Better bring shades for Suns and Lakers in Game 2

One of the wonderful aspects of visiting Tinsel Town is you never know when the stars will be out. You could be standing in line at legendary Pink’s Hot Dogs or roast beef haven Phillipes and Sandra Bullock or Tom Hanks might be waiting in line with you. The same can also be true on the hardwood, where every now and again the Los Angeles Lakers and their stars give a memorable performance at the Staples Center.

There is always a bit of the unknown when a NBA team has a long layoff, you can never be sure what it means good or bad. The Orlando Magic appeared to be effected negatively with their extra time off against Boston, but the Lakers played refreshed and looked better than a Santa Monica sunset.

Kobe Bryant was in “the zone” scoring 40 points on 23 shot attempts. Bryant appeared more than any other L.A. player to have benefitted from the down time. "My legs benefited a lot," Bryant said. "I was able to take some time off and just get stronger, get my legs stronger, body stronger."

However, Bryant wasn’t the only Lakers player that played rejuvenated and Phil Jackson’s squad proved just how challenging they are to defeat when they all committed to common goal.

Lamar Odom had 19 points and 19 boards (seven on offense) and was dialed in throughout.
Paul Gasol was 10 for 13 shooting, even converting on a couple of almost impossible buckets for a man his size. Derek Fisher was defensively possessed in staying with Steve Nash and though he has 13 assists, Fisher and his teammates limited the former MVP to 13 points on only 10 shots.

Two keys for Phoenix coming into the series were rebounding and bench strength. The Suns were outrebounded by eight and their reserves were out-pointed 44-35 in losing by 21.

"They played great, one of the best games I've seen them play in the playoffs this season," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "Kobe kind of controlled the whole game. I thought we could have withstood the game that he had ... but when he's making his jumper like that, there's not a whole lot you can do about it."

Phoenix is going to have to play much better defense as L.A. was fearless doing what they wanted offensively. (Shannon Brown’s dunk attempt for example) The Suns are 31-13 ATS after allowing 105 points or more this season and if Kobe stays percolating, they must negate the rest of his teammates since you aren’t going to be on the winning side permitting 58 percent shooting.

“They're probably going to continue to be taller than us as the series goes on, so we've got to ... make everything as tough as possible," Steve Nash wryly stated. "We played hard, but we didn't make enough shots, and we had a few too many breakdowns."

Subtract Grant Hill and the other four Phoenix starters shot 59.5 percent, the issue was they generated only 42 attempts. If the Suns expect to tie series and move spread record to 20-10 after one or more losses, the starters have to get more shots at the rim and Channing Frye and Jared Dudley can’t put up combined 2 for 13 numbers.

Phoenix is a seven-point underdogs, with total leaping to 216. For those that use online sports betting it’s impossible to ignore the Lakers are 11-1 ATS after three or more consecutive Over’s and 17-6 against the spread in home games when playing only their second game in week. Coach Jackson’s club is 13-4 UNDER after a wipeout win by 20 points or more.

TNT will again have the coverage of Game 2 from LaLa-Land at 9:00 Eastern with the desert dogs 14-4 UNDER after they allowed a shooting percentage of 55 percent or higher.

Top NBA Teams Trickier to Bet Now

The NBA season is one of the most mentally and physically grueling there is in professional sports. No matter how good or a bad a team is, eventually the 82- game grind catches up with you. This can be especially troubling for NBA bettors, since it is widely considered the most difficult sport to bet sides on, since you are not only going against sharp numbers on a daily basis, but having to speculate on the mental condition of any given team, no matter how good your power ratings are or whatever methods you are inclined to use.

With the regular season approaching the mid-point of the year, boredom is often one of factors that play a huge part in how NBA players perform. The beginning of the season energized the good teams or those who were presumed to be good. Now 30-plus games into the season and the playoffs months away, it is easy for teams to lose focus, especially against inferior competition, whom they would normally toy with if in the mood.

The defending NBA champion Boston Celtics are a veteran bunch at most key positions and they started the season right where they left off in battering opponents by over 13 points a game, showing little mercy if the opponent choose not to put in four quarters of work. From the middle of November until Christmas Day, Boston won 19 games in a row, tying for the third longest streak in NBA history before succumbing to the Lakers in Los Angeles. During that amazing stretch, the Celtics won by an average of 14.6 points per game and were 13-6 against the oddsmakers, being a superb Play On club.

Since having the long winning streak snapped, Boston has played indifferent basketball. Doc Rivers’ team ended up losing three of four on Western swing and came home and walloped Washington and was totally disinterested in losing at New York 100-88 as 10.5 point favorites two nights later. Now would be a good time to be very selective with Paul Pierce and company, as the team looks for motivational spots to succeed.

The L.A. Lakers had a similar circumstance; theirs just came earlier in December. On December 1, Kobe Bryant and friends had already put together two win streaks of seven games and stood at 14-1. A one point loss at Indiana didn’t set off any alarms, since it was immediately followed by a 114-102 win over Philadelphia. Two nights later a close 106-104 victory at Washington signaled something might not be right and did that turn out to be true for the NBA bettor. Starting with the Wizards game, the Gold and Purple-clad Lakers would go on to lose an unconscionable 10 games in a row against the spread, though winning outright seven times. The oddsmakers likely feasted on all the Lakers money coming in, since they had to cover at some point, right? (Those that “chase” losses, have moved into one bedroom flats, trying to figure out next move)

What finally broke the cycle for Phil Jackson’s team was the role of an underdog on December 23 in New Orleans (just their second of the season, both in New Orleans), catching 2.5 points and routing the Hornets 100-87. This brought back the focus along with big win at home against Boston and the Lakers are now on new six-game winning streak, with five continuous covers.
What brought the Lakers back to winning ways, defensive intensity. While failing to cover the number in 10 consecutive games, they allowed over 101 points per game. Since then, L.A. has surrendered just 93.8 PPG.

No team is immune from a prolonged NBA campaign, even a younger team with fresher legs. The Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t received tremendous notary this season, since both of last year’s NBA finalists have played so well. That is not to say Cleveland is the Clippers when it comes to pub, especially with LeBron James, let’s just say it quieter.

From Nov. 3 until Dec. 23, Cleveland was beastly 23-2, with absolutely sick 18-5 ATS record. The Cavaliers were scintillating, tearing apart teams like a seven year old opening Christmas presents. A full 18 of their 23 victories were by 10 or more points and 14 of those were by 14 or more points. Finally, Cleveland could go no further. The schedule brought them woeful Washington twice and a back to back with an above average Miami team proved little incentive, as the Cavs are on 1-4 ATS bender, which includes a pair of losses. No doubt the Friday encounter with Boston will get the juices flowing again, but you have to be very careful.

Betting basketball every day is not easy, but it sure helps to know when to ride or get off hot teams. The more you know the better you will do.