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NBA – January 9th

The Los Angeles Lakers are ailing, and they are going to be back in action for the second straight night in the Lone Star State when they take on the San Antonio Spurs in a game that NBA betting fans should enjoy.

For a team that looked like it was truly built for a championship this year, the Lakers are on the wrong side of the playoffs, and beyond G Kobe Bryant, there isn’t a heck of a lot to be happy about. Kobe is doing his thing and is averaging over 30 points per game this year, but F Pau Gasol is out, C Dwight Howard is out, C Jordan Hill is out, and the rest of the bones around this team are creaky at best. Last night against the Houston Rockets, C Robert Sacre and G Darius Morris had to start, as Bryant was flipped over from the shooting guard to the small forward spot. Bryant didn’t respond well, as he scored just 20 points, and no one on the team had more than the nine rebounds of F Earl Clark off of the bench. There just aren’t enough healthy bodies for the men in purple and gold to compete at the moment, and Head Coach Mike D’Antoni is doing everything that he can to keep this team running.

The Spurs have been clipped in two of their last three games, but they haven’t lost a game at home since November 19th. They’re really poised to have yet another fantastic season, but the question is going to come as to whether or not this team can really compete in the playoffs or not. G Tony Parker is doing his thing, averaging 19.1 points and 7.2 assists per game, while F Tim Duncan is adding more stats to his already illustrious NBA career, scoring 17.6 points and ripping down 9.6 boards per night. G Manu Ginobili is pacing a list of five more players that are averaging at least 8.9 points per game, and there are four more beyond that averaging at least 5.0 points per game. It’s the well-rounded nature of this team that is getting most others in the league, as this is one of the only teams in the NBA that can say that it only has a single player averaging more than 30 minutes per game.

Prediction:

It’s just not a good spot for the Lakers to be in, especially knowing that this is the back end of a back-to-back in the Lone Star State. That being said, the oddsmakers are giving LA just a ton of points to get started with, and for as poorly as the Spurs have been playing, especially offensively of late, there’s no reason not to take the points. San Antonio 101 – Los Angeles 97