San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Lakers 2011 NBA Preview, Odds, and Predictions: Head basketball coach Gregg Popovich will lead the San Antonio Spurs on the road to the Staples Center to take on the struggling Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night at 10:30 PM ET on TNT Sports. The Spurs are coming off a rare loss and enter the game 40-8 with the best record in the NBA while the Lakers have won 1 and come in at 34-15 1st in the Pacific but even Hall of Famer and ex GM Jerry West is saying they won’t be very good much longer. The Spurs lost to Portland and were torched on the inside by big man LaMarcus Aldridge. “I think we held him to 40,” Popovich joked. “I stopped counting after a while.”
The Lakers may still be without Andrew Bynum but Lamar Odom filled in admirably with 20 points and 20 rebounds in their last outing. “He’s been doing that for us all year,” said Kobe Bryant, averaging 54.0 percent shooting over the last seven games. “People forget how well he was playing when Drew was down. He’s capable of doing that and stepping in and having huge games like this.” It would be a good time for Pau Gasol to step back up the way he started the season as well. The odds makers at Bodog have the Los Angeles Lakers a -3 1/2 point favorite at home against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Lakers needed overtime for a 114-106 victory at home to the Houston Rockets moving them to 21-28 ATS for the season. Kobe led the Lakers with 32 points 6 rebounds and 11 assists in an attempt to get his other teammates more involved. Pau Gasol stepped it up with 26 points and 16 boards to go along with Odom’s 20 and 20. LA Lakers are 8-2 SU in their last 10 games at home. Vegas odds makers have the Los Angeles Lakers +300 to win the 2010-2011 NBA Championship.
The Spurs lost at Portland 99-86 but are still a very impressive 28-18-2 ATS for the season. Manu Ginobili led the spurs with 17 points 4 rebounds and 2 assists while Tim Duncan added 15 points 7 boards and 2 dimes. The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 6 games when playing on the road against LA Lakers. Vegas odds makers have the over/under for the total score at 194 points combined of the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs.
I predict a Laker win at home.
Note: Rich Fritz is a Blog Writer on NSAwins.com and not a pro handicapper. For expert NFL Football Predictions against the Vegas spreads please visit the NSAwins.com homepage for top predictions today from the National Sports Advisors.