76ers vs Lakers NBA Handicapping
The way the Los Angeles Lakers look at it, 2013 is the second start of the season. So much for 2012 and the bizarre first 30 games, and especially good-bye to that four-game losing streak in early December when LAL fell to 9-14 and everyone was wondering if this might be the end of the line for Kobe Bryant and his backup singers.
Philadelphia 76ers (14-17) at Los Angeles Lakers (15-15)
Tuesday, Jan. 1
Staples Center, Los Angeles
10:30 p.m. EST
Spread – Lakers -9
O/U – 202.5 at TopBet.eu
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No coach in the league will admit that any mountain has been climbed, but the Lakers have now won 6 of 7.
Steve Nash is back and productive, Dwight Howard (21 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks last Friday against the Trail Blazers) is getting the feel of what’s needed from him, and even perpetual sourpuss Pau Gasol seems recovered from an ailing knee and is getting the job done again.
So with 52 games left everyone is breathing a little easier on Hollywood Boulevard, and with their housemate Clippers on one of the longest winning streaks in league history, the spotlight won’t be shining as brightly on coach Mike D’Antoni as he navigates through the next three months of play and gets the team ready for what is shaping up as a very interesting playoff battle in the Western Conference.
First things first, though, and Job One now is getting above .500 for the first time since Nov. 20, when a win over the Nets got the Lakers to 6-5. Tonight will be a matter of taking care of business against a Sixer team that has always had trouble against the Lakers and is in the midst of an 8-game road trip in which it is having trouble against everyone.[ad-6571516]
And going up against the Lakers tonight will be ripping open the scab of the off-season deal which sent All-Star forward Andre Iguodala to Denver and brought center Andrew Bynum to Philly.
Bynum hasn’t played a minute this season as he recovers from a sore knee – which he may or may not have aggravated from, of all things, bowling. No one knows when Bynum will play again. No one even knows even if he will play. All Sixer fans know is that there is talk in Philly of trading him before he even gets on the court.
In Bynum’s absence, the Sixers have gotten stepped-up play from forward Thaddeus Young, who has a 21-game streak of scoring in double figures. But as Rick Pitino used to say: “On losing teams SOMEONE has to score.” They’ll need a lot more than that to contend for a playoff spot in the East.
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Philly has dug holes in all four of its games on the road trip, falling behind in Brooklyn, Memphis, Golden State and Portland.
There’s no evidence that anything will be different tonight against the rested Lakers, who figure to win big and get north of the break-even mark on the first day of the new year.
Lakers to cover the 9.
