Lakers-Blazers Line Attracting Two-Way Sharp Action in LeBron’s Debut

LeBron James will make his debut with the Los Angeles Lakers tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers (10:30 p.m. ET on TNT).

One book initially opened this game as a pick 'em around 1 p.m. ET Wednesday before adjusting to Blazers -2 a couple of hours later. The rest of the market opened Portland -2.5, and by 5 p.m. ET, the line was up to -3.

It didn't stop there.

Even though the Lakers are receiving 64% of spread bets, Sports Insights' Bet Signals — which track professional betting action in real time — triggered a Reverse Line Move on the Blazers early Thursday morning that pushed the line to -3.5 at essentially every offshore book.

A couple of Vegas books remained at 3, perhaps due to their proximity to Los Angeles and possibly because they fear an onslaught at Lakers +3.5.

It appears that some folks woke up and liked the value with the Lakers at +3.5. Sports Insights' Bet Signals triggered a Steam Move on LA at 9:20 a.m. ET, pushing the line back to +3.

The see-sawing continued in the afternoon, as steam once again hit the Blazers to push them back to -3.5.

Our NBA betting power rankings appear to side with the public on this one.

The Lakers, who are ranked 9th, have about a 2.5-point advantage over the 16th-ranked Blazers. If you factor in home-court advantage, this game would be around a pick' em, right where the line opened.

In LeBron's first game with the Heat, Miami opened -2, closed -1, and received 58% of bets before ultimately losing, 88-80, at Boston.

The Heat went 40-41-1 against the spread (ATS) that season.

That loss was nothing compared to King James' first game back with the Cleveland Cavaliers. A whopping 77% of bettors took the Cavs against the Knicks, moving the line from Cleveland -10.5 to -13.

The Cavaliers lost to the Knicks outright and ultimately finished 39-43 ATS on the season.

How do you think his debut with the Lakers will go?