NBA Betting Preview
Los Angeles Lakers (27-6) at Los Angeles Clippers (15-18)
Wednesday January 6th, 10:30PM Eastern

Betus.com betting line – TBA

The Los Angeles Clippers host in-town rival and reigning NBA Champions in the Los Angeles Lakers for a heavily anticipated showdown Wednesday night. The Lakers have strung together 9 straight wins over the Clippers sweeping all meetings over the last two seasons. However, the Clippers will seek to put a halt to that streak this Wednesday and finally break out of the Lakers shadow. Earlier this year, the Lakers recorded their most recent victory against the Clippers in a 99-92 win in the season opener. Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 33 points in that meeting and is always a big factor any time he hits the floor.

In fact, Bryant has posted 36 points on average over the impressive 9 game winning streak against the Clippers. Teammate and center Andrew Bynum contributed in a big way against the Clippers earlier this year posting 26 points and 13 boards. Bynum has been playing consistently strong this season and posted 19 points in just 28 minutes in a big blowout over Dallas on Sunday night. It will be an interesting battle down low with Bynum squaring off with Clippers center Chris Kaman. Kaman has scored 25 plus points in 4 of his last 6 games heading into Tuesday night’s late game against Houston. Kaman has also averaged 10 rebounds per game during that impressive stretch as well. However, Kaman will have to play big on the defensive end of the court to help keep the Lakers scoring to a minimum.

The Clippers already fear that power forward Marcus Camby may not be a full strength for Wednesday night’s battle. Camby is listed as questionable with a left knee injury which is critical considering how much defensive help he gives the Clippers in the paint. Camby had 3 steals and 3 blocks in the Clippers impressive 105-95 win over Portland Monday night. If Camby could put in some solid Minutes with Kaman, perhaps they can force the Lakers into a situation where they must hit the outside shots. The Lakers offensively will be without one of their big players in Pau Gasol. Gasol strained a hamstring early against the Mavericks on Sunday and is expected to miss 4-6 games until he is completely healthy. Picking up the slack must be players like Ron Artest and Lamar Odom.

Odom is having the worse scoring season of his 10 year career averaging just 9.3 points per game. However, Odom did drop 20 in a close win against Sacramento last Friday and another 15 against Dallas. Artest has missed time with a concussion but was cleared to step back onto the hardwood in tonight’s game against the Rockets. The amount of playing time and effectiveness Artest will be able to display may be a bit uncertain. However, with Gasol already out someone for the Lakers will have to play well unless Kobe puts everyone on his back which is not exactly out of the question. The Clippers have a few respectable scorers to keep an eye on. Both Baron Davis and Eric Gordon are averaging 16 & 17 points respectably. The young Gordon has especially played well in the higher scoring games so things could play into the underdog Clippers hand if he can get into any type of rhythm in this expected fast pace game.

Betting Trends -

The Clippers have won 4 straight against the books while reaching the over total in 4 of their last 6 games. The Lakers on the other hand have lost 5 of their last 7 games against the spread. However, the Lakers have also found the over total quite frequently. In fact, the Lakers have gone over the total in all 5 of their last 5 games.

Pick – Clippers are in a better situation here due to the Lakers playing 4 games in the last 6 days while the Clippers should be fully rested. Plus with Gasol out, the Clippers could finally end the losing streak against their arch-nemesis if they can get a big effort in the paint. Take the Clippers