San Antonio Spurs vs Los Angeles Lakers | Predictions, Preview , Odds & Free Pick | Sportsbookbuzz.com

NBA Free Pick – Thursday February 3, 2011

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San Antonio Spurs (40-8) at Los Angeles Lakers (34-15)
Thursday, February 3, 2011 at 10:30 pm EST on TNT

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The San Antonio Spurs, the first-place team in the Western Conference’s Southwest Division, travel to the Staples Center to take on the Los Angeles Lakers, the first-place team in the Western’s Pacific Division.

It’s 2011 and Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker may be playing the best basketball they’ve ever played together. The reason for this is the ability of Duncan to take a backseat and recognize he’s no longer the team’s best player — that’s Ginobili right now. Parker is the same impact player that he’s always been, burning people with his speed (remember, he’s not even 30) but the Spurs do need to get a little more out of Richard Jefferson down the stretch if they want to set themselves up for another title run. Still, nobody is playing better team ball in the entire league right now than the Spurs.

Probably the team that respects San Antonio more than anyone else is the Lakers. Veterans Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant still set the mood for this squad and as such they appreciate their team play and have been constantly referring to them as “the team to beat” in the West all year. Don’t believe it. The Lakers don’t put a whole lot of premium on the regular season and the construction for a third straight title is already in place. Their biggest focus right now is on figuring out the right fit for a rotation come the playoffs. The biggest question mark is going to be around center Andrew Bynum, who should be back in the Lakers’ lineup tonight?.

The oddsmakers have the Lakers as -3.5 point favorites with an over/under of 194.5.

Ginobili and Parker feed off each other and the one thing you can rely on is whoever gets hot between the two is going to get the ball. Bank on that being Ginobili. The Lakers have struggled in close games as of late.

Free Pick: The Spurs will win by 5.

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