Fade The Public's System (Including Why the Lakers will go down tonight)

[FadeThePublic]

The Los Angeles Lakers had been riding a high, winning nine in a row and 17 of 18 since the All-Star break.
But now the defending champions have lost two straight games, including last night’s 86-85 defeat to the Utah Jazz at Staples Center. NBA odds makers had set the Lakers as -14 point favorites over the Jazz who had lost 18 in a row in Los Angeles but LA never came close to getting the cover.
They shot just 38 percent from the field and missed their first 13 3-pointers finishing 4 of 20 from beyond the arc with 19 turnovers. Thanks to the poor shooting of both teams, the Jazz drained just 40 percent of their shots, the total of 171 stayed some 22 points south of the closing number of 193.
The Lakers wasted a career-high 23 rebound effort from Andrew Bynum who also had 12 points and four blocked shots. Kobe Bryant scored 20 points but dribbled the ball off his knee with six seconds remaining. Bryant is hearing the criticism (again) that he’s taking too many shots and is trying to do too much. That’s what happens in Lakerland where nine-game winning streaks are quickly forgotten.
Los Angeles Lakers
With the unexpected loss to the Jazz, the Lakers are now 3 1/2 games behind San Antonio for the best record in the Western Conference with five games remaining. It’s doubtful they’ll catch the Spurs but they’re still a good bet to finish second, ahead of Dallas. With parity among the power teams at an all-time high this season, there truly isn’t much difference between being the 1st, 2nd or 3rd seed other than the one extra home game, the worth of which has proven to be negligible this year.
If the playoffs were to start today, the Lakers would meet the New Orleans Hornets. However Portland and Memphis are also possible first-round opponents. LA is 3-0 against New Orleans and Portland this season but just 1-2 against Memphis. There’s no doubt Lakers Coach Phil Jackson would rather the Grizzlies play someone else in the opening round.
Golden State Warriors
Even though they’ve long since been eliminated from playoff consideration, the Golden State Warriors still turned in a solid wire-to-wire effort against the Trailblazers rolling to a 108-87 victory in Portland.
David Lee had 29 points and a season-high 20 rebounds while Monta Ellis added 30 points. Stephen Curry chipped in with 28 markers for the Warriors who snapped an eight-game road losing streak and easily covered as a +10.5 point underdog. Golden State is now 3-1 ATS in its last four games with each of the last three games playing ‘under’ the total. The Warriors have been a solid ‘under’ play this season going 43-35 overall and 21-17 at home.
Trends
The Lakers are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 road games but just 1-6-1 ATS against the Pacific Division. Overall Los Angeles is 22-15-1 vs. the number on the road.
The Warriors are 4-7 vs. the number in their last 11 games and 20-18 in the spread category at home.
Golden State is 7-3 to ‘over’ in their last 10 games as an underdog. The ‘over’ is 25-11 in the last 36 series meetings. The Lakers are 47-30 to the ‘under’ this season including a mark of 23-15 away from Staples Center.
The Lakers are 3-0 against the Warriors this season (2-1 ATS). Two of the three series meetings have stayed under the total.

Play: Golden State Warriors +6.5. The Lakers will likely limit the minutes of their starters from here on out giving the Warriors a chance to spring the upset. Could Kobe and company really lose three in a row? It’s not just likely but highly probable.

[FadeThePublic]

The New York Knicks travel to the Wells Fargo Center tonight to face the Philadelphia 76ers in an Atlantic Division matchup. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. (ET).
New York recently clinched a spot in the postseason by virtue of a four-game winning streak that has included a 123-107 victory over Cleveland this past Sunday as a 12-point home favorite and a 131-118 win over Toronto as a nine-point home favorite on Tuesday. The Knicks are now 39-38 straight-up and 43-32-2 against the spread.
Since Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups came to New York in a trade with Denver, scoring has not been an issue for this team. New York is ranked second in the league in points per game with 106.4. The Knicks have averaged 121.8 points in their last four wins. Stopping opponents continues to be an issue as they are giving up an average of 105.8 points a game which is ranked 28th in the NBA.
Philadelphia is just 5-5 SU in its last 10 games and its lead over the Knicks for the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs is down to just half a game. The 76ers were routed by Boston 99-82 as a 5 ½-point road underdog on Tuesday to fall to 40-38 SU on the year and 46-31-1 ATS.
The Sixers are averaging 99.5 points a game led by Elton Brand and Andre Igoudala, who are each averaging over 14 points a game. Defensively, they have held teams to an average of 97.5 points a game, but have given up an average of 105.4 points in their last five losses.
Philadelphia is 2-1 SU this season against the Knicks with a 10 point win as a seven-point road underdog and a two point win as a 4 ½-point home favorite. They last played on Feb.6 with New York hammering the 76ers 117-103 as a four-point home favorite. The total has stayed ‘under’ in five of the last six meetings.
Stick with Philly’s defense over New York’s offense in this one as the Sixers get a much needed win at home.

Play: Philly 76ers -5

[IloveBaseball]

Thk u n GL FTP!