Lakers failing without Bynum

With 22 victories against the point spread in their first 33 games, the Lakers had become one of the NBA’s best bets behind the unselfish play of Kobe Bryant.

But things have changed over the last two weeks for Coach Phil Jackson’s young team.

Since the Lakers covered the line with an impressive victory at New Orleans on Jan. 9, they are 1-5 against the spread heading into tonight’s game at Dallas.

And, with center Andrew Bynum and swingman Trevor Ariza expected to be sidelined because of injuries until at least March, the dry spell for Lakers’ supporters may continue for a while.

The Lakers, who were 7 1/2 -point underdogs and failed to cover in a 12-point loss at San Antonio on Wednesday, will be 8 1/2 -point underdogs against the Mavericks.

This will be the Lakers’ first meeting this season with the Mavericks, who are 6-2-1 against the spread in their last nine home games against a team with a winning road record.

Accuscore.com, which simulates every game 10,000 times, says the odds of the Lakers beating the line tonight are highly unlikely without Bynum, mainly because of Kwame Brown’s increased playing time.

With Bynum healthy, the Lakers won 39% of the simulations and covered the spread with an average score of Dallas 107-102.

But with Bynum out of the lineup, the Lakers won only 26% of the simulations and failed to cover with an average score of Dallas 108-99.

Of course, the difference-maker is Brown, whose negative impact has not gone unnoticed by Accuscore.com.

In the Lakers’ loss at San Antonio, they were a minus-23 when Brown was on the floor. But even more alarming was Brown’s role in the Lakers’ recent blowout win over Denver at Staples Center.

Although the Lakers won by 17 points, they were minus-14 in the 23 minutes Brown played.

Baseball

With the start of spring training less than a month away, oddsmakers have been fine-tuning their list of future bets for the 2008 season.

The Boston Red Sox, the defending World Series champions, and New York Yankees have the top two favorite positions at Sportsbetting.com. The Red Sox are listed at 7-2, followed by the Yankees at 5-1.

They are followed by Detroit (7-1) and Cleveland and the Chicago Cubs (10-1). The Angels (12-1) are next ahead of the New York Mets and Philadelphia (15-1). The Dodgers are near the middle of the pack at 25-1.

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