Ok real writeups now:
Time for the Warriors to come back to Earth. In all honesty, they should have dropped at least a few games lately, and you can say that winning games repeatedly in the last few minutes can't be coincidental, while other teams run of out of gas they keep going and seal the deal, we are talking some amazing comebacks as well (Kings, Heat). They dropped the game against Orlando even though they seemed to be in control, so it did fire back at some point.
However, Warriors are not in a good spot here if you ask me. Winning in LA has always been tough for them, and quite honestly, even though this may sound like blasphemy to some, I actually like the fact that Bryant has slight shoulder problems. Enough to keep the line very attractive (-5,5 would have chased me away, which actually I think is more appropriate here), and Bryant is probable, knowing his battling character (he shook off stomach flu in Denver and played a great game), he will suit up and show up. And I don't mean just play, but show up. Also, these Lakers have been this Dr Jekkyl-Mr Hyde team this season, when Bryant forces shots and they start feeding the ball to him, they are done. But when they have 4 guys from the bench in double digits, their big men doing the work inside AND Bryant pouring in his regular 25, this is a very tough team to beat. The Warriors will overheat tonight and should they enter any shooting holes (note they allow almost 49 RPG!) they will be cooked, as the Lakers should be the ones controlling the boards and actually being able to run with the Warriors if needed, throw several athletic players inside to hang with them rather than just collapsing when G-state's high octane offense heats up. The Lakers are not worse than the Warriors, and this mini spread on the home team attracts my attention big time. Lakers by 10.
Lakers -3 (1.91 @ Pinnacle)
The Wizards are actually better off without GA. Agent Zero has been winning some games but he's the most self centered, egoistic player I've ever seen. Without him, they rely on good ole' team effort, spread the rock, and they actually look decent. The Nets do not. They woke up briefly as Carter got back but they're back to their usual lethargic look right now. Their win over the Lakers was impressive (note that Bryant shot 7/21 in that game, the Lakers shot 6-19 for 3, Radmanovic went 0/7, LAL bench which has been their main weapon in some of their big wins this year got completely cold and Nachbar played out of the ordinary game by scoring 15 out of nowhere. but as far as other games are concerned (since then, beating Cleveland and Sixers, losing to Grizzlies, Rockets, Knicks, Pistons), this team is not playing well right now, missing Nenad Krstic and defensive intensity they have been known for in recent years, the addition of Magloire might have corrected the stats a bit as far as boards are concerned but offensively, they're not as effective. This game comes down to whether Kidd makes big plays down the stretch AND if Nachbar or perhaps Sean Williams have one of those games, but in all honesty, I highly doubt it. The Wizards have a small retaliation going on, earlier this season, when NJ were 3-1 and Wizards 0-3, the Nets beat them in a tough game, both teams shooting below 40%. A lot has happened since, I think the Wizards step up in this one.
Wizards -3 (1.93) 4 units
