The Phoenix Suns hope a change of venue will get them on the right track in Game 3 of the NBA playoff betting Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers; tip for this crucial match-up is set for Sunday night at 8:30 ET from the US Airways Center.
The Suns are 2.5-point NBA Playoff lines favorites while the over/under is 219.
This series couldn’t have gotten off to a better start for fans and NBA bettors of the Los Angeles Lakers, as LA has seemingly had their way en route to grabbing a commanding 2-0 lead.
Head coach Phil Jackson’s squad has scored an average of 126 points and shot an unstoppable 57.9 percent from the field combined against the Suns 26th ranked scoring defense (105.3 PPG). A number of different players have all had major impacts on the series thus far.
After going off for a game high 40 points in Game 1, Kobe Bryant took a back seat in the scoring department in Game 2 with 21 points. He did however dish off 13 assists to give him 18 overall along with a total of 10 rebounds.
C Pau Gasol has seemingly had his way with the Suns undersized big men scoring 21 points in Game 1 and a game high 29 points on Wednesday night in the Staples Center. He’s pulled down a total of 13 rebounds and blocked four shots.
The bench has also played a huge role thus far with Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar, and Shannon Brown all churning out quality minutes.
Now the Lakers head back to the road looking to pound the final nails into the Suns collective coffin on the heels of 26-20 SU & 20-25-1 ATS tallies as visitors on the year. Since losing both SU & ATS in Games 3 & 4 at Oklahoma City in the 1st round, Los Angeles has rattled off three straight road win and covers in the 2010 NBA betting playoffs.
Phoenix Suns Head coach Alvin Gentry knows his club’s backs are against the wall heading into Game 3, but they enter this must win game knowing they’re 36-10 SU & 29-16-1 against the NBA odds this season. Phoenix stands 4-1 SU & ATS at home in these playoffs.
Though the Suns were able to get past the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 with Steve Nash playing one-eyed, the team captain has largely been a no show throughout the first two games of this series. It’s paramount for the All Star to rediscover his shooting stroke to help aid his teammates.
F’s Grant Hill and Amare Stoudemire as well as G Jason Richardson were sensational in Game 3 combining for 68 of the Suns 112 overall points. Nash’s 11 total points just didn’t make the grade, though reserve F Jared Dudley’s 15 points off the bench accounted for a bit of his absence.
Phoenix looked to have the Lakers on their heels when Nash, Hill, Richardson, Dudley, and Stoudemire cut into a 14 point lead to pull even heading into the 4th quarter. If this unit can continue to sustain, and get a little help from Channing Frye and Robin Lopez, it could finally be able to continue trading points with the Lakers since its painfully obvious the defense just doesn’t have the ability to contain LA’s attack.
Kobe and company have had the Suns number this season winning five of the six overall meetings both SU & ATS.
Los Angeles is 7-2 ATS the L/9 times it was installed an underdog in the playoffs, but Phoenix counters with a 16-4-1 ATS tally their L/21 home games.
Over bettors have been treated to track meets in 11 of the L/16 meetings between these Pacific Division rivals.
Mike Rose has been in the sports handicapping business for over a decade, and is a leading sports writer for some of the top sports betting news websites on the internet. To keep up with him on a daily basis, you can