Lakers (38-35) pickem over/under 211.5 at Sonics (29-42), 10:30 p.m. Eastern, ESPN
by Ultimatecapper.com Staff
One team looking to lock onto a playoff spot meets up with another team playing out the season when the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Seattle Supersonics Friday night.
The Lakers sit in third place in the Pacific Division, 4 ½ games behind the second-place Clippers. L.A. also holds down the seven spot in the Western Conference race, 3 ½ games behind sixth-place Memphis and 1 ½ games ahead of eighth-place Sacramento.
Seattle hasn’t been eliminated from the playoff race yet, but it’s just a matter of a couple more days. The Sonics reside in fourth place in the Northwest Division and 14th place in the Western Conference, 6 ½ games behind eighth-place Sacramento with 11 games to go.
Los Angeles had a four-game winning streak snapped Thursday in a 96-85 home loss to San Antonio. Kobe Bryant was held to just nine-of-26 shooting from the floor.
The Sonics have won six of their last 10 games, but it’s a matter of much too little, much too late. Seattle fell hard its last time out, a 115-87 pounding at Houston. The Sonics scored 10 points in the first quarter and trailed by 40 at one point.
The Lakers are 35-34 against the spread this season, 17-21 straight up and 21-15 ats on the road.
Seattle is a woeful 29-41 vs. the number this season, 18-17 straight up and 16-18 ats at home.
The Sonics have won four of the last six games in the series with L.A. The teams have split two games thus far this season, both of which were played at the Staples Center. In the most recent encounter, Seattle held Bryant to eight-of-29 shooting from the field and beat the Lakers 120-113 three weeks ago.
L.A. is shooting 45% from the field, 35% from 3-point range and 74% from the free-throw line this season. The Lakers also own a +2 rebounds per game margin and a +1.5 points per game differential.
Putting the ball in the hole is not Seattle’s problem. The Sonics are shooting 46% from the field, 36% from long range and 78% from the line this season. The problem has been on the other end of the court. Seattle is allowing a league-worst 106 points per game this season, and foes are shooting an alarming 49% against the Sonics, also worst in the league. Seattle owns a –4.4 ppg differential, fifth-worst in the Association.
Seattle could be without Rashard Lewis (21 points, five rebounds per game), who missed Wednesday’s game with an ankle injury. He is listed as questionable for tonight’s match.
Even with some of the highest posted totals all season long, the over is 45-26 in Seattle games this season. And the last four games in this series have also gone over the total.
The Ultimatecapper Pick: The "Lakeshow" is a tough gig to figure out. They were red hot then got blistered last night at San Antonio. We watched the game and they looked like absolute crap. Lotsa credit needs to go to the Spurs as well, because they hit damn near everything they threw up behind the arc. With that being said, the Lakers coming off a game, then traveling, we're expecting them to have tired legs and we like the under 211.5! Good luck!
