History Suggests Lakers Bounce Back in Game 2

The Los Angeles Lakers entered the NBA Playoffs as the Western Conference's No. 1 seed and were desalt a first-round matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Blazers were one of the hottest teams in the bubble prior to the playoffs and were led by the unanimous Bubble MVP in Damian Lillard.

Due to injuries throughout the season and a slow start, the Blazers struggled, but with the break in the season, it allowed some of those missing players to come back. This roster now closely resembled the one that was the No. 3 seed in the West last year. This is why many billed them as one of the toughest 8 seeds in recent memory.

Fast forward to Game 1 of the series, and Portland brought home a convincing 100-93 victory over the Lakers. While some people in Laker Land had a little bit of a panic, there is history that shows us they shouldn't be worried about Game 2.

Under this current playoff structure, No. 1 seeds that lose Game 1, are then 12-2 all-time in Game 2. Additionally, both times the teams have lost Game 2, they have come back to eventually win the series anyways.

The Lakers are 6.5-point favorites in Game 2 on Thursday night, with moneyline odds of -275 on FanDuel Sportsbook.

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David Kaestle is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, David also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username davekaestle. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.