Western Conference Finals Game 5

Western Conference Finals Game 5
Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers
Thursday, 9:05 pm Eastern - TNT

What was supposed to be a Los Angeles Lakers rout in the Western Conference Finals has turned into a series after the Suns shredded the Lakers defense in Games 3 and 4.  Now the series heads back to Los Angeles for NBA betting odds Game 5 on Thursday night, tied at two games each.

The Lakers are a 7.5 point favorite with a total of 217.5 at SBG Global.

The Suns outshot the Lakers in Game 4 and their bench dominated the Lakers.   The bench was so good for the Suns that they played almost the entire fourth quarter when the game was on the line.  The Lakers simply played no defense and despite Kobe Bryant scoring 38 points, Los Angeles lost for the second straight game.

Each game in this series has been a rout with the home team winning easily.  Will that continue on Thursday night in Los Angeles? The Lakers have been very good in Game 5s at home in the NBA playoff betting . They beat Houston and Denver in Game 5s last season when the series was tied 2-2.  They did the same thing earlier in this year's playoffs when they beat Oklahoma City.  They will now try and take Game 5 on Thursday against the Suns.

The Suns feel that they have a real chance of winning this series. And they are doing it even though Kobe is scoring more than 30 points per game for the Lakers. The question will be whether or not they can take the success they had in Phoenix and play well in Los Angeles. It didn't happen in the first two games of this series when they lost by an average of 16.5 points per game.

This NBA playoff betting series is all about defense.  The Suns played none in the first two games in Los Angeles and got blown out.  The Lakers didn't play any in the two games in Phoenix and lost. Kobe was very upset and said that Los Angeles has to be much better defensively if they want to win this series. The Lakers oftentimes lose focus on the defensive end and if that happens again on Thursday, they could be in real trouble. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol realize that the Lakers need to play with intensity.  Unfortunately for the Lakers they also have players like Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum who don't always show up.