NBA: LAKERS’ ODDS NOT BUDGING
The Los Angeles Lakers haven’t covered a spread in their last seven outings, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting their game or future odds.
Los Angeles (21-3) has been at least an 11 ½-point favorite for the last seven games, and while they’ve won six of them, they are 0-7 against the spread (ATS).
On Friday night the Lakers are in Miami (12-12) to face a Heat team that is 0-5 ATS in their last five. While something has to give in that regard, you can be sure that the Lakers will be heavy favorites once again at Sportsbook.com.
So the question remains, is Los Angeles not covering spreads because they are simply too high or because they’re not playing that well? The answer is a little bit of both.
The Lakers are having trouble of the defensive side of the ball. In their first 15 games, they held their opponent under 100 points 11 times as they went 10-5 ATS.
In the nine games since, Los Angeles has only held their opponents under 100 points twice. Some of the lowlights were giving up 118 points to Indiana, 113 points to Sacramento and 114 points to the Knicks.
The bottom line is you can’t cover double-digits spreads when you are playing lackluster defense. The good news is Los Angeles has the ability to play lockdown defense with Andrew Bynum clogging the middle, and their recent struggles should motivate them to do better.
And despite the Lakers’ troubles covering spreads, it’s not affecting their future odds.
The Lakers still lead the way at 3:2 to win the NBA title with the Boston Celtics behind at 3:1. These are the same Celtics that dismantled the Lakers in the NBA Finals last year and currently have a 16-game winning streak while starting out the season at 24-2.
These two behemoths meet on Christmas afternoon in a nationally televised contest just like they used to in the 1980’s with Bird and Magic. That game in So-Cal should go a long way in determining whether the Lakers are in the same class as Boston.
The West Conference future odds show the Lakers with even a more sizeable advantage at 1:2. Portland is surprisingly next on the list at 6:1, as their young squads might not be ready to make such a big leap.
Houston, San Antonio and New Orleans are tied next on the list at 7:1. The Rockets will be very dangerous if they can get all their players healthy and on the court at the same time. San Antonio looks like they captured the fountain of youth since the return of Manu Ginobili. The Hornets need to add another scorer to reach their potential.
Perhaps the team with the most value in the West Conference is the Utah Jazz at 12:1. They have been playing without Carlos Boozer for much of the season, but when he comes back, you should start to see them soar.
