Monday, May 21st, 2012
The Chicago Bulls behind Derrick Rose will face the LA Lakers behind Kobe Bryant as the NBA kicks off a new season on Christmas Day in a pro basketball game on Sunday afternoon.
Tip off time from Staples Center in Los Angeles is scheduled for 5PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by ABC.
The point spread opened up in game one of 66 games for each club with the home club LA Lakers favored by -3 points with a total of 187 points.
Money early has landed on the side of the road underdog as the Chicago Bulls are now the favorite by -4 points.
The over under has moved down to 185 ½ points.
Chicago Bulls money line bettors will lay –175 odds with the home underdog LA Lakers returning +155 odds to pull off the upset victory without the need of getting the points on their side.
The teams split their two meetings in the 2010-11 season with each team winning at home.
In their meeting at Staples Center it was the Lakers with the 98-91 home win as a -8 point betting favorite.
The total landed well under the closing total of 201 ½ points.
The defenses showed up to play as each team could only shoot for 39.5% from the field in the game.
The difference in the game came down to three point shooting as Chicago shot a cold 20% from beyond the arc hitting on 4 of 20.
Despite home court advantage in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat the Bulls were eliminated in six games.
Point guard Derrick Rose leads the Bulls and is coming off a regular season last year with a 25 point per game average with nearly 8 assists.
The four year pro has improved his point per game average in all three years in the league. He also increased his free throw percentage by 9 percentage points.
Chicago could be one of the deepest rosters in the league as the 66 game schedule in 120 days could serve them fine.
Added to the team in 2011-12 is former Detroit Piston guard Richard Hamilton.
The Bulls will have the advantage in the low post with Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah.
The LA Lakers open the season hoping to make amends off a sweep by the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference semifinals.
The team will have a different look as Lamar Odom was shipped to Dallas and Shannon Brown opted out of his contract and signed with Phoenix.
Kobe Bryant has told the media he will play on Sunday despite tearing ligaments on his wrist on Monday night in the team’s loss to the Clippers in their first preseason game.
LA is very long in tooth in the point guard position with Derrick Fisher and Steve Blake splitting time.
Matt Barnes will hit the starting lineup and first off the bench will be Metta World Peace.
Center Andrew Bynum will not be in the lineup for the Lakers as he serves the first of a four game suspension to start the season.
Additions off the bench for the Lakers are shooters Jason Kapono and Troy Murphy.
The Lakers have sent out defense for offense in during the offseason.
The Odom trade startles some but it could be a salary dump so the club can make a move on Magic center Dwight Howard.
Trend: Chicago Bulls are 3-0 ATS in their past three games.
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