NBA Playoff Betting Action - Suns vs Lakers
Thursday, May 27, 2010
by BetUS.com
A lot can change in a week, last week the Lakers were running up the score against the Suns that couldn’t play a lick of defense and now the Lakers are having defensive issued of their own. Tonight the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns will do battle in the always-important game five.
The NBA Odds makers are expecting a repeat of the first two games in the series as they have the Lakers the -7½ point favorites in tonight’s game. A straight up wager on the underdog Phoenix Suns will pay NBA Betting fans +320. The game total is 218 points.
NBA Betting Odds
May 27, 2010
Phoenix Suns +7½ +320
Los Angeles Lakers -7½ -400
Game Total 218
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles CA
Game Time: 9:00 PM
TV: TNT
The Phoenix Suns were a different team in these past two games and it’s gotten the Lakers attention. The Suns have been relying heavily on a college-style zone defense and it’s worked to perfection against the much bigger Lakers in games 3 and 4. In game for the Lakers had to sit back and shoot threes, as they were unable to get to the basket with any regularity and impose their size dominance over the smaller Suns. While the Zone defense was frustrating, it wasn’t the problem in game five. The Lakers shot 49% but Suns second unit destroyed the Lakers when they were on the floor. Channing Frye who had been invisible this series finally had some shots fall and that was the backbreaker for the Lakers.
Kobe Bryant is mad and that’s a good thing for the Lakers, “We have to play with a sense of urgency,” Kobe said, “and understand this team can beat us.” Kobe will get his, Kobe almost always gets his but it will be on the rest of the Lakers to get theirs and the second unit stopping the Suns second group from shooting the lights out again.
The Lakers have history on their side as this game begins; they have won eight straight game fives. When was their last game 5 loss? It was in 2007 when they lost to the Suns as Phoenix dumped them in the opening round of the 2007 playoffs. That was the series that made Kobe demand a trade and Mitch Kupchak rebuild the roster into its current form.
Kobe won’t admit it but he’s taking this series against the Sun personally, they have been his Achilles heel since Shaq went to Miami. We will see Kobe “The Assassin”, he will have another huge game scoring but it will be him and him alone doing the damage against the Phoenix. The rest of the Lakers look lost against the Zone defense of the Suns and if the Lakers bigs aren’t flowing on offense, their defense suffers.
The Lakers could win this game based on what Kobe Bryant will do on his own but Kobe won’t do enough to cover the 7½-point spread. Take the Phoenix Suns plus the points.
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kobe bryant - los angeles lakers - nba betting - phoenix suns - staples center