The 23-27 LA Lakers will travel in a back to back when they face a rested 11-37 Charlotte Bobcats in an NBA pro basketball game on Friday night. Tip off time from Charlotte is scheduled for 7:30PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by the NBA League Pass Channel.
The odds from this pro basketball game will come out on Friday afternoon as Dwight Howard status is questionable for a back to back game since coming back last night with an injured shoulder.
The teams met back on December 18th and it was the LA Lakers with the 101-100 home win against the Bobcats as a -12 ½ point betting favorite. The total landed under 206 points.
LA Lakers are 8-17 on the road this season. The Lakers three game win streak was broken after a 116-95 road defeat to the Boston Celtics as a +1 ½ point underdog. The game ended over 194 points. LA falls behind by 14 points at the break. This was the first game the Lakers played with Pau Gasol sidelined six to eight weeks. The Lakers shot just 41.4% from the field and 5 of 23 from the three point line. Dwight Howard with all eyes on the troubled center to rise had just 9 points and 9 rebounds on 4 of 8 shooting. Kobe Bryant led LA with 27 points and 7 rebounds on 9 of 15 shooting. The defense has suffered in the past with Gasol sidelined and it did against Thursday as the Lakers allowed Boston 52.9% shooting. LA gives up 58 points in the paint in defeat.
The Charlotte Bobcats have a home mark of 6-18 on this 2012-13 campaign. The team has lost five straight after a 122-95 road defeat on Wednesday to the Cleveland Cavaliers as a +6 point underdog. The total came in at over 205 points. Charlotte fell behind by 24 at the half in defeat. The team shot 46.8% from the floor and 6 of 15 from three. They give up 56.5% shooting to the Cavaliers and lose the rebounding battle by 8 boards. Off the bench Byron Mullens had 15 points and 7 rebounds on 4 of 7 shooting. Charlotte is 30th and last in the NBA in scoring defense by giving up 103.4 points a game. They struggled on offense as well as the make just 42.5% of their shots ranking 29th and second to last in the league. The top four leading scorers for Charlotte are all guards so they don’t get very many easy shots around the basket from their big men. That is recipe for failure.
