Just a little write up to go along with my Suns play...
Love the Suns even more now.
The Phoenix Suns should not be an underdog at home tonight to the Los Angeles Lakers. In fact, I fully expect the Suns to blow the Lakers out of the building in this one. Los Angeles is way overvalued due to winning its last two games despite having Kobe Bryant play just 12 minutes in the Indiana victory. He sat out last night's 113-102 home win over Sacramento.
Teams tend to actually play well without their superstar for a few games, but over time they certainly miss him. I look for that to be the case tonight as the Lakers simply do not have enough talent without Kobe to warrant being favored at Phoenix. That's especially the case considering how tired it is.
The Lakers will be playing the second of a back-to-back and their 5th game in 7 days. That is the toughest possible situation in the NBA, and that's what they're up against tonight. They'll be up against a Phoenix team that absolutely hates them and always seems to play them tough.
Home-court advantage has been huge in this series over the last few years. In fact, the home team has won each of the last eight meetings dating back to 2011. Phoenix is 3-0 SU & 3-0 ATS in its last 3 home meetings with Los Angeles despite being an underdog each time. It won by finals of 92-86, 125-105 and 102-90. The home team is 6-1 ATS in the last 7 meetings.
The Lakers are 17-38 ATS in their last 55 games following a S.U. win. Los Angeles is 14-36-1 ATS in its last 51 games following a ATS win. The Suns are 19-7 ATS in their last 26 games after allowing more than 125 points in their previous game. The Lakers are 0-3-1 ATS in their last 4 meetings in Phoenix.