NBA Spreads: New Jersey Nets at Los Angeles Lakers
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
The Los Angeles Lakers will look to continue their recent surge when they host the New Jersey Nets tonight. The Lakers come in off a 115-10 win over the Golden State Warriors, and have now won six straight and eight of their last nine. The Nets let one slip away in a 118-109 overtime loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, and are currently riding a three game losing streak and have lost eight of their last nine.
This will be the second meeting between these two teams. Los Angeles won the first game 99-92 at New Jersey. Taking a look at the NBA spreads for this game, oddsmakers have the Lakers favored by 13-points over the Nets with the total sitting at 191.5.
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New Jersey went into the fourth quarter against the Suns with an 11 point lead, but were unable to finish the deal, and then were outscored 15-6 in overtime. The loss was the Nets sixth straight on the road, and its hard telling if all the trade rumors are hurting this team.
Devin Harris has been rumored to be one of the players leaving town, but he didn’t show any signs of not playing hard against the Suns, as he had 15 points and 15 assists. Harris was one of six different players to score in double figures.
Sasha Vujacic scored a team-high 19 points off the bench, and tonight will mark the first time he will face his former team. Vujacic was traded from Los Angeles to New Jersey back on Dec. 15. Vujacic has played well when given the opportunity, and is averaging 13.6 points over his last five games.
While the Nets blew a late lead, the Lakers scored 46 points in the final period to come from behind against the Warriors. Los Angeles trailed by as many as 14 in the first half, and went into the fourth quarter trailing by six.
Kobe Bryant took over the game late, scoring 17 of his 39 points in the final 5:49 of regulation. Bryant also had six rebounds and four assists.
Pau Gasol had another nice game for the Lakers with 24 points and 11 rebounds, Lamar Odom came off the bench to score 20 and grab nine boards, and Andrew Bynum racked up another double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
While the Lakers came away with the win, there has to be some concern with how this team looked early on in this game. No question the Lakers have the makings of a great team, but if they struggle out of the gate against a good team, it will likely end in a loss.
Three of the Lakers last four home wins have been decided by 22 points or more, and I think you have to ride the momentum and take the Lakers -13. New Jersey doesn’t have the talent and likely won’t have the energy to slow down the Lakers in this one.
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