Game Info: The Lakers (1-1) play the Hawks (2-0) at the Staples Center tonight. Game will start at 6:30 PM and is shown on Fox Sports West locally and NBA League Pass nationally. The Hawks are a young team of high flyers lead by Joe Johnson and Josh Smith.
Injury Updates: Pau Gasol, inactive for the first two games , is not going to play tonight either. “No, there’s not a chance he’s going to play,” said coach Phil Jackson. For the Hawks, Jason Collins is sidelined with an Ankle Injury.
Vegas Odds:The Lakers are an average 7 point favorites, with an average over/under of 193.5.
What to look for: The Lakers are coming off their worst lost at the Staples Center in over two years. They shot poorly and never seemed to be able to sustain a run in the game. Most of the shots they did take were make-able shots that just didn’t go down. The refs also did not help the Lakers cause, by sending the Mavericks to a parade of free throws, including some incredulous foul calls that garnered technical fouls on Kobe and Artest. All of this means that the Hawks need to be worried. The Lakers are playing at home again, part of a early season home heavy schedule to allow the Staples Center to be free for events in February and March, and will look to provide fans a better game than the last one. The Hawks are a high flying team with a bunch of good defenders in Josh Smith and Al Horford. They should make this at least a fun one to watch.
Prediction: Lakers get off to a strong start and keep the momentum going all game. 96 -88
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