Best in West Battle in Texas – LA Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs

The Los Angeles Lakers (51-13 SU, 33-31 ATS, 36-27 O/U) bounced back from a loss in their previous outing to beat the Houston Rockets 102-96 on Wednesday night and cover the spread in the BetOnline Sportsbook as 3.5-point road favorites while the game played Under the combined 201-point O/U total.

Superstar shooting guard Kobe Bryant scored 31 of his game-high 37 points in the second half to lead L.A. to victory. All while trash-talking with Rockets enigmatic forward Ron Artest nearly the entire fourth quarter.

The San Antonio Spurs (43-20 SU, 33-28-2 ATS, 30-32-1 O/U) beat the Charlotte Bobcats 100-86 to easily cover the spread fro BetOnline NBA sports betting fanatics as a 5.5-point home favorite as I predicted in the BetOnline Locker Room that day .

The Spurs got 21 points apiece from its starting backcourt of Tony Parker and Roger Mason while all-star power forward Tim Duncan added 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Here is a look at tonight’s key trends, followed by my in-depth analysis and NBA Free Pick.

The Lakers are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 Thursday games.

The Lakers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a road underdog of 0.5-4.5.

The Spurs are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 Thursday games.

The Spurs are 7-0 ATS in their last 7 games as a favorite.

The Lakers are 4-0 ATS in the last 4 meetings.

The Under is 6-1 in the last 7 meetings.

The Under is 9-2 in the last 11 meetings in San Antonio.

NBA Odds

Los Angeles Lakers +3 -110

San Antonio Spurs -3 -110

Over 194½ -110

Under 194½ -110

Analysis: While the Los Angeles Lakers have covered the spread in four consecutive matchups against the Spurs and won three of those contests straight up, something tells e the Spurs are going to bring their collective ‘A’ game tonight while not only beating L.A., but covering the spread by a narrow margin as well.

The veteran-laden Spurs know this matchup will be an excellent measuring stick of how they stack up against the now-superior Lakers.

While I don’t see San Antonio – or any other Western Conference contender for that matter – beating the Lakers in a seven-game series come playoff time, I do like the Spurs to show up tonight in a big way and cover the spread against Kobe and Co. for the first time since routing them at home last May in their 4-1 playoff series loss.

I also like the Over in this contest despite the fact that these two teams have combined to play Under the spread in six of the last seven meetings as the often, offensively-challenged Spurs have scored over 100 points in five consecutive games and will likely need to do so again against the high-scoring Lakers who are averaging a whopping 108.4 points per contest this season.

NBA Free Picks: Spurs -3 Points/Under 194½ Total Points