Wednesday night in the NBA will see the L.A. Lakers travel to the Lone Star State to take on the San Antonio Spurs. The game is scheduled for an 8:35 pm start time and it will be televised live locally. Currently the odds have San Anton io favored by 9.5 points with the total sitting at 201.5 points for the contest.
Free Analysis: After Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili all got San Antonio's last game off to rest, the Spurs' top three players are expected to be back on the court against the Los Angeles Lakers, but the Lakers' biggest star, however, will not play. Los Angeles will again be without Kobe Bryant on Wednesday night when it visits the Spurs in a matchup of division leaders. Los Angeles is 1-1 in the two games Bryant has missed. The superstar guard has been sporting a walking boot on his left leg and the hope is that rest will allow him to recover without the ailment being a recurring issue during the playoffs.The Lakers, meanwhile, survived in New Orleans without Bryant in their last encounter on Monday. Metta World Peace drained the go-ahead three-pointer from the top of the key with 1:26 to play in that one as Los Angeles held on for a 93-91 win over the Hornets. World Peace finished with eight points -- six in the final quarter -- Pau Gasol netted 25 points to go with nine rebounds, Andrew Bynum added 18 and 11 boards and Ramon Sessions finished with 17 to go with six rebounds and six assists for the Lakers, who snapped a brief two-game skid. The Lakers were strong defensively down the stretch Monday, limiting New Orleans to 19 points on 34.8 percent shooting in the fourth quarter, but containing a San Antonio team averaging 112.6 points during an eight-game home winning streak seems like a much bigger challenge. Parker is averaging 21.7 points on 59.4 percent shooting in his last nine at the AT&T Center, while Duncan is averaging 18.7 points and 12.2 rebounds in his last six there. Duncan, however, struggled mightily in his three games against the Lakers last season, averaging 4.0 points on 19.2 percent shooting. San Antonio's 11-game winning streak ended with Monday's 91-84 loss to Utah, but extending the run was of little concern to Gregg Popovich. After bowing out in a first-round series as the No. 1 seed in last season's playoffs, Popovich wants his veteran team fresh for a championship drive this spring. He has periodically given Duncan, Parker and Ginobili time off, and Monday all three rested, leaving a combined average of 46.8 points on the bench. Not surprisingly, the Spurs (40-15) finished with their third-lowest scoring output of the season - 24.4 points less than they averaged during their winning streak. Maintaining good health, however, is the biggest priority for San Antonio, which enters Wednesday's contest tied with Cleveland for the fewest games played with 55. The Spurs close the season with 11 games in 16 days, including three against the Lakers (36-22), whom they split their four games with last year. By comparison, Los Angeles has eight games left. The Lakers are 17-33 ATS on 1 on no days rest this year and 10-19 ATS on the road. The spurs are 23-4 SU and 19-7-1 ATS at home this year.
Free Pick: Gonna look to the spurs in the one. The Lakers will be without Kobe and in their last games they nearly lost to a bad hornets team with out him. Now they must go on the road and take on a Spurs team that is 23-4 SU and 19-7-1 ATS at home this year, and their big 3 (Duncan, Parker and Ginobili) all DNP play in their last game (Rest), so they will be fresh for this one. The Spurs have won 8 straight at home and they are 7-0-1 ATS in those games, winning each one by 10+ points. The Spurs have put up 112.7 ppg, during their home win streak and that is not good news for a Lakers squad that will be missing the league's top scorer in this one, especially since they already score just 95.6 ppg on the road. Also not good news for the Lakers is their struggles at the defense end of late as they come in allowing 104.6 ppg in their last 5 games. The Spurs have outscored their opponents by 11.4 ppg at home overall and without much offense (or defense) i just don't see that changing in this one. Spurs by at least 12 here.
Free Picks: Lakers at Spurs Betting
http://PregameVideos.com - Spurs hottest team in NBA and Step up game for the Lakers plus other factors NBA bettors need to know about Lakers at Spurs (Wednesday, April 11, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Bryan Leonard and analysis from host Marco D'Angelo.