posted February 20, 2008 at 16:32 in NBA Articles

The game we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived!!! The Diesel will make his season debut for the Suns tonight as they take on the red hot LA Lakers. Head Coach Phil Jackson’s club invades the desert with an impressive 36-17 mark on the year, and trails the (37-16) Phoenix Suns by only one game for the top spot in the Pacific Division. The Lakers boast a superb mark of 18-10 SU on the road, and they’ve made their backers very happy playing the role of visitor by churning out an 18-9-1 ATS mark. Phoenix has won 20 of their 26 games within the comfy confines of the US Airways Center, but they’ve been dreadful ATS only cashing their backers’ tickets in 10 of those 26 contests.

The Lakers came out of the break in style last night when they plastered the undermanned Atlanta Hawks by a 122-93 final count. Kobe and company easily overcame the 11-point spread, and the 215 combined points soared Over the closing ‘total’ of 215. The victory was the Lakers 5th in a row, and 8th in their last 10.

All eyes will be on Shaq when he plays his limited minutes, but he’s not expecting a big game from himself. "I just want to go out, have fun, get used to the guys and just win, " said the 14-time all-star after Tuesday's practice. "I'm not looking to put up historic numbers. Whatever these guys ask of me, that's what I'm going to do." Still, Phoenix comes into tonight’s contest off a big win over Dallas before the break, and winners in 7 of their last 10.

The Lakers own a 2-1 series lead this season over the Suns. They won their first meeting of the year way back in November when they beat the Suns on this court by a 119-98 final count as 8-point underdogs. They then upended the Suns in the Staples Center in their next meeting as 2.5-point home underdogs 122-115. The Suns lone victory came in their latest meeting in LA when they upended the Lakers by a 106-98 final count as 1.5-point road favorites.

Oddsmakers tagged the Suns 4-point home chalks with the ‘Total’ set at 223. Both these numbers can currently be wagered on at BetUS.com!!! The Lakers are a combined 28-14 ATS (67%) on the road vs. +.500 divisional opponents, while the Suns counter with a 16-22 ATS (42%) mark at home vs. +.500 divisional opponents. The road team is 4-1 ATS the last 5 meetings, and the Lakers have been $$$ cashing 5 of their last 6 trips to the desert.

Be sure to tune your HDTV sets to ESPN at 9:05 ET to see if Shaq helps the Suns even up their season series with the Lakers….

BetUS.com has all the action your wagering appetite desires for this game, so login and get your action down before these lines move anymore.

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