Lakers vs. Wizards Prediction and Odds for January 30: League-Worst Wiz Face LeBron and Company

The Los Angeles Lakers (26-19) will visit the nation’s capital to take on the league-worst Washington Wizards (6-40) on Thursday night.

The purple and gold had their four-game winning streak snapped in an embarrassing loss to the Philadelphia 76ers their last time on the court a couple of days ago. They still sit in fifth place in a loaded Western Conference but are only 9-8 against the Eastern Conference.

The Wizards are a walking embodiment of the term “tanking.” They have the fifth-lowest winning percentage in NBA history and lost 15 straight games, including a 24-point loss to the Toronto Raptors last night.

Here, we will preview the matchup and share our favorite Lakers vs. Wizards betting picks for Thursday. 

Lakers vs. Wizards Betting Odds for Thursday, January 30

The Lakers are 22-22-1 (50 percent) against the spread, 9-13-1 (40.9 percent) ATS on the road, and 12-13-1 (48 percent) ATS as a favorite. 

The Wizards are 17-27-2 (38.6 percent) ATS, 10-13 (43.5 percent) ATS at home, and 17-27-2 (38.6 percent) ATS as an underdog.

Lakers vs. Wizards Prediction

Los Angeles Lakers Preview

The Lakers are inconsistent, three games below .500 on the road, old, lack shooting, and have a first-time head coach at any level, which actually makes it quite impressive that they’re seven games in the green and one game out of the fourth seed in the West.

Let’s start with the negatives: the Lakers’ bench has been below average all year, the team makes the third-fewest threes per game, and their reliance on LeBron James and Anthony Davis often leaves them relatively helpless if either can’t play or has an off night.

On a more positive note, Dorian Finney-Smith’s arrival has completely transformed the defense and offensive spacing. James and Davis are also playing exceptional basketball as of late, while there’s been a significant uptick in their defensive activity.

The Lakers are 14th in offensive and defensive rating in 2025, leading to a record of 8-5 and a net rating of +1.7 (fittingly, also 14th). They’re also 13th in offensive and 22nd in defensive rating with a -1.5 (19th) net rating for the season as a whole.

Coach JJ Redick has schemed up a clever offense built on lots of set plays, many of which involve off-ball movement and a variety of screening angles. But while the playbook is impressive, a recent outburst that saw him storm onto the court mid-possession after rookie Dalton Knecht failed to get himself in the right place for a play showed that there is some pent-up frustration.

Of course, that can be the sign of a soon-to-be-legendary coach being meticulous about the details. But it could also be a sign of a disconnect.

The Lakers have the fifth-worst road net rating (-6.5) in the sport and just lost by 14 points to the 76ers sans Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Caleb Martin, among others. 

That said, the Lakers are 8-0 against bottom-three teams in each conference and beat the Wizards 111-88 in Los Angeles nine days ago.

Anthony Davis is unavailable for this game with an oblique strain. It was his 29 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks that led the Lakers the last time they faced the Wizards.

LeBron James, Finney-Smith, and Gabe Vincent are questionable.

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Washington Wizards Preview

Let’s not talk up the Wizards. They are awful. Terrible, horrendous, tragic. All of the above.

Washington has the worst offensive and defensive rating in the sport. They were outscored by 14.1 points per 100 possessions, which isn’t that far away from being twice as bad as the second-worst team in the league, the New Orleans Pelicans (-8.3).

The Wizards are also in the bottom five in assist-to-turnover ratio and rebound percentage. 

While the team slightly improves in its building, it still has a -12.3 net rating and 5-18 record. They lost six straight home games and only covered in six of their last 17 outings.

We can go on and on, but the simple fact is it isn’t worth it. There are no redeeming metrics or qualities about this team, aside from a couple of players that appear to have promise for the future. 

Those players include Bilal Coulibaly, second-overall pick Alex Sarr, and Bub Carrington. Unfortunately for Washington, Coulibaly and Carrington are in their worst scoring stretches of the season, and Sarr did not play last night due to an ankle injury.

Washington is only 1-20 against the West, and that one win came on Dec. 7. 

The only other notable thing here is that the Wiz rank fourth in pace of play and love to fly up and down the court, whereas the Lakers are 21st. But all that means is opposing teams typically get more possessions against a team that has proven itself to be awful in every respect.

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Lakers vs. Wizards Betting Pick

• Lakers vs. Wizards pick: Wizards +8.5 (-110) at BetMGM

The Lakers routinely disappoint in the most unexpected moments. They’ll be without Davis and could also lose LeBron, which would turn this into the Austin Reaves show.

Meanwhile, the Wizards are terrible at everything that goes into the game of basketball. Their speed can make them tough to defend if a team isn’t ready to run, but six wins in 46 tries shows that still isn’t much of a threat.

As bad as the Wizards are, they’re better against the spread at home than the Lakers are on the road, and the potential loss of LeBron leads us to believe the home team is the better bet on the spread.

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How to Watch Lakers vs. Wizards on 1/30/25

• When: Thursday, January 30 @ 7:00 p.m. ET

• Where: Capital One Arena, Washington D.C.

• TV: NBA League Pass

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