NBA Betting Odds – Stoudemire, Suns Look To Tie Series against Kobe, Lakers in Game 5

An angry Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers will be looking to pick up the pieces and cover the NBA betting odds when they host Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns when they host their Pacific Division rivals in Game 5 of their Western Conference Finals at the Staples Center tonight at 9 PM ET.

Thursday, May 27, 9:00 PM ET
NBA Betting Odds
Lakers -7.5
(O/U) 218

TV: TNT
Radio: Sirius 211 XM, 212 XM

Los Angeles Lakers (10-4 SU, 8-6 ATS, 10-3 O/U)
Phoenix Suns (10-4 SU, 10-4 ATS, 9-5 O/U)

The Suns tied the series at two games apiece by taking down L.A. 115-106 in Game 4 on Tuesday night while covering the pro basketball betting line as a 2-point home underdog just as I predicted.

Amare Stoudemire scored a team-high 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds but it was the Suns’ bench that really did the Lakers in as Leandro Barbosa, Channing Frye and Jared Dudley combined to score 39 points.

Here is a look at the key trends surrounding tonight’s matchup.

• Over is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings.
• Home team is 4-0 ATS in the last 4 meetings.
• Over is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings in Los Angeles.
• Favorite is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings.
• Suns are 0-5 ATS in the last 5 meetings in Los Angeles.

Phoenix 411

• Suns are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record.
• Suns are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games as an underdog.

Steve Nash had 15 points and eight assists for the Suns in Game 4 as the final score played Over the 219.5-point O/U total.

Los Angeles 411

• Lakers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games.
• Lakers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games overall.

Kobe Bryant finished with a game-high 38 points, not to mention, adding 10 assists and seven boards for Los Angeles in the loss while Lamar Odom put up 15 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for L.A.

Analysis: I’m going to keep it simple for my pro basketball betting brethren by saying that I just don’t see the Los Angeles Lakers losing this contest no matter how poorly they’ve played the last two games.

Having said that, I also don’t believe they’re going to beat the Suns by the eight points it will take to cover tonight’s NBA betting Odds.

I know the Lakers have a boatload of key trends pointing toward a solid SU and ATS win tonight, but I’m going to back the now super-confident Suns to cash in for pro hoops gamblers in a narrow loss.

Yes, the home team in this series has gone a perfect 4-0 ATS in the last four meetings while the favorite has gone 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings, but Phoenix has gone a blistering 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games against a team with a winning SU record while also going 6-2 ATS in their last eight games as an underdog.

In addition to playing the Suns to cover the NBA betting line, I also encourage NBA bettors to play the Over as it has gone 4-0 in this series and a consistent 5-1 in the last six meetings in Los Angeles.

Expert NBA Picks: Suns +7.5 Point/Over 218 Total Points