Up to NBA Free Picks

in NBA Free Picks

Pro Basketball Parlay Picks – Struggling Teams Meets As Kobe, Lakers, Host Bosh, Raptors

Bookmark and Share by Charles Jay

Two struggling ballclubs will meet when the Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Lakers at take to the court at the Staples Center tonight at 10:30 PM ET.

Tuesday, March 9, 10:30 PM ET

NBA Betting Odds: Lakers -10.5

(O/U) 209

TV: NBA TV

Toronto Raptors (32-29 SU, 28-33 ATS, 34-26-1 O/U)
Los Angeles Lakers (46-18 SU, 27-34-3 ATS, 28-35-1 O/U)

Here is a look at tonight’s key head-to-head trends surrounding this contest.

  • Over is 5- 0 in the last 5 meetings.
  • Over is 4- 1 in the last 5 meetings in Los Angeles.
  • Raptors are 2-5 ATS in the last 7 meetings in Los Angeles.

Toronto 411

Raptors are 0-7 ATS in their last 7 games overall.

Raptors are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 vs. Western Conference.

The Raptors have dropped five of six and lost to Philadelphia 114-99 as a 5.5-point home favorite on Sunday to fall to a pathetic 0-7 ATS over their last seven games. Veteran point guard Jarrett Jack led Toronto with 20 points and nine assists while Chris Bosh added 12 points and 12 rebounds in a losing effort.

L.A. 411

Lakers are 2-7-1 ATS in their last 10 games overall.

Lakers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games vs. a team with a losing road record.

Lakers are 1-6-1 ATS in their last 8 games as a favorite.

The Lakers have lost three consecutive games coming into tonight’s matchup and fell to Orlando 96-94 on Sunday.

Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 34 points for the Lakers and Pau Gasol delivered 20 points and 11 rebounds to L.A. snap a two-game ATS losing streak and cover the NBA betting odds as a 2.5-point road underdog.

The Scoop: The Lakers look to avoid their first four-game losing streak in three seasons and likely won’t have much trouble getting the victory over the inconsistent Raptors.

"I'm worried about what we can do to win ball games, I'm not worried about streaks," said forward Pau Gasol, who averaged just 12.5 points per game over his previous four games before scoring 20 points against Orlando on Sunday.

Los Angeles will try to extract some revenge for the Lakers’ 106-105 loss to Toronto on Jan. 24.

Toronto small forward Hedo Turkoglu missed Sunday’s game against Philadelphia with a sore ankle and is questionable for tonight as the Raptors try to sweep L.A. for the first time ever.

Toronto has a one-game lead over Miami for sixth place in the Eastern Conference, but needs to get their act together in a hurry if they still want to make the postseason in the mediocre Eastern Conference.

"There's not that much margin for error right now," forward Antoine Wright said. "You lose a game like this, you can go from fifth (seed) to seventh or even eighth. You don't want to be fighting to get back in the hunt. We've got to figure some things out."

Analysis: The Los Angeles Lakers are favored to win – and will get the SU win against the mediocre Raptors tonight, but I’m going to advise pro basketball betting enthusiasts to play the Toronto Raptors to cover the NBA point spread simply because they possess one of the league’s best offenses and average to points per game more than the Lakers (despite allowing nine points per game more defensively).

I know the Raptors have gone just 2-5 ATS in the last seven meetings against the Lakers in Los Angeles, but I believe the Raptors will keep the final score relatively close while covering the NBA point spread with just a bit of room to spare.

In addition to playing the Raptors to cover as double digit road underdogs, I also want to say the Over is looking like the best wager of all for tonight’s matchup.

The Over has gone a perfect 5- 0 in the last five meetings between these teams and 4- 1 in the last five games in Los Angeles. I like the Over and the Raptors to cover.

NBA Expert Picks: Over 209 Total Points/Toronto +10.5 Points