Los Angeles vs Atlanta NBA Picks<\/p>\n
Kobe Bryant is back but the Lakers have only won one of the 4 games since his return. It was the last one so maybe they are getting used to having him back in the lineup, though I doubt it because he has looked pretty off playing more of a distributor role than scorer. [ad-4468020]<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Lakers (11-12) vs. Atlanta Hawks (12-12) ATS Matchup Insight<\/a> | CP Insider Gambling Preview<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Regardless of the role it is still better to have in the lineup than not though I am not expecting the team to suddenly take off. They are just not very good.<\/p>\n Kobe at the point makes some sense for L.A. because Steve Nash, Jordan Farmar and Steve Blake are all out with injuries right now. He has been averaging 7 assists per game since his return but giving up the ball really plays against cast for Kobe so I don\u2019t see them continuing with that as he gets his legs underneath him.<\/p>\n It will definitely be a struggle for guys like Jodie Meeks and Nick Young who will probably get an earful for not returning the ball too.<\/p>\n Despite their overall mediocre play the Lakers have been profitable against the number at 13-9-1. On the road they are just 6-5 but now that Kobe is back they should start to play better away from Staples. The Hawks are pretty mediocre but their 12-12 record puts them in second place behind Miami in the Southeast Division. They are coming off a loss on the road to New York and haven\u2019t covered in any of their last three contests.<\/p>\n This team has turned over its roster significantly but the results are exactly the same.<\/p>\n They have a chance to get on a run now though with three straight at home, all against sub .500 teams from the Western Conference.<\/p>\n I like Al Horford a lot because he plays big and fights all night long but if he is your most productive player then you have problems. He and Paul Millsap form a very productive duo inside but neither has the ability to go off and dominate a team into submission.<\/p>\n Surrounding them you are only going to go so far with a backcourt of Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver, who has been lights out this season, but still – he should really be a role player.<\/p>\n Atlanta has some great trend data in support of them for this one. The one I like best is that they are 8-3 ATS after a SU loss showing that this club usually exceeds expectations when the oddsmakers get down on them.<\/p>\n I also like that they are 5-2 ATS against the Western Conference because they will be playing them a lot this week.<\/p>\n Spread Pick: Atlanta -5<\/strong> Los Angeles vs Atlanta NBA Picks Kobe Bryant is back but the Lakers have only won one of the 4 games since his return. It was the last one so maybe they are getting used to having him back in the lineup, though I doubt it because he has looked pretty off playing more of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":67443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[1483,2762,8803,22695,22774,45159,44124,4751,46136],"class_list":["post-70482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","tag-atlanta","tag-atlanta-hawks","tag-hawks","tag-l-a","tag-l-a-lakers","tag-l-a-lakers-vs-atlanta-hawks","tag-l-a-vs-atlanta","tag-lakers","tag-lakers-vs-hawks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70482"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70496,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70482\/revisions\/70496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMonday December 16
\nPhilips Arena – Atlanta, GA
\n7:30PM
\nMoneyline: No ML currently posted
\nSpread: Atlanta -5
\nO\/U: 204.5<\/strong>
\n [dfads params=’groups=63740&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]<\/strong><\/p>\nLos Angeles<\/h3>\n
Check out our in-house Handicapper!!! Buy Razor Ray’s NBA Picks!<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n[ad-6571516]
\nEven with a healthy Kobe they have not been good in Atlanta though, 1-4 ATS the last 5 at Philips Arena. I would stay away from them in this one.<\/p>\nAtlanta<\/h3>\n
\n O\/U Pick: Under<\/strong>
\n Score Prediction: Atlanta 100 – Los Angeles 92<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"