The Los Angeles Lakers will head back to the AT&T Center this Wednesday night looking to even their best-of-seven opening round playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs at one game apiece. This Western Conference clash is scheduled to tip-off at 9:30 p.m. (ET), and the game will be broadcast nationally on TNT.

The Lakers came up short in Game 1 this past Sunday in a 91-79 loss as 8.5-point road underdogs with the total staying “under” the 190.5-point line. The loss dropped the team to a woeful 16-26 straight up and 15-26-1 against the spread on the road this season, and the total has stayed under in its last three games.

San Antonio has to be thrilled with this win considering it stumbled down the stretch to a 3-6 SU finish in its last nine regular season games. It went a costly 2-7 ATS during this slide, and the total went “over” in four of its last six games. The Spurs are now 36-6 SU and 20-20-2 ATS at home this season.

Lakers at Spurs Betting Storylines

The big question for Los Angeles was how would it respond to the loss of Kobe Bryant, who went down with a season-ending Achilles tear earlier this month? It managed to win its final two regular season games, including a huge 91-86 victory over the Spurs on April 14 as a 3.5-point home underdog to finish on an 8-1 SU run, but the playoffs are a whole other story.

Dwight Howard has stepped up his game since losing Bryant and led the team with 20 points and 15 rebounds in Sunday’s loss. Steve Nash and Paul Gasol chipped in another 32 points, but it still was not enough to overcome an eight-point halftime deficit that ended up turning into an 11-point loss. The Lakers shot just 41.1 percent from the field and 20 percent from three-point range, which certainly did not help their cause.

The big concern for the Spurs heading into the postseason was the team’s overall health. Some of those questions were answered in Game 1 with a strong performance from Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, who both missed time down the stretch while battling various ailments. Each pumped in a team-high 18 points while combining for 11 assists. Tim Duncan was also a force with 17 points and 10 rebounds.  

Look for San Antonio to try and get off to another fast start on Wednesday night after outscoring the Lakers 24-15 in the first quarter on Sunday. This team fully realizes that it has a tremendous edge making LA play from behind without someone like Bryant in the lineup to close the gap. The Spurs remain one of the most balanced teams in the NBA with an offense that is averaging 103 points to complement a defense that is holding teams to just 96.6 points a game.

Lakers at Spurs Betting Odds and Trends

BetOnline has opened the Spurs as 8.5-point home favorites for Wednesday night’s clash with the “over/under” set at 186.5.

The Lakers are 2-6 ATS in their last eight road games and 2-5 ATS in their last seven opening-round playoff games. The total has gone over in five of their last seven games on the road.

The Spurs are 5-16 ATS in their last 21 games overall and 2-7 ATS in their last nine home games. The total has stayed under in 20 of their last 28 games against a team with a winning record.

The home team in this matchup has won four of the last five meetings SU and has a slight 3-2 edge ATS. The total has stayed under in 20 of the last 26 meetings overall and in 21 of the last 28 games played in San Antonio.

Lakers at Spurs Picks and Betting Predictions

Sunday’s game and the past trends in this series point to another low-scoring contest that makes the under a very tempting play despite the fact that the oddsmakers have already made a downward adjustment to the opening line. The top play remains the Lakers and the 8.5 points as even though they are probably going back home in a 0-2 hole, they find a way to rise to the occasion to keep this game close.

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Read more articles by Dave Schwab