The Lakers and Mavericks begin their second-round NBA playoff series Monday night in Game 1 at Staples Center. Though the two teams had the same regular season record, the Lakers have home court advantage in this series because they won their division while the Mavs finished second in theirs, and also because the Lakers beat the Mavericks in two of their three regular season matchups. Even at 57 regular season wins apiece, the Lakers are heavy favorites to win the series.
The Lakers are a -370 favorite to take the series according to Bodog, meaning a bettor would have to wager $370 on the Lakers to win $100. The Mavericks are at +285 to take the series, meaning a $100 bet would win $285 if Dallas were to win the series. The Lakers are six-point favorites to take Game 1 at home.
Though they won 57 games during the regular season, the Lakers were just 38-44 against the spread. Meanwhile, Dallas was 43-37-2 against the point spread. In their only matchup in Los Angeles this season, the Lakers trounced Dallas by 28 points, 110-82, on March 31.
For more news on this second-round matchup, be sure to stay tuned to this story stream at SB Nation Los Angeles. For more NBA playoff coverage, check out SB Nation's playoff bracket and schedule. For more news and information on the Lakers, be sure to read the SB Nation blog Silver Screen and Roll.