Late Night West Coast Betting Action: L.A. Lakers at Phoenix Suns

LA Lakers at Phoenix
Time: 9 PM ET, Dec 23, 2013
Spread: PHX -7
Total: 208

Betting odds courtesy of Bovada

The LA Lakers and Phoenix Suns have both been pleasant surprises thus far, in some respects. The Lakers can take solace that it is a .500-ish team without superstar Kobe Bryant, who is back on the shelf for six to eight weeks with a knee injury. The Suns, meanwhile, have a nice backcourt in Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe and the rebuilding effort in the desert may not be quite as lengthy as anticipated.

The Lakers lost 102-83 to Golden State on Saturday and it will find itself 7-point underdogs to the Suns according to NBA oddsmakers at Bovada. The Lakers have done it with a balanced attack thus far, with five players (including Kobe Bryant) averaging double figures. Pau Gasol has rebounded to have a decent season and is averaging 15 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.

Phoenix is 16-10 thus far on the season and boasts the 8th highest scoring offense in the NBA (103.3 points per game). The Suns have been more than pleased with offseason acquisition Eric Bledsoe, who leads the team with 19.1 points per game and 6.2 assists. His backcourt mate, Dragic, is averaging 18.7 points and 5.9 assists.

The Suns also get big contributions from high leaper Gerald Green, Markieff Morris, Channing Frye and Marcus Morris. Miles Plumlee has also looked promising and is averaging 9.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in his second NBA season.

LAL Trends: 0-4 ATS in last 4 on 1 days rest; OVER 5-1 in last 6 on 1 days rest; 1-5 ATS in last 6 when opponent scores 100 or more in previous game.