Los Angeles at Brooklyn

The reaction to the Lakers acquiring Pau Gasol from Memphis is overwhelming as the public is now over 80% on the Lakers for his debut tonight. The fact is when teams make changes such as this it takes time to find a fit and Gasol will be playing in the triangle offense for the first time. The odds-makers are well aware they need to juice the Lakers tonight. This line says that the Lakers are better than Detroit who was a 5.5 favorite here and Boston, who has played here twice, to an average line of 5.25. The value in this one lies with the Nets. The other factor playing into this one is Jason Kidd's request to be traded. Kidd's play remains stable and the Nets have actually gone out and won two of their last three since the trade demand. As bad as things have gone for the Nets, if the season ended today, they are in the playoffs. The Nets have played the Lakers tough at home and away, and you have to go all the way back to 2003 to find a Lakers’ margin of victory over the Nets greater than this spread. The Lakers are just 5-7 against the Nets, and in those 12 games the Lakers have managed just one game that would cover this spread, and the last eight have all been decided by six points or less. The Lakers have cooled off of a 17-3 run to be a pedestrian 3-4 in their last seven games. Looks easy for the Lakers? We don't buy it and would not be shocked if the Nets win outright.