Lakers in South Beach
By Brobury Sports
The Los Angeles Lakers look to build on a modest winning streak Thursday night at the Miami Heat. Here’s the latest from BroburySports.com.
Los Angeles is a five-point road favorite at BroburySports. It’s the first half of the TNT doubleheader with Utah (+1) at Phoenix on after.
Los Angeles (46-15 SU, 26-32-3) has a three-game winning streak after beating Indiana 122-99 on Tuesday night. Kobe Bryant had 24 points, but he continued to struggle from the field at just 5-of-14.
Bryant and the Lakers have basically sewn up the West Conference. They still get up for big games like beating Denver last Sunday (95-89), but sometimes they play just good enough to win. They were 0-5-1 ATS in the six games before Indiana.
The Lakers’ road results have been mixed as well. They’re 17-10 SU and 11-15-1 ATS. The two away games since the All Star break haven’t been pretty. They needed a game-winning shot from Bryant to win at Memphis 99-98. That failed to ‘cover’ the 5 ½-point spread.
They lost the next night in Dallas, 101-96 as 1 ½-point ‘dogs. L.A. follows this Miami game with Charlotte on Friday and Orlando on Sunday. We’ll see how they respond.
Miami fighting for the playoffs
Miami (30-31 SU, 29-32 ATS) would make the playoffs if the season ended today, but Charlotte is breathing right down their necks.
Superstar Dwyane Wade missed four games with a calf injury, but he returned two games ago. The first was a bad 96-80 loss at Orlando. The Heat were fortunate to get by woeful Golden State on Tuesday 110-106.
Miami was a 10 ½-point favorite vs. the Warriors and are 0-4 ATS in their last four games. This team has little scoring depth besides Wade. It will be hard for them to beat Los Angeles, which has many more scoring options.
L.A. beat Miami 108-107 at home on Dec. 4, but didn’t come close to the 12 ½-point spread. Miami is 4-1 SU and 3-2 ATS in the last five South Beach encounters.
Bet on Lakers and Heat at BroburySports