If you were waiting to hit the Los Angeles Lakers at a more attractive offering on the series lines against the Phoenix Suns, that ship has sailed. Many of the talking heads on syndicated sports shows and the interwebs were of the belief the defending champs would fall into a 0-2 hole after the way they looked in the play-in game against Golden State and Game 1 of this series. But an entirely different team hit the hardwood for Game 2 and the end result saw LeBron James and his mates tie the series up with the next two games set to go in Tinseltown. Try as they did, Phoenix just wasn’t able to hit the big shots when they mattered most down the stretch. Because of it, they find themselves lined decided underdogs to win Game 3 along with the series at online sportsbooks. The Lakers stand 6-1 SU and 5-2 ATS the last seven times they hosted this rivalry winning by an average of 17.5 points per game!
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series between the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers will tip-off on Thursday, May 27, 2021 from the Staples Center. The game will be broadcast live on TNT at 10 p.m. ET. We'll have NBA Playoff odds and player props available at BookMaker.eu for this and every game going on tonight’s NBA slate.
NBA Betting Lines at BookMaker.eu
Odds Analysis
No team logged more wins on the road over the course of the regular season than that of the Phoenix Suns. Devin Booker and company racked up 24 wins to just 12 losses and logged a lucrative 19-15-2 tally against the closing NBA odds in the process. That said, their only visit to the Staples Center saw them fall by a 123-110 final count as 6.5-point favorites in a game LBJ was forced to miss due to his high ankle sprain. Anthony Davis went off in that one for a season-high 42 points to allow for the over to surpass the closing 217-point total with ease. LA won 21 of its 36 played regular season home games, but went a bankroll killing 14-22 ATS in those matchups. It’ll host Game 3 having failed to cover each of its last three as hosts.
Phoenix Suns
DeAndre Ayton and Booker were the catalysts that led the Suns to the impressive 99-90 triumph over the Lakers in the series opener. The former went for 21 points and 16 rebounds while the latter scored a game-high 34 points after draining 50 percent of his 26 attempted shots. The duo showed up to play in Game 2 as well combining for 53 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Unfortunately, Cameron Payne was the only other player to log double-digits in scoring. Chris Paul aggravated his shoulder injury and only played a shade less than 23 minutes. He hardly made an impact scoring 6 points and dishing off 5 dimes. Jae Crowder has largely been absent through the first two games in averaging 8 points and 5 rebounds. Monty Williams will need much more than that if his team is to advance.
Los Angeles Lakers
What a difference a single game makes! AD looked out of shape and winded a majority of the play-in game versus the Warriors as well as in the series opener. After stinking the joint up in Game 1 with just 13 points and 7 rebounds on 5 of 16 shooting, the big man was his vintage self on Tuesday night leading the Lakers in scoring with a game-high 34 points while also ripping down 10 rebounds and dishing off 7 assists. Phoenix simply had no answer for him, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change anytime soon with Crowder struggling and Ayton extremely foul prone. LBJ scored a quiet 23 points and played the role of facilitator more than anything else evidenced by his game-high 9 assists. He’ll likely be in attack mode for Game 3, and that spells trouble for the visitors.
Phoenix vs. Los Angeles Prediction
If you read my Game 1 preview, you know we ended up cashing a ticket on the Suns minus the points. I went into Game 2 hoping Phoenix would get out to an early lead so I could take points back and hit the moneyline on the readjusted live betting lines with the Lakers. Unfortunately, it never came to fruition after Los Angeles hit the ground running and never looked back. So much has to go right for Phoenix to win any more games in this series, and I’m willing to bet that doesn’t happen on Thursday night and fully expect the Lakers to go up 2-1. But will the line be too inflated? Phoenix was a huge moneymaker in the underdog role (8-4 SU and ATS). Should they receive anything in the 8-10 point ball park, I’d lean towards taking the points. Anything less, it’s Lakers or nothing.
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