Spray hits fan as listless Lakers get skunked

What else was Kobe Bryant going to say? When he predicted the Los Angeles Lakers would come back to win the series, some listeners took him seriously. Others could smell the skunk coming around the corner.

The spray hit the fan Sunday, when too many Lakers bettors got fooled again.

I got fooled once, on Friday. If the Lakers had a shot to dig out of their hole against the Dallas Mavericks, it was in Game 3. But after the Lakers unraveled and blew a seven-point lead with five minutes remaining, they were just plain shot.

In a convergence of a funeral and a party, the two-time defending NBA champions were put 6 feet under as the Mavericks finished off Phil Jackson and the Lakers, 122-86.

Some of us jumped off the Lakers' betting bandwagon after the Friday fiasco, but more than a few rode it to Sunday's bitter end. Dallas opened as a 2½-point home favorite, and the line closed at 2 at the Las Vegas Hilton sports book and 1½ in other spots.

"The crazy thing is everybody bet the Lakers," Hilton oddsmaker Jeff Sherman said. "A high percentage of tickets were on the Lakers."

Favorites of about minus-350 before the series, the Lakers got skunked and broomed in a humiliating Game 4 blowout.

"We did exceptionally well with the Lakers not winning the series," Sherman said. "The public has been betting the Lakers."

It's a bittersweet scenario.

The Lakers were the marquee draw of the playoffs, boosting the wagering handle and TV ratings.

Conspiracy theorists and Tim Donaghy can't claim NBA commissioner David Stern instructed officials to fix the series and keep the Lakers alive. There were some dubious calls and noncalls at the ends of Games 1 and 3, but none of them helped the Lakers.

"With the Lakers out of the playoffs, that's definitely going to diminish the handle on the games," Sherman said. "Most of the games had average action, and the Lakers had exceptional action on them."

The Lakers' effort Sunday was the opposite of exceptional. The second quarter was like watching a bad episode of "Jersey Shore," which is redundant because there are no good episodes. The Lakers played with no heart or intensity, Bryant was average, and Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom delivered cheap-shot fouls leading to ejections.

It was a frustrating finish for a team that underachieved all season.

Jackson seemed to check out mentally and his team quit after Game 3. The Mavericks spread the floor with wide-open shooters, and they nailed 20 3-pointers, with Jason Terry sinking nine and scoring 32 points.

"It's going to be tough to get past Dallas," Sherman said.

The Mavericks get some relaxation time while waiting for either Memphis or Oklahoma City to advance.

The Thunder, down 2-1 in the series, squandered a big fourth-quarter lead Saturday in Game 3 but should bounce back as 2½-point underdogs today.

In the Eastern Conference, the banged-up Boston Celtics trail 2-1 against Miami, which needs LeBron James to live up to his self-generated hype.

James was a no-show Saturday in the Heat's 97-81 loss.

How weak was James? The Hilton posted a proposition total of 40½ on James' combined points, rebounds and assists, but all he could muster was 26.

The Heat will win the series, even if it takes six or seven games.

The Celtics are 1-point home favorites today, with point guard Rajon Rondo handcuffed by a dislocated left elbow and slowed by back trouble.

"There's no reason for the Heat not to get out of this series. That would be a choke job in itself," Sherman said. "The public doesn't like to bet the Heat too much. Chris Bosh, for anybody to talk about that guy being a third superstar, come on."

The Chicago Bulls are one superstar and several question marks. Despite 34 points from Derrick Rose, the Bulls, 3½-point road favorites, were drilled 100-88 by the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday in a game tainted by a ridiculous officiating blunder in the fourth quarter.

The Lakers and San Antonio Spurs have been ousted in the West, while the Celtics appear doomed in the East.

Sherman posed a nightmare question for Stern and the sports books: "Can you imagine an Atlanta-Memphis NBA Finals?"

n BOTTOM LINES -- Few results were more unpredictable than Regan Smith winning the Sprint Cup Southern 500 on Saturday.

The Hilton posted odds of 500-1 on Smith.

"Those are the highest odds I can ever remember on a NASCAR driver winning a race," said Sherman, who reported his book wrote just one $5 ticket on the winner.

Contact sports betting columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts the "Las Vegas Sportsline" weeknights at midnight on KDWN-AM (720) and thelasvegassportsline.com.