- LeBron James props are on the docket as we dive into his assist total of Over/Under 8.5
- He and the Lakers head into Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets — tip-off at 9:00 ET
- The series opens with the Lakers as 7-point favorites in a game with a 211-point total
James was named to the All-NBA First Team for the 13th time and made the All-NBA Team for the 16th time, both NBA records. He’s is poised for his ninth NBA Finals in the last 10 years, and Game 1 will be the first Conference Finals for most of the Lakers’ roster.
I like his angle on assists tonight, and I’m about to tell you why. We hit last night’s feature play, so let’s stay hot.
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Lakers Forward LeBron James
Over 8.5 Assists (-112 FanDuel, -118 Prop Builder)
The King played Denver three times this season and averaged 11.7 assists. In the first round of the postseason, he recorded 10.2 assists and 7.4 assists in the semifinals. LeBron and the Lakers have been off since Friday while the Nuggets battled back to defeat the Clippers in seven games.
It’ll be interesting to see how all that rest affects James and the Lakers.
- Off three days of rest in the regular season, he averaged 8.8 assists
- Versus Western Conference opponents, he averaged 10.4 assists per game
- When LeBron has played 30-39 minutes, he averaged 10.0 assists per game
- When LeBron has played 40-49 minutes, he averaged 15.0 assists per game
When he’s played 34 minutes or more in the postseason, James’ has averaged 9.1 assists in seven games. He averaged 35.8 minutes in the semifinals versus Houston, and during the regular-season versus Denver, LeBron averaged 39 minutes per game in the three meetings. When he’s played 38 or more minutes in the postseason, he’s averaged 10.0 assists per game.
In the 2017-18 playoffs, James had eight or more assists in all four games, the same in 2015-16, and two-of-four games in 2016-17.
James double-doubled in six-of-10 games, three coming with assists, and he’s recorded nine or more assists in five-of-10 postseason games. He’s recorded nine or more assists in all three meetings with Denver.
I’ll back James to get his teammates involved and flirt with a double-double in his first Western Conference Finals game.
