The oddsmakers have made a substantial adjustment on the both the side and total for Game 3. The Lakers were 6½ and 7½-point favorites at home in both Games 1 & 2, but now the Suns are a 2½-point home favorite. This 10-point adjustment is largely due to the fact that teams down 0-2 usually give a strong performance at home in Game 3.

The first two games soared Over the total in Los Angeles with 235 and 236 points scored. The oddsmakers have been forced to adjust the Over/Under line higher and it now stands at 219 which is nearly nine points higher than the 210½ point total that was posted for Game 1.

Historically, NBA teams that hold a 2-0 lead go on to win a best-of-7 series over 93-percent of the time. This has been reflected in the adjusted series price as the Lakers are now a -1200 favorite, compared to just a -340 when the series began.

Home Court Advantage

The home team has dominated the six head-to-head meetings this season, going 5-1 straight-up and against the spread, winning by an average margin of +13.5 points per game. Going back further, the home team has won 8 of the past 9 meetings straight-up and has covered 7 of the past 8 games.

Phoenix is 16-4-1 ATS in their past 21 home games, including a current 11-1-1 ATS run. The Suns are also on a 33-13-1 ATS run in their past 47 games overall, despite going 0-2 ATS at Los Angeles this past week.

The Money Quarter

Phoenix has seen a huge reversal in the fourth quarter from their last series against the San Antonio Spurs. Over their four-game sweep, the Suns out-scored San Antonio by 25 points (132-107) in the final quarter. Phoenix averaged 33 points over the final 12 minutes in those four games, but those numbers are way down against the Lakers.

In the first two games in Los Angeles, the Suns have scored a total of only 50 points in the fourth quarter. The Lakers have scored 69 points in the money quarter, and Los Angeles’ 19-point advantage is one of the reasons why they are up 2-0 in the series.

Bench Points

The second unit of Los Angeles has played a huge role so far in this series. The Lakers’ bench has scored 80 points in the two games with Lamar Odom’s 36 points leading the way. The other two Lakers making contributions are Shannon Brown (17 points) and Jordan Farmar (21 points) and their effectiveness has been huge for Los Angeles.

Phoenix is getting next to nothing from their bench. The two best bench players for the Suns, Channing Frye and Leandro Barbosa, have been downright awful. Combined, those two have scored just 17 points in the first two games, and unless they pick up the slack real quick, the Suns will rely heavily on their starting five to score the majority of their points.

Too Big Inside

There was no secret going into this series that Los Angeles held a huge edge inside the paint. With Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom controlling the block, Phoenix has been torched inside. That trio has scored 103 points in the first two games and that should continue unless Amare Stoudemire and Robin Lopez man-up in the paint.

The Lakers have out-scored the Suns by 28 points (108-80) in the paint. Those numbers are no fluke either because the Lakers scored a total of 196 points in the paint in the four regular season meetings, out-scoring the Suns by 34 points in that department.