Lakers visit Phoenix for key Pacific showdown

Basketball Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The two top teams in the Pacific Division meet for the last time in the regular season tonight, when the second-place Phoenix Suns welcome the front-running Los Angeles Lakers to the U.S. Airways Center.

The defending NBA champion Lakers are once again atop the Western Conference and a comfortable seven games ahead of the Suns in the Pacific with just 17 games to go before the postseason.

After being blown out twice in Los Angeles earlier this season, the Suns responded with an impressive 118-103 win over the Lakers in Phoenix on December 28 and will now try and even the season series with another triumph tonight.

Most recently, the Suns, who are percentage points behind Oklahoma City for the fifth seed in the West, improved to 1-1 on a season-long seven-game homestand with a 113-104 win over Indiana last Saturday. Amare Stoudemire poured in a game-best 30 points to go with six rebounds in that one.

Grant Hill added 22 points and eight rebounds for the Suns, who have won 14 of their last 18 games overall. Jason Richardson donated 20 points and 10 rebounds, Steve Nash tallied 12 points and five assists while Jared Dudley finished with 11 points and 12 boards off the bench for Phoenix.

"It was a good win for us. We're still a little banged up obviously," Suns head coach Alvin Gentry said. "Steve (Nash) played minutes that I wish I could sit him over there, but he wanted to gut this game out and that just speaks volume about what he's all about as far as our team."

The Lakers, meanwhile, snapped a season-worst three-game skid Tuesday in Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant played the hero again, sinking the winning jumper from the right baseline with 1.9 seconds left to left the Lakers over the Toronto Raptors, 109-107.

Bryant, who missed a potential winning three-pointer at the end of regulation in a 106-105 loss in Toronto on January 24, scored 32 points, dished out six assists and had six rebounds.

"They didn't come early at me and I got the shot off," Bryant said. "That's part of my responsibility, to close teams out. Our defense tonight was garbage. We have to focus on execution."

Andrew Bynum tallied 22 points while Pau Gasol registered 17 points and nine boards for the Lakers, who were on their longest skid since January of 2008.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.