NBA Free picks: Dallas @ Los Angeles Lakers

Added on Jan 03, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

Kobe Bryant is in one of the best runs of his career, with six straight games of 34 or more points. Not bad for a guy with a broken finger. The Los Angeles Lakers are in first place in the NBA Western Conference, and on Sunday night they’ll host the second place Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs are 3 1/2 games behind the defending champs and we like an NBA basketball betting position on this game.

Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Lakers
January 3, 6:35 PM Pacific

This is an important game for the Lakers not only due to the relative position in the standings of the two teams, but due to their performance in their previous meeting with the Mavs this year. Dallas routed the Lakers by 14 at the Staples Center on October 30th in what is very likely their worst performance of the year. The Lakers turned the ball over 19 times and shot 39.5% from the field prompting a disgusted Phil Jackson to suggest that the team ‘should refund the money to the fans’. It was the first Mavs’ win in Los Angeles in the last five meetings though Dallas is a perfect 5-0 ATS in that span. Overall, the Lakers have won 6 of the last 8 head to head matchups with the Mavs holding a 5-2-1 pointspread advantage.

Dallas has a reputation as a high scoring team that plays a lot of ‘overs’, but they’ve improved their defense this year. More recently, the Mavericks have gone ‘under’ in three straight and six of their last nine. The Lakers have gone ‘over’ in four straight, but that’s been a function of the matchups more than anything else with LA facing Sacramento (twice), Phoenix and Golden State. Before that stretch, the Lakers went ‘under’ in 7 of 10 playing a higher level of opposition. Like many top level teams, the Lakers play a much more defensive oriented style against other good teams. In the previous meeting, the teams combined for 174 points. While some of that was due to the Lakers’ low shooting percentage, it does give us an idea of the style and tempo to expect on Sunday night. Look for a good defensive effort from the Lakers, and a tight battle with a final score in the low to mid 180′s.

Bet Dallas/Los Angeles Lakers Under 199′