known as the NBA Cup, when James was the MVP of the tournament and Davis had a 41-point, 20-rebound game in the championship against Indiana.
- Weakness: Reaves is not a good individual defender but is on the court a lot because of his scoring prowess. If the Suns are at full strength, he is going to find himself guarding Durant or Beal or Booker at some point, and the Suns will try to exploit that matchup.
List of Lakers vs. Suns Prop Bets Available
Whenever the Suns or the Lakers play, there are triple-double prop bets available, along with double-double prop bets at plenty of sportsbooks including Caesars Arizona Sportsbook. One strategy that offers lucrative payoffs is parlaying someone from a Lakers or Suns game to have a triple-double along with someone from another team in the NBA also having a triple-double, or a couple of players having double-doubles. A three-leg parlay of this type can turn a $10 bet into a payoff of well over $1,000.
Suns vs. Lakers Player Props
| LeBron James | Point total over/under: 25.5 |
| Anthony Davis | Point total over/under: 25.5 |
| Kevin Durant | Point total over/under: 34 |
| Devin Booker | Point total over/under: 28 |
| Jusuf Nurkic | Rebound total over/under: 10.5 |
All of these prop lines are speculative based upon these players' averages. James scored 31, 32 and 21 in the first three meetings, while Davis scored 27, 18 and 30. Durant went for 31, 38 and 39 in his three games against the Lakers, while Booker scored 21 in his lone appearance vs. Los Angeles. So there is little rhyme or reason regarding who will be hot in this fourth meeting aside from Durant, who has excelled vs. the Lakers more than he has against any other team. The best way to make a healthy profit is by picking three to five player prop lines and parlaying your overs and unders.
History of Suns vs. Lakers Games
The Lakers and Suns are not fierce rivals. That is a very exclusive club when it comes to the Lakers, whose No. 1 rival throughout the decades has been the Boston Celtics. Since 2010, the teams have met in the postseason only one time, in 2021 when the Suns won their first-round series 4-2. Phoenix also defeated Los Angeles 4-1 in 2007 and 4-3 in 2006 in a pair of first-round series.
Recapping the Last Lakers vs Suns Matchup
When the teams played on February 25, four of the Suns' five starters scored 20 or more points. The Lakers had a 28-point game from LeBron James, but it wasn't enough to get the job done.
Phoenix Suns Record vs Los Angeles Lakers
The teams have played each other 267 times over the decades, with the Lakers winning 151 of them. The longest winning streak by one of these teams against the other was seven in a row -- three times by the Lakers and once by the Suns.
Last 10 Suns vs. Lakers Scores
- Feb. 25, 2024: Suns 123, Lakers 113 in Phoenix
- Jan. 11, 2024: Suns 127, Lakers 109 in Los Angeles
- Dec. 5, 2023: Lakers 106, Suns 103 in Los Angeles
- Nov. 10, 2023: Lakers 122, Suns 119 in Phoenix
- Oct 26, 2023: Lakers 100, Suns 95 in Los Angeles
- April 7, 2023: Lakers 121, Suns 107 in Phoenix
- March 22, 2023: Lakers 122, Suns 111 in Phoenix
- Dec. 19, 2022: Suns 130, Lakers 104 in Los Angeles
- Nov. 22, 2022: Suns 115, Lakers 105 in Los Angeles
- April 5, 2022: Suns 121, Lakers 110 in Phoenix
Top Suns vs. Lakers Games of All-Time
As noted above, these teams are not rivals in the traditional sense, but they have had plenty of memorable games aside from the phantom timeout game from earlier this season.
Game 1: May 6, 2006
The Lakers led this first-round series 3-1, and Phil Jackson-coached teams had been 44-0 wen holding a lead in a postseason series. But the Suns won the final three games, including a 121-90 blowout at home that was made possible by Tim Thomas hitting a game-winning 3 at the end of Game 6.
Game 2: April 29, 2007
En route to winning this series 4-1, Steve Nash finished one assist shy of Magic Johnson's record for most assists in a playoff game, finishing with 23 in a 113-100 victory in Game 4.
Game 3: June 3, 2021
Devin Booker had the game of his life as the Suns clinched this first-round series 4-2, scoring 47 points with 11 rebounds in a 113-100 victory as the Suns won the first of three West series before losing to Milwaukee in the finals.
Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers FAQ
No point spread has been set yet for their next game, which could be in the NBA playoffs.
There is no game scheduled between the Suns and Lakers. They played five times in 2023-24. The next time they play will either be in the NBA playoffs or the 2024-25 NBA season.
There are 16 sportsbooks open for online wagering in Arizona, and the best one is the one each user feels most comfortable using.
In Arizona, wagers can be placed online through 16 different sports wagering sites, and there is a FanDuel retail wagering lounge at the Footprint Center where the Suns play.
The Suns are 117-151 all-time against the Lakers.
When the Suns were an expansion team in 1968, the lost to the Lakers 127-109 on Nov. 3.
Author
Chris Sheridan is a veteran NBA Writer who has been covering the league since 1992, with a specialty in international basketball after being credentialed for every Olympics since 1996-Atlanta. He has been writing in the sports gambling journalism space since PASPA was overturned in 2018, and age 58 he still can drain the 3-pointer and can dunk with the help of a ladder.
