Tip-off: Friday, 10:05 p.m. ET
Line: San Antonio -8, Total: 208.5

The defending champion Spurs go on the road to face the sputtering Lakers on Friday night.

The start to San Antonio's season has been a rocky one with losses to Phoenix, Houston and New Orleans while turning it around recently with solid wins in the first two contests in this four-game road trip. First they were able to defeat the Clippers by a score of 89-85 as 2-point underdogs and then were getting 7.5 points when they faced the Warriors most recently while taking an easy 113-110 victory. They turned the ball over just eight times in the win over Golden State while forcing their opponent to give up the rock 19 times, leading to 21 points. The Lakers have put together a club that does not know the value of good defense to go along with superstar Kobe Bryant and the inexperience has been evident with just one SU victory on the year while going 4-3-1 ATS. They have been double-digit underdogs in 5-of-8 games with their one SU win coming against the Bobcats last Sunday as 2.5-point underdogs at home. In their most recent game, they took on New Orleans as big 11-point underdogs on the road and were able to keep it somewhat close in a 109-102 defeat. The L.A. defense was horrendous, as it allowed the Pelicans to shoot 54.9% from the field. The Lakers have now let their opponents shoot better than 52% FG in half of their contests. San Antonio was 3-1 SU (2-2 ATS) in this matchup last season and defeated L.A. by an average of 18.7 PPG in the three victories. The Lakers were able to get a win in the most recent game against each other on April 16 though, outscoring San Antonio 113-100 as 9-point underdogs on the road. Some trends to consider for this game include that the Spurs are 42-22 ATS (66%) in the past three seasons after scoring 110+ points, while Los Angeles is 16-6 ATS (73%) in the past two years after two or more consecutive Overs. SG Marco Belinelli (groin) is questionable to play in this one, while C Tiago Splitter (calf) and PG Patrick Mills (shoulder) are out indefinitely for the Spurs. On the other side of the ball, SG Wayne Ellington (personal) is dealing with a death in the family while PF Ryan Kelly (hamstring) is listed as probable.

Can the Lakers keep the score close against the defending champs? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2014-15 season. StatFox Forecaster has a 60% ATS record (24-16) in featured games this season. StatFox Scott is off to a great start to the 2014-15 campaign at 58% ATS (7-5), while StatFox Brian is 63% ATS (5-3) on NBA Best Bets in November.

The Spurs have actually looked pretty poor on offense this season, as they are scoring the seventh-fewest points in the league (95.1 PPG) while hitting on a mere 43.7% of their field goals (also 7th-worst in NBA). Their defense has been great, though, giving up just 95.6 PPG (5th in league) on 45.9% FG and 31.2% threes (6th in NBA) on the year. PF Tim Duncan (14.7 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 1.7 BPG) has posted a double-double in five of his six games played despite shooting a career-low 43% from the floor. Last season he faced the Lakers twice and averaged 10.5 PPG, 12.0 RPG and 1.5 BPG. PG Tony Parker (19.1 PPG, 4.7 APG) has played 30 or more minutes in each of the past three games and is coming off a huge performance in the win over the Warriors as he made 11-of-17 shots to finish with 28 points and seven assists. In his 42 career games against Los Angeles, he has scored 17.6 PPG (50% FG) with 5.7 APG. SF Kawhi Leonard (13.8 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 1.7 SPG) has become the most important piece of this team and has two double-doubles in his past three performances. He has not put up too many stats in his 10 career games facing the Lakers though, averaging 9.9 PPG (47% FG), 5.7 RPG and 1.3 SPG.

The Los Angeles offense has had no trouble putting up points as they have dropped 102.6 PPG on their opponents behind 44.5% shooting. Unfortunately they have no semblance of a defense and are allowing a league-worst 111.5 PPG on 49.8% shooting (also worst in league). SG Kobe Bryant (27.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 1.8 SPG) has taken 24.5 shots per game, while making a meager 39% of them, but has surpassed 20 points in each of the past seven contests. Bryant has played his best when taking on the Spurs, going for 24.3 PPG (44% FG) with 5.5 RPG and 4.1 APG. C Jordan Hill (13.6 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 1.3 BPG) has relished getting big minutes, as he has scored double-digit points in his past six performances while having two double-doubles. He had 11.5 PPG (56% FG) with 9.0 RPG in his two games (1 start) taking on San Antonio last season. PF Carlos Boozer (13.0 PPG, 5.9 RPG) has had 13+ points in each of his past four games as he adjusts to his new team, but has struggled with fouls as he has racked up at least four personals in four of his past five contests. As a member of the Bulls last season, Boozer took on the Spurs twice and scored a pedestrian 12.0 PPG (48% FG) with 8.5 RPG.