Tuesday's 2-Unit **Lakers/Knicks Winner** - 1/30/2007 7:30:00 PM

Los Angeles Lakers -2.5 -110

Los Angeles begins a rare eight-game road trip, only the second time it has gone on a trip this big since 1979. After New York, the Lakers visit Boston, Indiana, Washington, Atlanta, Detroit, Toronto and Cleveland. Head coach Phil Jackson said he's trying to combat a potential midseason malaise with the Lakers already 10 games above the .500 mark overall. Los Angeles is 8-11 on the road but 11 of those 19 games have come against teams currently in playoff slots.

New York had a decent run going but it has lost five of its last seven games and remains under .500 in its home floor. The Knicks are just 5-12 against teams ranked in the top ten in the league rankings and the Lakers are currently in the 6th spot. The Knicks are 6-7 in January but only 1-5 when they allow the opposition to score in triple digits and that is a problem against he Lakers who are averaging 104.4 ppg on the season, 5th best in the league, including 102.5 ppg on the road, also good for 5th.

The Lakers defense is getting back to full strength thanks to the return of Lamar Odom, as this will be his third game back. After not shooting worse than 37.5 percent from the field in a game this season, San Antonio was at 31 percent entering overtime on Sunday, finishing at a season low 33.7 percent. Los Angeles has been very shaky on defense but this last effort should give it some momentum heading into the start of this very important this road swing.

The Lakers have lost its last two games in overtime and both at home so they are no doubt a hungry team right now. The first two games of this road trip are the biggest since wins in both will provide a burst heading into the difficult part with five of the final six games coming against playoff teams. This is a revenge situation for the Knicks who lost the first meeting this season in Los Angeles by 33 points but getting revenge at home is difficult when winning there consistently just doesn?t happen. Play Los Angeles Lakers 2 Units

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