Lakers Take Down Pacers Despite Injured Kobe

Kobe Bryant was playing injured, and was held scoreless for just the 15^th time in his career in his twelve minutes of play. However, the Lakers were propelled to a tough 99-93 road win over a very good Indiana Pacers team on Friday night. The Lake Show were ten point underdogs heading into Indiana’s field house, but they rode a 20 point, ten-rebound performance from Dwight Howard and timely shooting to earn the win.

Even though he didn’t play many minutes, Kobe Bryant was active on the bench, directing his teammates to shooting spots, drawing up X’s and O’s on the whiteboard and working the officials.

“We have so much respect for Kobe [Bryant] giving us his effort, but we knew once he went out it was going to take all of us to step up,” Los Angeles guard Steve Blake said. “That’s a great feeling — when you can do that as a team.”

“What I told them is, ‘I don’t know how much I have, but whatever I have, I’m going to give you,'” Bryant said. “That’s all my message was to them.”

Here were some of the betting trends for both teams heading into this critical inter-conference match, per the ever-invaluable OddsShark.com:

 

Los Angeles Lakers Trends:
When playing on Friday are 9-1
Before playing Sacramento are 7-3
After playing Atlanta are 7-3
After a loss are 7-3

 

Indiana Pacers Trends:
When playing on Friday are 6-4
Before playing Philadelphia are 8-2
After playing Minnesota are 6-4
After a win are 6-4

 

A few Lakers at Pacers trends to consider:
LA Lakers are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of the LA Lakers last 5 games when playing on the road against Indiana
The total has gone OVER in 6 of the LA Lakers last 8 games when playing Indiana
Indiana is 21-4 SU in its last 25 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Indiana’s last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Indiana’s last 5 games when playing at home against LA Lakers
Indiana is 9-3 SU in its last 12 games

Luckily for the Lakers, they have an easy schedule down the stretch, including a match against the lowly Sacramento Kings tonight. Here are some of the betting trends for the Lakers and Kings to consider before wagering on tonight’s match, per OddsShark.com:

Sacramento Kings Trends:
When playing on Sunday are 1-9
Before playing LA Clippers are 2-8
After playing Chicago are 2-8
After a win are 2-8

 

Los Angeles Lakers Trends:
When playing on Sunday are 7-3
Before playing Phoenix are 6-4
After playing Indiana are 7-3
After a win are 6-4

 

A few Kings at Lakers trends to consider:
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Sacramento’s last 8 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Sacramento’s last 6 games when playing LA Lakers
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Sacramento’s last 12 games when playing on the road against LA Lakers
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Sacramento’s last 11 games
LA Lakers are 5-0 SU in their last 5 games at home
LA Lakers are 8-1 SU in their last 9 games when playing at home against Sacramento
LA Lakers are 5-1 SU in their last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of the LA Lakers last 6 games when playing Sacramento