Friday, May 25th, 2012
The LA Lakers will close out their long 8 game road strip when they tackle the up and coming Memphis Grizzlies in an NBA pro basketball game on Monday night. Tip time in Memphis is scheduled for 8PM Eastern Time and you can watch it on the NBA package.
The LVSC NBA odds makers have set the opening point spread in this game and the road team LA Lakers were opened as 2 ½ point betting favorites with the over under coming in at 206 ½.
The early money from the NBA betting public has come in on the home underdog Memphis Grizzlies, as the LA Lakers are currently only a 2-point betting favorite. The total has seen early movement towards the over, as the over under is currently lined at 207 for the bettors to play into.
NBA money line gamblers can take a stab on the LA Lakers at –130 with the home underdog Memphis Grizzlies returning +110 to pull off the upset win without the need for taking points in this game.
The teams are making their second meeting of the season and their first in Memphis. It was the LA Lakers routing the Memphis Grizzlies back in November 114-98 as a 9-½ point favorite. The Lakers were hot from the field in victory hitting over 50% from the field and nearly 53% from the three-point line.
The Lakers are 5-2 on this road trip and coming off an impressive 90-89 victory over the Boston Celtics in front of a national television audience on Sunday afternoon. The Lakers applied the defense by limiting the Celtics to just 37 second half points and the world champions also overcame an 11 point deficit. Kobe Bryant hit the game winner with just seconds remaining to give LA the lead late. They held off the Celtics in their final possession to seal the victory. Kobe Bryant finished the game hitting on 8 of 20 from the field for 19 points. Kobe did log in heavy minutes on Sunday, which will be a concern on back to back nights as he played 45 minutes at Boston. Bynum continued his solid play with 19 points off 7 of 13 shooting. The 22-year-old center has averaged 17 points a game during his past 5 games on the trip on 34 of 53 shooting. The center pulled down 11 boards in the win against Boston.
The Grizzlies enter this game off two straight losses. The team will benefit from no travel and a days rest in this game having last played at home on Saturday night. The Grizzlies fell to the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday night as they allowed the Hornets to hit on over 47% of their shots. Memphis is third from the bottom in defense this season allowing their opponents to hit on 47.8% of their shots. The Lakers front line will have to contest with Grizzlies power forward Zach Randolph who is averaging 23 points and 12.8 rebounds per game over his past 5 games. Also a concern will be 7 foot 1 inch Marc Gasol. He has averaged over 18 points a game from 30 of 53 shooting over his past 5 games. He pulled down 16 rebounds in the teams’ loss to New Orleans on Saturday. The Grizzlies are 25-21 on the year and 17-6 in front of the home folks.
Trend: LA Lakers are 7-1 straight up in their past 8 back end of back to back games
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