Los Angeles at Charlotte

Last night we backed the Magic to beat the Lakers in part because LA had been in the middle of a long road trip on which they expended a lot of emotional energy to beat Boston and New York. The wheels fell off last game as Orlando held the Lakers to just 75 points. Will LA bounce back here? I don't think so. I think they will stumble again. The four-game win streak and wins over the Celtics and Knicks were impressive, but that doesn't change the fact that over a larger time span (i.e all season), the Lakers just don't look right. Whether it's mental or physical, this team is under-performing (they are 25-30 ATS on the season and they have been on the wrong side of multiple big upsets). Charlotte has won 7 of the last 12 meetings between these clubs including four of the six here in Charlotte. The Bobcats are not a good team, but they will get up for this game to dethrone the Champs. Think the Lakers will bow their chests after getting embarrassed last game? Consider that they are just 6-12 straight-under Phil Jackson following a road loss in which they scored 80 or less. And, they are 44-56 in their last 100 road games after a double-digit loss. Charlotte is coming off an upset win in Atlanta last game and Charlotte head coach Paul Silas is 52-34 straight-up following an upset win. I like Charlotte straight-up here.