NBA Betting: Suns Set On Tying Series
Heading home to Phoenix proved to be the right medicine for what ailed the Suns in Game 3. Amare Stoudemire had his best game of the conference final with 42 points and Steve Nash, broken nose and all, dished 15 assists in the 118-109 win over the Lakers. Now Phoenix needs a repeat performance to tie the series before heading back to LA. TNT has the broadcast from the US Airways Center starting at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Steve Nash was right: The Los Angeles Lakers continue to be taller than the Phoenix Suns. But not by much.
Things didn’t look terribly bright for the Suns as they returned home for Game 3 of their Western Conference final down 2-0 to the Lakers. The defending champions had little trouble putting away Phoenix in the first two games at Staples Center.
But things changed in the desert; the Suns offense had its most productive game of the playoffs in a 118-109 victory, cashing in Phoenix as 1½-point chalk.
The most obvious difference from the box score was Amare Stoudemire. He scored 42 points (and grabbed 11 rebounds) while working the pick-and-roll to perfection with Nash, who ended the evening with 15 assists and a broken nose – of course, Nash stayed in the game and is fully expected to play in Tuesday’s Game 4 after having surgery on Monday.
The same can’t be said, though, for Andrew Bynum. He appears to be having trouble with his swollen right knee and played just eight ineffective minutes in Game 3. Lakers coach Phil Jackson was considering sitting Bynum for Game 4, although according to NBA.com’s Scott Howard-Cooper, Bynum (19.40 playoff PER) was able on Monday to convince Jackson to let him play. The question his how productive Bynum can be. He was a 7-foot pylon on Sunday, and he’s eventually going to need surgery on that torn meniscus.
Meanwhile, the Suns’ starting center is only getting better. Robin Lopez (17.66 PER during the regular season) had some mobility issues of his own after nearly two months on the sidelines with bulging discs in his back. But the 7-foot sophomore didn’t look the worse for wear in Game 3, playing 30 excellent minutes and scoring 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting. There goes much of the height advantage Nash was talking about.
This is still a considerable challenge for the Suns. They were unable yet again to put the brakes on 7-foot power forward Pau Gasol (23 points on 11-of-14 shooting), but coach Alvin Gentry coaxed the Lakers into bombing away from the perimeter by employing the same 2-3 zone that failed to stop the bleeding in Game 2.
L.A. attempted 32 shots from behind the arc (a team playoff record) and made just nine, which works out to 28.1 percent. That’s how the Lakers lose ball games.
Will the defending champions zigzag their way past the betting odds in Game 4? Phoenix opened as 1-point chalk at most books, with some calling this game a pick ‘em. The Lakers were 8-0 SU and 7-1 ATS before coming up short on Sunday; Phoenix is now 7-2 SU and ATS in its last nine, including those two losses at Staples.
Consensus reports at press time showed 87 percent support for the Lakers and 86 percent for the 'over' on the total of 221½ points.
Personally, the uncertainty about Bynum (which may include some forward-thinking gamesmanship on Jackson’s part) is enough to make me go running into the arms of the 'over.' Each of the three games in this series blew out the posted total, which started at 210½ points in Game 1 and has yet to catch up. The 'over' is 9-1-1 in L.A.’s last 11 games and 6-1 in the last seven for the Suns dating back to their sweep of the hated San Antonio Spurs. If Bynum is on the floor and playing at his usual level, the Lakers will score their points. If not, Stoudemire will get another chance to fill up the stat sheet.
Make no mistake, though: Stoudemire is only as good as the center protecting him, and Lopez has become a very good center. In his very small sample size of three playoff games, Lopez has a 26.93 PER, all against the top seed in the West. And did we mention he’s seven feet tall?
Heading home to Phoenix proved to be the right medicine for what ailed the Suns in Game 3. Amare Stoudemire had his best game of the conference final with 42 points and Steve Nash, broken nose and all, dished 15 assists in the 118-109 win over the Lakers. Now Phoenix needs a repeat performance to tie the series before heading back to LA. TNT has the broadcast from the US Airways Center starting at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Steve Nash was right: The Los Angeles Lakers continue to be taller than the Phoenix Suns. But not by much.
Things didn’t look terribly bright for the Suns as they returned home for Game 3 of their Western Conference final down 2-0 to the Lakers. The defending champions had little trouble putting away Phoenix in the first two games at Staples Center.
But things changed in the desert; the Suns offense had its most productive game of the playoffs in a 118-109 victory, cashing in Phoenix as 1½-point chalk.
The most obvious difference from the box score was Amare Stoudemire. He scored 42 points (and grabbed 11 rebounds) while working the pick-and-roll to perfection with Nash, who ended the evening with 15 assists and a broken nose – of course, Nash stayed in the game and is fully expected to play in Tuesday’s Game 4 after having surgery on Monday.
The same can’t be said, though, for Andrew Bynum. He appears to be having trouble with his swollen right knee and played just eight ineffective minutes in Game 3. Lakers coach Phil Jackson was considering sitting Bynum for Game 4, although according to NBA.com’s Scott Howard-Cooper, Bynum (19.40 playoff PER) was able on Monday to convince Jackson to let him play. The question his how productive Bynum can be. He was a 7-foot pylon on Sunday, and he’s eventually going to need surgery on that torn meniscus.
Meanwhile, the Suns’ starting center is only getting better. Robin Lopez (17.66 PER during the regular season) had some mobility issues of his own after nearly two months on the sidelines with bulging discs in his back. But the 7-foot sophomore didn’t look the worse for wear in Game 3, playing 30 excellent minutes and scoring 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting. There goes much of the height advantage Nash was talking about.
This is still a considerable challenge for the Suns. They were unable yet again to put the brakes on 7-foot power forward Pau Gasol (23 points on 11-of-14 shooting), but coach Alvin Gentry coaxed the Lakers into bombing away from the perimeter by employing the same 2-3 zone that failed to stop the bleeding in Game 2.
L.A. attempted 32 shots from behind the arc (a team playoff record) and made just nine, which works out to 28.1 percent. That’s how the Lakers lose ball games.
Will the defending champions zigzag their way past the betting odds in Game 4? Phoenix opened as 1-point chalk at most books, with some calling this game a pick ‘em. The Lakers were 8-0 SU and 7-1 ATS before coming up short on Sunday; Phoenix is now 7-2 SU and ATS in its last nine, including those two losses at Staples.
Consensus reports at press time showed 87 percent support for the Lakers and 86 percent for the 'over' on the total of 221½ points.
Personally, the uncertainty about Bynum (which may include some forward-thinking gamesmanship on Jackson’s part) is enough to make me go running into the arms of the 'over.' Each of the three games in this series blew out the posted total, which started at 210½ points in Game 1 and has yet to catch up. The 'over' is 9-1-1 in L.A.’s last 11 games and 6-1 in the last seven for the Suns dating back to their sweep of the hated San Antonio Spurs. If Bynum is on the floor and playing at his usual level, the Lakers will score their points. If not, Stoudemire will get another chance to fill up the stat sheet.
Make no mistake, though: Stoudemire is only as good as the center protecting him, and Lopez has become a very good center. In his very small sample size of three playoff games, Lopez has a 26.93 PER, all against the top seed in the West. And did we mention he’s seven feet tall?
