New Orleans Hornets at Los Angeles Lakers

Betting Odds

Point Spread: Los Angeles Lakers (-10.5)
Game Total Line: (183)
(wagering lines available at Sportsbook.com)

As if the Lakers aren’t in enough trouble after losing 93-88 on Sunday, they’re now dealing with an injured Kobe Bryant. Bryant turned his ankle with less than two minutes left in the Game 4 loss, and his status for Tuesday is up in the air. Bryant hopes to play, but swelling is an issue at the moment.

Los Angeles can hardly afford to lose Bryant. The team is averaging just 93.7 points per game in the series, though Bryant was largely ineffective before he was hurt on Sunday (5-for-18, 17 points). Either way, he is desperately needed with Pau Gasol continuing to struggle. Gasol has been a complete non-factor in the series, averaging 12.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. That’s absolutely awful for the team’s No. 2 player, though at least Gasol has shot the ball much better in the past two games. Still, he needs to deliver much, much bigger results with Bryant hobbled.

The club could also use more production from the bench. The Lakers’ reserves contributed just 18 points and eight rebounds in Sunday’s loss. Lamar Odom, the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, had a miserable evening, going 1-for-7 for six points and four rebounds.

New Orleans, meanwhile, deserves some credit for playing gritty defense. Chris Paul is giving the Hornets a nice mismatch at both ends of the floor, so much so that the Lakers are considering benching point guard Derek Fisher in favor of the quicker Steve Blake.

But switching to Blake isn’t likely to slow down Paul too much. H was nothing short of brilliant in Game 4, finishing with 27 points, 15 assists, 13 rebounds and a pair of steals. Paul is shooting a mind-boggling 57.1 percent in the series and is averaging 25.5 points, 11.5 assists, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game in the series.

Protecting the basketball is a major factor for New Orleans. The Hornets tied an NBA playoff record by making just three turnovers in Game 1, and in Sunday’s win they had just 10 turnovers. In their other two games—both losses—the Hornets averaging 15 turnovers.

The total has rotated between over and under in all four games of this series, with Game 4 going under. Sportsbook.com has set the total for Tuesday’s game at 183 points.

Point Spread Pick

This is one of those games that if you’re going to make a bet on the spread, then you’d have to be on the New Orleans. We’re not going to follow the flock in this game. The Lakers have lost both games that they allowed more than 86 points, so they know that to have success against the Hornets they will need to bring their A game defensively. The Lakers were outplayed on the boards on Sunday with an embarrassing combined total of 32. That won’t be the case at the Staples Center.
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