 Sunday NBA
Dallas at Los Angeles (-5 ½, 207 ½)
These teams made two of the biggest trades of the season recently, with the Lakers picking up Pau Gasol and the Mavericks acquiring Jason Kidd. So far it looks like the Lakers may have done the better deal.
Los Angeles has won 11 of its last 12 games with Gasol in the lineup, including 10 straight. The 7-foot center is averaging 20.6 points per game since his arrival, and the Lakers have covered the spread in 10 of the games he has featured in.
Kidd, meanwhile, hasnt made quite as big of a splash. The formers Nets guard has played in five games for Dallas, and the Mavs have dropped two of them winning the other three against struggling opponents. He is averaging just 8.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
Pick: Lakers
Atlanta at Boston (-11, 195)
The Celtics responded to their first three-game losing streak in the best possible fashion, by winning the next three consecutive games. That blip is now long forgotten and Boston is seemingly back in the swing of dominating its opponents.
It has faced Portland and the Clippers on the road and Cleveland at home in its last three, and beat them all by an average margin of 14.3 points. The win over the Cavs lifted the Celts to an NBA-best 24-4 at home, where they have covered the spread in 16 of their 28 games this season.
This will be the Celtics second time facing the Hawks this season, and if they play anywhere near as well as they did the first time they wont have any problems. They beat Atlanta 106-83 at home on Nov. 9, easily covering a 9 ½-point spread.
Pick: Celtics
Portland at Golden State (-6, 211)
The loss of guard Brandon Roy cannot be overstated ahead of Portlands trip to Oakland. He leads the team in points (19.3), assists (5.7), and steals (1.1) this season, and the Blazers will struggle to score without him.
Roy has missed the last two games with an ankle sprain, and the Blazers scored just 82 and 83 points respectively in those game. They lost to the Lakers in the first, and then defeated the Clippers 82-80 in the second.
A road game against the Warriors is always a tough task as several big teams have found out in recent weeks. They have beaten Seattle, Boston, Phoenix and Sacramento at the Oracle Arena, and are certainly capable of adding the Roy-less Blazers to that list.
Pick: Warriors
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