Inconsistent Suns Host Red Hot Lakers in Game of the Night

The Los Angeles Lakers (8-1 SU, 6-3 ATS, 5-4 O/U) and Kobe Bryant will look to make Shaquille O’Neal keep his big mouth closed tonight!

That’s right BetUS NBA sports betting fanatics, when the Lakers visit the Phoenix Suns (8-4 SU, 6-6 ATS, 7-5 O/U) tonight at US Airways Center in a battle of division rivals, not only will the Lakers look to display their dominant team once again, but Bryant and head coach Phil Jackson will likely want to make O’Neal keep quiet following his latest round of head-scratching comments concerning his former teammate and head coach.

The Lakers bounced back from their only loss of the season nicely, beating the Chicago Bulls 116-109 on Monday as forward Pau Gasol scored a game-high 34 points and grabbed six rebounds and Andrew Bynum added 18 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Los Angeles failed to cover the spread as a 12-point home favorite in the BetUS Sportsbook.

"Me and Andrew, it's hard to match up," Gasol said. "I think we should make a consistent effort to do that every game. You've got two guys who can produce. They're easy looks, 10-footers - high-percentage shots."

Phoenix looks to bounce back tonight from a convincing 109-97 loss to Utah on Monday night in which they failed to cover the spread as a 1-point road underdog.

Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 30 points and eight rebounds in the loss, but it is O’Neal’s recent comments that have gotten most of the attention surrounding the ballclub these days.

Last week O'Neal suggested that he might want to end his career with the Los Angeles Lakers despite the fact that they don’t need or want him, having turned the page on that chapter quite some time ago.

O'Neal threw out some foolish comments in the report, saying that Jackson created many of the problems he and Bryant reportedly had with each other.

Here is a look at the key trends for each team, followed by my in-depth analysis and NBA Free Picks.

LA Lakers are 8-1 SU in their last 9 games

LA Lakers are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games when playing on the road against Phoenix

The total has gone OVER in 5 of the LA Lakers last 6 games when playing Phoenix

LA Lakers are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games on the road

The total has gone OVER in 5 of Phoenix's last 6 games when playing LA Lakers

Phoenix is 12-3 SU in their last 15 games when playing at home against LA Lakers

The total has gone OVER in 4 of Phoenix's last 5 games when playing at home against LA Lakers

Phoenix is 13-4 SU in its last 17 games at home

NBA Odds

Los Angeles Lakers -4 -110

Phoenix Suns +4 -110

Over 206½ -110

Under 206½ -110

Analysis: The Suns are a very perplexing team right now that’s been hard to get a handle on. Sometimes they come to play and others, they don’t show up at all. I think Phoenix comes out with a high-intensity effort tonight – and cover the spread narrowly because of it – though I certainly don’t think they are in the same class as the Lakers.

Something tells me Phoenix gets the cover tonight in a matchup that goes Under the set O/U total.

NBA Free Picks: Suns +4 Points/Under 206½ Total Points