NBA Betting: Lakers vs. Celtics, Thunder vs. Kings
Carrie Stroup here with your NBA betting for February 9, 2012: Lakers vs. Celtics and Thunder vs. Kings. You can get all the latest updated lines on the current NBA games here at Sportsbook.com.
Sportsbook.com Line & Total: Boston -3 & 175.5
Opening Line & Total: Celtics -3 & 176.5
The NBA’s greatest rivalry resumes when the Lakers visit Boston Thursday night.<P>
Both aging teams will be well-rested for this one, with the Celtics having a day off during their homestand and L.A. taking two days off during its East Coast swing. The Lakers have been mostly bad on the road all year, including Monday’s five-point loss (SU and ATS) in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, the Celtics finally have their lineup healthy again and seem to be in the beginning stages of a major run. They’ve won five straight, including back-to-back double-digit wins and, unlike last year’s home loss to the Lakers, should have their full complement of frontcourt players for this game.
After ringing off back-to-back wins on the road, the Lakers have reverted again. They dropped two in a row SU and ATS on the road in Utah and Philadelphia and are now 3-9 SU and ATS on the road this season. Offensively they continue to be a three-man show, starring SG Kobe Bryant (29.3 PPG), Andrew Bynum (17.1 PPG, 12.4 RPG) and PF Pau Gasol (16.4 PPG, 10.1 RPG). Bryant has averaged 31.8 PPG in his past 11 meetings with the Celtics. Back-up PG Steve Blake, a game-time call on Thursday because of a rib injury, is their fourth-leading scorer at 7.3 PPG.
The Lakers hit just 40.4% of their field goals and 28.9% of their threes in the Utah and Philadelphia losses and are averaging 91.1 PPG on the road this year. The teams split the season series a year ago, with each side winning on the other’s court (SU and ATS). But the Celtics played with a shortened frontcourt rotation in the 92-86 home loss, with Jermaine and Shaquille O’Neal out, and Kendrick Perkins battling foul trouble. This year, they’ll have a healthy C Jermaine O’Neal (5.5 RPG, 1.4 BPG), PF Brandon Bass (11.8 PPG, 6.1 RPG) and Chris Wilcox joining Garnett to counter L.A.’s size.
The Celtics have had their starting five together for just 11 games this season, including the last three, and it appears they’re starting to click. They didn’t cover the 14-point spread in Tuesday’s 94-84 win over Charlotte, but they led comfortably throughout the fourth quarter before letting off the gas late (Charlotte outscored them 7-2 in the final 1:14). Boston also destroyed the Grizzlies by 18 on Sunday.
PG Rajon Rondo (13.6 PPG, 9.8 APG) handed out 14 assists in each of those games. Paul Pierce (18.4 PPG) averaged 20.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG and 7.0 APG during the first four games of their current homestand while compiling an average plus/minus of +21.5. And PF Kevin Garnett (14.0 PPG, 7.3 RPG) seems to have found the fountain of youth, averaging 20.3 PPG on 65% shooting and 8.0 RPG over the past three games.
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (20-5) at SACRAMENTO KINGS (9-16)
Sportsbook.com Line & Total: Oklahoma City -6.5 & 202.5
Opening Line & Total: Thunder -6.5 & 204
Sacramento is playing some of its best basketball in a long time as it gets ready to host Oklahoma City on Thursday night.
The Kings have won three of four SU and six in a row ATS, and they’re 6-4 SU and ATS at home on the year. Sacto has defended far better during this recent stretch, holding opponents to 42.7% shooting from the field over the past six games. Oklahoma City has won by more than seven in Sacramento just once in six visits since they’ve made since moving from Seattle and becoming the Thunder. That was an eight-point win over a shorthanded and overall mess of a Kings team last April.
After a disappointing start to their road trip in San Antonio, the Thunder have scored a couple of wins—in Portland and Golden State—covering the spread each time. The games were awfully close though, beating Portland in overtime on Monday then Golden State by three, a game they trailed in the final 20 seconds, on Tuesday. They’re still struggling defensively without top perimeter defender Thabo Sefolosha, who’s expected to miss a seventh straight game because of a foot injury. The Thunder have allowed 103-plus points in regulation in each of their past three games, in large part because they’ve committed 25-plus fouls in each of those games. They allowed the Warriors to score 116 and shoot 55% from the field on Tuesday.
They obviously have the firepower to outscore teams though. SF Kevin Durant (27.3 PPG) is averaging 29.3 PPG despite 4-for-17 shooting from three through the first three games of their current road trip, and PG Russell Westbrook (22.3 PPG, 5.9 APG) has added 25.7 PPG on 50% shooting and 7.0 APG. Daequan Cook (5.8 PPG) has also caught fire of late. He moved into the starting lineup five games ago, and over the past three, the long-range specialist has shot 11-for-21 from behind the arc.
Along with Sacramento’s better defensive effort, PG Tyreke Evans (17.2 PPG) is settling into a nice groove, averaging 21.3 PPG and 6.7 APG over the past six games while C DeMarcus Cousins (15.3 PPG, 11.5 RPG) has added 17.0 PPG and 13.2 RPG during that span. SG Marcus Thornton (17.3 PPG) returned from a thigh injury four games ago, and has averaged 20.5 PPG since his return.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
