The Los Angeles Lakers (50-29) meet the Golden State Warriors (37-52) on Thursday, April 9, as both teams battle injuries.
The Warriors are 5.5-point favorites on the spread on PrizePicks Team Picks for the fourth and final head-to-head meeting of the season. Golden State will be looking to even the season series after winning the first game and dropping the last two.
Lakers vs. Warriors tips off at 10:00 p.m. ET on Thursday from San Francisco, CA., live on Prime Video.
Below, we’ll break down our Lakers vs. Warriors prediction and Thursday NBA picks for PrizePicks. Use PrizePicks NBA to make picks on player projections and win real money if you’re right.
{{nba_offer_banner="/style-system/ui-components-playbook"}}
Lakers vs. Warriors Prediction, Spread, Over/Under
Lakers F Luka Doncic suffered a grade 2 hamstring strain about one week ago, crushing all of Los Angeles' progress in the playoff race. Additionally, Lakers SG Austin Reaves is out for the foreseeable future with an oblique injury.
Without Luka and AR-15, they have lost three straight games and slipped from the No. 3 seed in the West down to the No. 4 seed. They are tied with Houston for that seeding spot, making the No. 5 seed a likely landing spot.
Who would have thought the Golden State Warriors would enter the postseason with more momentum than the Los Angeles Lakers? Granted, it’s not a lot of momentum, but they have welcomed back PG Stephen Curry back into the fold, which will give the No. 10 seed a fair shot of winning two play-in games to officially enter the playoffs.
Lakers vs. Warriors Spread, Over/Under
The Warriors enter Thursday’s game as 5.5-point home favorites, returning a 1.49x payout on PrizePicks Team Picks if they win outright.
The Lakers are road underdogs with a 2.43x payout if they win, via PrizePicks Team Picks.
- Spread: Golden State Warriors -5.5 (2.04x payout)
- Over/Under: 225.5 (1.88x payout on Over)
- Game Winner Payout: Lakers 2.43x | Warriors 1.49x
Team Picks payouts are live as of publishing and are subject to change.
Lakers vs. Warriors Injury Report
Let’s dive into the full Lakers vs. Warriors injury report for Thursday, via NBA.com.
Lakers Injury Report
- G Marcus Smart (ankle): Questionable
- PG Luka Doncic (hamstring): OUT
- G Austin Reaves (oblique): OUT
- C Jaxson Hayes (foot): OUT
Warriors Injury Report
- PG Stephen Curry (knee): Questionable
- PF Gui Santos (pelvic): Questionable
- SG Will Richard (back): Doubtful
- PG LJ Cryer (illness): Probable
- C Al Horford (calf): OUT
- PF/C Kristaps Porzingis (illness): OUT
- PF Quinten Post (Foot): OUT
Lakers vs. Warriors Prediction on Spread – 4/9/26
Here are the key stats to know before locking in your Lakers vs. Warriors prediction on the spread for Thursday, April 9, on PrizePicks.
- We have to take many of the Lakers' strong against-the-spread (ATS) trends this season with a grain of salt tonight, given their injury situation.
- The Warriors are only 35-44-0 (44.3%) ATS this year, the seventh-worst record in the NBA.
- Given their injury situation, the Lakers are likely undervalued a bit, considering two of their last three losses without Luka and Reaves came against OKC.
- On the flip side, the Warriors could be slightly overvalued with the addition of Steph Curry, who is questionable tonight. This is a team that, even with Steph in the lineup, barely beat the tanking Sacramento Kings at home last game.
- Finally, this game means a lot more to the Lakers than it does to the Warriors.
- Golden State is all but locked into the No. 10 seed in the West.
- LA is operating in a must-win situation to secure the No. 4 seed and a home advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Lakers vs. Warriors Picks for PrizePicks Today: 4/9/26
Here are two of the top Lakers vs. Warriors to consider for Thursday, April 9, on PrizePicks. Today’s NBA picks for PrizePicks are headlined by Lakers F LeBron James and Warriors F Draymond Green.
Lakers F LeBron James Projection vs. Warriors: 42.5 Pts + Rebs + Asts
- LeBron is set to absorb a ton of offensive work without Reaves and Doncic in the lineup.
- His usage rate jumps from 27.1% to 35.5% without those two in the lineup.
- Additionally, his assist percentage rises from 31.4 to 47.5%, suggesting he is heavily involved in the Lakers offense, per Add More Funds.
- This is a slight pace-up matchup for LeBron and the Lakers, who rank 22nd in the league in pace, going against the Warriors, who rank 17th.
- The Warriors' defense gives up 44.3 rebounds (18th) and 27 assists (17th) per game.
{{nba_offer_banner="/style-system/ui-components-playbook"}}
Warriors F Draymond Green Projection vs. Lakers: 21.5 Pts + Rebs + Asts
- It won’t take much for Draymond to exceed this projection vs. an atrocious Lakers defense.
- Dray has much better shooting splits at home this season, shooting +3.9% better from the field and +4.2% better from 3-point range at the Chase Center.
- This is really about the Lakers’ defense, though, which has the 10th-worst defensive rating in the league (116.1), while opponents shoot 48.5% from the field (25th), per NBA Advanced Stats.
- They also give up 27.6 assists per game (21st) to opponents. Draymond leads the Warriors with 5.5 assists per game.
Make Lakers vs. Warriors Picks on PrizePicks
Can the Warriors even the season series vs. a decimated Lakers team? Or can the Lakers somehow maintain home court advantage for the first round of the playoffs?
You can make your picks on PrizePicks and PrizePicks Team Picks and earn real money. Just pick players, predict More or Less on their projected stats, and cash in if you’re correct. With Team Picks, make predictions on winners, spreads, and over/unders, now available in 35 states.
Stick around with the Playbook for continued NBA predictions, picks, and news.
