Friday, May 25th, 2012
Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers will look for the closeout when they do battle with the Phoenix Suns in game 6 of their best of 7 Western Conference finals on Saturday night.
Tip time from Phoenix is scheduled for 8:30PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by TNT.
The LVSC NBA odds makers have set the opening betting line in this game 6 and it was the home team Phoenix Suns opening up as 2 point betting favorites with the over under coming in at 216.
The bettors have come in early with their money on the defending World Champion LA Lakers as the Phoenix Suns are currently lined as 1 point favorites. The total has seen early movement downward to a current over under of 215 ½.
NBA money line gamblers taking the side of the favored Phoenix Suns will lay -115 odds with the road underdog LA Lakers -105 odds to win game 6 outright without the aid of points on their side.
The Lakers pulled out game 5 with the 103-101 victory as Ron Artest put back a missed shot by Kobe Bryant as time expired to break a 101-101 tie and to give the Lakers a 3-2 series lead.
The Lakers were held to just 41.8% shooting from the field while Phoenix converted on 46.8% of their shots. The Lakers won the rebounding battle in game 5 by a margin of 49-40. The Suns poor free throw shooting contributed mightily in defeat as the team missed 9 of 29 from the charity stripe. The Lakers defense forced 15 Suns turnovers.
Kobe Bryant had a magnificent game for LA with 30 points 11 rebounds and 9 big assists in victory. After averaging 32 points on 52% shooting in the Jazz series the Lakers superstar has averaged 33 points and 53% shooting in the Suns series. Oklahoma City was able to hold Kobe to a 23 point per game average on 40% shooting.
Derrick Fisher woke up in game 5 as the Lakers defensive liability contributed with 22 points on 7 of 12 from the floor and 6 of 6 from the free throw line.
Lamar Odom responded well on Thursday as he poured in 17 points and pulled down 13 big rebounds in 37 minutes of play.
Phoenix must now turn around with 1 days rest to avoid elimination. They will now be playing their 4th game in 8 nights. The Suns high octane offense slows down a bit when playing many games during a short period of time.
Steve Nash had a solid game 5 with 29 points on 12 of 20 shooting and 11 assists. The Lakers defensively forced Nash to shoot more and the veteran responded.
The Suns really struggled from the three point line as the team made just 9 of 27.
Amare Stoudemire had 19 points on 7 of 12 shooting but only pulled down 4 rebounds in 35 minutes of play.
With only 1 days rest between games from here on out head coach Alvin Gentry did not play any of his starters more than 35 minutes in game 5. Both Amare Stoudemire and Robin Lopez were on the bench when Ron Artest converted on the put back basket as time expired.
The Suns bench contributed with 31 points on Thursday. In 31 minutes Channing Frye produced 10 rebounds with 14 points on 4 of 10 from the field and 3 of 8 from beyond the arc.
Trend: Phoenix Suns are 2-0 ATS in their two home playoff games versus LA Lakers
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