PRO BASKETBALL — May 27
PHOENIX at L.A. LAKERS
Western Conference Finals – Game 5
(Lakers -7.5, Total 217.5) — [private] Phoenix was the best shooting team in the NBA this season, yet the Lakers have had the shooting edge (in percentage terms) in each of the four games. This comes even as the Suns introduced their new defensive approach, which forced 60 three-point shots out of the Lakers in the last two contests (hitting just 30% of them). Sure, we expect that Phil Jackson gets his team to go inside, and they’ll get more buckets that way. The point is that even with Phoenix putting its best defensive foot forward, all four of these games have gone over the total. Both teams are a pretty good bet to shoot around 48%-50%, and the oddsmaker has adjusted the line downward. You know that something’s up when these teams get together, because against everybody else they skewed overwhelmingly to the “under” in the regular season.
THE PLAY: OVER 217.5 ***
(All information is for news matter only; All games are graded on a scale of 1-4 stars. Lines are subject to change)
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