10: Dan's Free Pick Against The Spread NBA Basketball

Written by Dan | 03 February 2010

Charlotte Bobcats at Los Angeles Lakers
NBA Basketball: Wednesday February 3, 10:30 PM EST
The Line: Los Angeles -9

After more than two straight weeks on the road the Lakers finally return home to take on the Charlotte Bobcats.

The (37-12, 22-25 ATS) Lakers return to the Staples Center tonight after going 5-3 in a brutal road trip in which they played 8 games in 12 nights. After stringing together three straight wins on their current road trip the (24-23, 28-19 ATS) Bobcats came out flat against Portland on Monday night and could never catch up as they eventually ended up losing 79-98.

Head to Head the Bobcats have surprisingly been dominate over the Lakers in their last 7 meetings dating back to 2006. Charlotte have won 6 of the last 7 meetings between the two and are 8-1 ATS in the last 9 meetings.

- Road team is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings.
- Underdog is 8-1 ATS in the last 9 meetings.
- Bobcats are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 Wednesday games.
- Bobcats are 31-15 ATS in their last 46 games as an underdog of 5.0-10.5.
- Bobcats are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games playing on 1 days rest.
- Lakers are 4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 home games.
- Lakers are 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 vs. Eastern Conference.
- Lakers are 4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a home favorite.

I talked about how the Lakers were in a bad spot in their game against Memphis and I think the same applies here for LA. Im sure the Lakers are glad to be back playing in front of their home town fans but after recently playing 8 road games in 12 nights, I expect the Lakers to come out a bit flat tonight against a team they have traditionaly struggled against.

Charlotte for whatever reason have given the Lakers a lot of trouble in the past and too think this is the most talented Bobcats squad that we have seen since their inception into the league, I think they have a great chance to take it up too the Lakers tonight. The Bobcats don't have a dominate 7'0 center to go with the likes of Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol but they do have big bodies and they are big at every other position which should cause the Lakers some trouble. The Bobcats also have an ace up their sleeve in Stephen Jackson, a guy who loves playing against LA and has yet to face the Lakers in a Bobcats uniform.

The Bobcats made a big deal about how they came out and played sluggish and turned the ball over against Portland so I expect Larry Brown to have his team come out with a focus tonight. Could it of been possible that Charlotte were looking a head to tonight's game against the Lakers? Who knows. What we do know is that the Bobcats have beaten the Lakers in LA their last 3 tries. While I don't expect them to win outright tonight, the Bobcats do own a far superior against the spread record than the Lakers and I think the points look to good to pass up.

Dan's Pick: Charlotte +9

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