Heavy Betting on Kobe and The Lakers as They Face Bucks at Home
Team Page: Milwaukee :: Los Angeles
81% of Bets Placed on Lakers -7.5 | Matchup | NBA Picks
The Los Angeles Lakers haven’t lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in more than five years. With both teams’ recent play, that run doesn’t appear in jeopardy.
The Lakers look to extend their winning streak to 11 games over the Bucks when they meet at Staples Center on Tuesday.
Oddsmakers have made Los Angeles -7.5 point spread favorites (NBA Odds) for todays game, the over/under has been set at 202 total points (View NBA Sports Books).
Los Angeles’ 10 consecutive wins versus Milwaukee is its longest active win streak against any opponent. The Lakers (9-4) have taken 19 of the last 21 meetings between the teams – surpassing 100 points in all but four of those matchups.
Los Angeles is 13-1 in its last 14 home games against Milwaukee, and they’ve been tough to beat there this season. The Lakers are 8-1 at Staples Center and looking to win their sixth straight there, equaling their longest home win streak in 2005-06, which was set twice.
The Lakers kicked off a stretch of eight in a row at Staples Center, including one against the Clippers in which they’re the road team, with a 99-93 win over the New Jersey Nets on Sunday.
Lamar Odom and Kobe Bryant combined to shoot just 14 for 40 from the field, but still led the Lakers with 21 and 19 points, respectively. Fellow starters Smush Parker had 13 and Luke Walton finished with 10. Kwame Brown had 13 points and rookie Jordan Farmar also had 11 off the bench.
“When Smush was in there, he gave us a great boost,” said Bryant, who added a season-high 10 assists. “And then the young fella (Farmar) came in and played extremely well, and Kwame (Brown) did, too. They’re ready, they’re stepping up and hitting shots.”
Bryant hit plenty of shots against the Bucks last season averaging 38.0 points in two meetings, including 19-of-19 from the free-throw line. He scored 43 points in the last matchup, a 101-96 Lakers win at home on March 24.
The Bucks (4-9) may have trouble slowing Bryant as they’re allowing an Eastern Conference-worst 102.6 points per game. Milwaukee held a 14-point halftime lead Saturday, but suffered another second-half collapse en route to a 111-98 loss to Boston.
“At some point, we’ve got to learn how to play consistently, rather than playing hard when we’re down 20 or playing hard to (catch) up,” said Bucks coach Terry Stotts, whose team also blew second-half leads in two losses to Indiana last week. “It’s a matter of playing with the same energy, the same emotion, the same execution.”
Michael Redd scored 24 points in the loss to the Celtics while Andrew Bogut added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Bucks, who again failed to win back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Redd is averaging a team-leading 29.2 points this season, but just 15.4 points in 10 career games against the Lakers, his lowest average against any opponent.
Point guard Mo Williams scored nine points Saturday after missing a game with an elbow contusion, but the Bucks remain without Bobby Simmons (heel) and Charlie Villanueva (elbow). Lakers’ reserve forward Brian Cook is doubtful with an upper respiratory tract infection.
After this contest, Milwaukee continues a tough four-game road trip against Phoenix, Golden State and Utah.
By: Marc Young – theSpread.com – Email Us
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