Lakers and Clippers face off on opening night of the NBA reboot.

The Los Angeles Lakers looked like a wasteland just a couple of seasons ago. Despite the presence of some promising young talent, they didn't have what it took to bring them into a contending position. But in a game where only five men take the floor at once, a superstar or two can make the difference. And this team, with a 49-14 record, will try to cement its position as the front-runner in the Western Conference when it begins the re-opening of the NBA as the league comes back from a pandemic-related shutdown.

And on July 30, they will take the floor against their crosstown rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers, in a game that begins at 7:30 PM ET. The site is not the Staples Center, which both teams call home, but instead the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando.

In the NBA betting odds that have been posted on this game by our friends at BetAnySports, the Lakers are the slight favorites:

Los Angeles Lakers    -1
Los Angeles Clippers +1

Over 217.5 points   -110
Under 217.5 points -110

One question revolves around whether LeBron James can pick up where he left off. James is having a great season; he is already leading the NBA in assists. But he was developing some extra momentum before the break, with a 30-point scoring average and 8.2 rebounds a contest over the last ten games.

And the Lakers were responding too, beating the Bucks and Clippers over the last few games before the league shut itself down.

James has been perfectly happy to relinquish his team scoring lead to Anthony Davis this season. When LeBron lobbied (purportedly) for Davis to become a member of the Lakers, we're sure that's what he envisioned. And there has been a spirit where nobody is monopolized the ball too much; in fact, neither man is in the top ten in "usage" percentage.

This Laker team is designed a little bit like the Miami Heat clubs he was on that won a couple of titles. There is this injection of veteran leadership to go with a sprinkling of youngsters. And you can see that there are players who know what it's like to play in the NBA Finals. Danny Green, the "3 and D" guy," is there. So is JaVale McGee, who is great in spurts and has the best defensive rating on the team.

Another player who may have been counted on to play a pivotal role, especially in the playoffs, is Rajon Rondo, who, in the process of winning a championship with Boston's "Big Three" of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, was probably their most impressive player during their title run. Rondo has had his erratic moments, but there is no doubt about his potential value on a team like this, but he might not get to experience it, due to a broken hand that reportedly will shelve him for six weeks.

What makes this particularly painful for the Lakers is that they were already missing Avery Bradley, who not only is the starting shooting guard but also a defensive ace who would act as a counterpart to the Clippers' Patrick Beverley, who performs that function for Doc Rivers.

Rondo has been erratic at times during his career, but he has been a four-time member of the NBA's All-Defensive team. So without him and Beverley, Rivers is going to look to get something out of Quinn Cook and Dion Waiters, and in that case it is certainly not an upgrade. Let's not forget that Waiters started this season in a very strange way for the Heat, and just wasn't any use to them.

Remember also that the Clippers have beaten the Lakers two out of three times this season, and in each case they have held the Lake Show well below its league-leading shooting percentage, not to mention pushing the offensive attack to shoot more triples than they have averaged as well.

We can definitely see these teams going under the total, as there may be some rust in the restart, but we also don't have any problems taking the number with the Clips, who can bring more weaponry off the bench.

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