NBA Lockout Update: Owners, players agree on tentative deal to end NBA lockout
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It seems as though the day has finally come with the NBA owners and players seeing eye-to-eye on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). After meeting for 15 hours on Friday and into Saturday morning, the league can say goodbye to a very long and drawn out NBA lockout as it appears that we will see NBA games get started this season on Christmas Day.
Remember, this is nothing more than a tentative deal which basically means a handshake on a agreement with nothing signed, but everyone seems to be in agreement that this new CBA will get signed in the coming days. The players and owners must take a vote on the new CBA and it will almost certainly pass.
With that being said, the NBA is officially back in action and NBA camps and free agency will begin on Dec. 9. Now that we can put the NBA lockout behind us, the speculation about the upcoming season begins and you can start considering NBA futures betting.
As of right now, the Los Angeles Lakers aren't favored to win it all, but they are pretty close and it might be a bet worth taking!
In the meantime, avid Lakers fans should get ready for what will be an extremely fast free agency period in which the team could make a few changes. There has been plenty of talk of what potential free agents could be coming to town like Jamal Crawford (Atlanta Hawks), Baron Davis (Cleveland Cavaliers), Jason Richardson (Orlando Magic) and Mike Bibby (Miami Heat), but it is uncertain what direction the Lakers will go in.
It will be interesting to see all the player movement starting Dec. 9.
Magic snap Lakers win streak at four with big win in Orlando
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The two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers were rolling coming into Sunday's matchup with the Orlando Magic winning the first four games of the seven-game road trip. As if the win over the Celtics (92-86) in Boston this past Thursday wasn't impressive enough, the Lakers were able to get another big win the following day by heading the Big Apple to blowout the New York Knicks (113-96) on their home floor at Madison Square Garden.
Not only were the defending champs able to get back on track with four straight wins on the road, but they were able to do it against arguably the best team in the league in the Boston Celtics and against an up and coming squad in New York. These two wins were able to give the Lakers a little bit of breathing room with all the trade rumors floating around Lakerland involving Carmelo Anthony.
Following the big win over the Knicks, the Lakers had just one day to rest before they had to get right back at it against Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic on their home floor. Even though the Magic have taken a backseat to the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference as of late, Orlando still has a solid squad and will be a force to be reckoned with come playoff time.
With that being said, the Lakers had their work cut out for them on Sunday in this rematch of the 2009 NBA Finals. The consensus coming into this game was that the defending champs would be a bit sluggish after such an emotional win over the Celtics and a dominant performance against the Knicks, but were confident that they could go into Orlando and come out with the win.
Unfortunately, the Lakers were sluggish and couldn't get anything going against the Magic. Not only was Dwight Howard almost unstoppable in the paint (31 points, 13 rebounds), but the Lakers' perimeter players could hit a shot to save their lives.
Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum finished with a team-high 17 points for the Lakers, but that wasn't enough to overcome the horrible shooting for the team as a whole as they shot just 39.4% from the floor (33-84). Bynum did get off to a good start and at one point looked like he might be in for a career game, but he just couldn't keep up with Howard in the long run as the Magic cruised to a 89-75 victory.
Lakers-Magic Highlights
NEXT LAKERS GAME: Los Angeles Lakers @ Charlotte Bobcats Mon. Feb. 14, 2011 4 p.m. PST
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