Knicks vs Lakers NBA Handicapping
Forget Kobe Bryant.
Forget, for now, Steve Nash’s return to the Lakers and what it means.
The Lakers don’t end the nonsense that has been the first two months of the NBA season and start to act like the dominant team we all thought they’d be until Dwight Howard plays like Dwight Howard.
New York Knicks (20-7) at Los Angeles Lakers (13-14)
Tuesday, Dec. 25
Staples Center, Los Angeles
3 p.m., EST
Spread – Lakers -3 from Bovada
O/U – 212
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A story in the Orange County Register (http://www.ocregister.com/sports/howard-381534-lakers-nash.html) on Tuesday makes the point that Howard is still recovering from surgery on his herniated disc, that he is not yet in basketball shape and that he is still worried that he will never be able to play the way he did since coming into the league in 2004.
“I never had a major injury before,” Howard was quoted as saying. “And I just have to keep fighting through it.”
When the Lakers got Howard in the offseason in a three-way deal in which they unloaded a Queen Mary-sized load of trouble (Andrew Bynum), many in the league figured the Lakers would be able to overwhelm the NBA with talent.
Bryant, Nash and Howard would be the new West, Baylor and Chamberlain, with perhaps the Heat and Thunder the only teams capable of staying with them.
But Bryant (age), Nash (injury) and Howard all have had their issues, which may or may not be getting sorted out just now.
LA has four straight wins (Washington, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Golden State), none of which are too significant.[ad-6571516]
In addition to whatever is going on in Howard’s head, he also has leg issues. He could go barely 29 minutes in the team’s overtime win over Golden State a few days ago before fouling out.
Despite it all, a victory today would bring the Lakers even at 14-14 and give the team some tailwind as it heads into a schedule in which 8 of the next 12 games are at home.
If LA is to make a run and re-assert itself at least into a second-tier Western Conference contender (behind the Clippers and Thunder), Howard needs to once again become the Superman that he loved being before shooting his way out of Orlando. He wanted the big stage, and now that he has it, he’s shrinking from the spotlight.
And that will give the Lakers a lot to think about in the off-season when they swallow hard and nervously offer Howard a max contract.
THE PICK – The Knicks held serve at home, going 4-2 at MSG in a run that started with a 9-poijnt victory over the Lakers in a high-scoring game.
The teams put 223 points on the board (the O/U was 206), so it’s no surprise that oddsmakers have revised the total upward in this one (to 212). Time to come in with a play on the under as the teams dig in on defense.
