FanDuel. Rui Hachimura, who missed extended time with an injury, was worked back to 28 minutes in the Lakers Tuesday win against the Nuggets. Averaging 12 points in 30.7 minutes per game, this line reads as a touch low for Hachimura, even at 25-27 minutes. I’d bet this line up to over 9.5 points at -110 or better.

Rui Hachimura has played limited minutes since returning from injury. However, he has still scored at least nine points in three straight games. What makes me want to take a chance on this over is that he played 28 minutes in his last game, which is approaching his season average of 31 minutes a game. For the season, he has averaged 12.0 points. The Clippers have the ninth-worst defensive rating in the league and Hachimura scored 13 points over 31 minutes against them earlier in the season. I think he plays at least 25 minutes Thursday and maybe even approaches 30 minutes again.

The assumption in Inglewood tonight is that Kawhi Leonard will be available for the Clippers after missing the just-completed three-game road trip. If other news surfaces we'll update this space. With that in mind, there might be something poignant about this particular crosstown matchup as it was the last meeting on December 20 at Crypto.com that lit the fuse for the recent Clippers resurgence. That 103-88 win, with Kawhi scoring 32, triggered a six-game win streak and current 13-3 run that has the Clips back into the West play-in mix. Meanwhile we're not biting on this Lakers mini-uptick of two games, with one of the wins vs. Joker-less Denver and the other vs. a jet-lagged Toronto, preceded by a 1-5 stretch. Play Clippers.