LA Lakers, Celtics renew rivalry in Boston
LA Lakers, Celtics renew rivalry in Boston
The NBA's top rivalry is on tap as part of this Thursday's TNT broadcast doubleheader. Even though the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics are both at less than full strength, tonight's matchup at the new Garden still holds intrigue. The Celtics (41-9) have reeled off 12-straight wins to open a huge 16½-game gap in the Atlantic Division while the Lakers (39-9) hold a 12½-game lead in the Pacific.
Apparently there was some kind of football game last week. I think Rick Springfield was there.
It’s not that I’m trying to forget the Super Bowl – it was a great football game and a great result for Arizona supporters, even if the Cardinals couldn’t quite finish the job. But they don’t post betting odds on games that have already happened. We’ve got what promises to be another epic NBA matchup to deal with between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. This is basketball at its finest.
Well, close enough to its finest. Both teams are at less than full strength for the rematch of their terrific Christmas Day showdown, when the Lakers downed Boston 92-83 as 2-point home faves. Los Angeles lost center Andrew Bynum for the next 12 weeks or so when Kobe Bryant collided with Bynum’s right knee against Memphis on Jan. 31. The Celtics should be able to take advantage in the paint, but three of their players failed to get their flu shots this year and are paying the price. One of those players: Kevin Garnett, who missed the last two games with a high fever. What shape will he be in Thursday night at the Garden?
Boston was able to pull out a pair of victories over Minnesota and Philadelphia without the Big Ticket. But the Celtics failed to cash in both times, spoiling a beautiful 8-0 ATS streak. It didn’t help the cause that Brian Scalabrine (concussion) wasn’t around to soak up some of those frontcourt minutes. Scalabrine was also one of the three C’s who didn’t get their vaccinations; guard Tony Allen was the third, although he has yet to miss any action for Boston.
There are some other subtle differences between Thursday’s matchup and last year’s NBA Finals, which Boston took in six games at a perfect 6-0 ATS. The Lakers (39-9 SU, 25-23 ATS) had a full offseason to work with forwards Pau Gasol and Trevor Ariza. Gasol’s total production level has only dipped a small amount (from 24.0 PER to 21.7) despite him sharing the load with Bynum for the first half of the season, and Ariza (17.2 PER) has been a vital player for the Lakers off the bench – a young and talented group of reserves who are a year older and wiser from their playoff experience.
The Celtics also have a potent second unit, with Glen Davis subbing in for Garnett and providing a combined 24 points and 17 rebounds in his two starts. But P.J. Brown isn’t there to haunt the Lakers like he did in the Finals. Instead, Boston fans are getting quick glimpses (4.2 minutes per game) of Patrick O’Bryant, the third-year center from Bradley who spent the last two years in mop-up duty for the Warriors. The less we see Garnett on Thursday, the more likely we’ll see O’Bryant.
These are small matters for Boston as far as the oddsmakers are concerned. They’ve got the C’s as 5.5-point home faves with a total of 204 points – only a handful of books had this matchup off the board at press time. Early market reports had Boston pulling in about 60 percent of the action. The betting public wasn’t as tilted toward the Over as we’re used to seeing, checking in at about 55 percent. The Christmas Day game easily slid under the total of 200½ points. The six games in the 2008 NBA Finals produced three Overs and three Unders.
In addition to their Finals dominance, the Celtics also won and covered both their regular season games against L.A. last year, so there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that the Lakers, minus Bynum, are not equal to Boston. What we don’t have enough evidence on is Garnett’s state of health – but that should come down the newswires in plenty of time to make a sharp wager before the 8:00 p.m. Eastern tip-off.
The NBA's top rivalry is on tap as part of this Thursday's TNT broadcast doubleheader. Even though the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics are both at less than full strength, tonight's matchup at the new Garden still holds intrigue. The Celtics (41-9) have reeled off 12-straight wins to open a huge 16½-game gap in the Atlantic Division while the Lakers (39-9) hold a 12½-game lead in the Pacific.
Apparently there was some kind of football game last week. I think Rick Springfield was there.
It’s not that I’m trying to forget the Super Bowl – it was a great football game and a great result for Arizona supporters, even if the Cardinals couldn’t quite finish the job. But they don’t post betting odds on games that have already happened. We’ve got what promises to be another epic NBA matchup to deal with between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. This is basketball at its finest.
Well, close enough to its finest. Both teams are at less than full strength for the rematch of their terrific Christmas Day showdown, when the Lakers downed Boston 92-83 as 2-point home faves. Los Angeles lost center Andrew Bynum for the next 12 weeks or so when Kobe Bryant collided with Bynum’s right knee against Memphis on Jan. 31. The Celtics should be able to take advantage in the paint, but three of their players failed to get their flu shots this year and are paying the price. One of those players: Kevin Garnett, who missed the last two games with a high fever. What shape will he be in Thursday night at the Garden?
Boston was able to pull out a pair of victories over Minnesota and Philadelphia without the Big Ticket. But the Celtics failed to cash in both times, spoiling a beautiful 8-0 ATS streak. It didn’t help the cause that Brian Scalabrine (concussion) wasn’t around to soak up some of those frontcourt minutes. Scalabrine was also one of the three C’s who didn’t get their vaccinations; guard Tony Allen was the third, although he has yet to miss any action for Boston.
There are some other subtle differences between Thursday’s matchup and last year’s NBA Finals, which Boston took in six games at a perfect 6-0 ATS. The Lakers (39-9 SU, 25-23 ATS) had a full offseason to work with forwards Pau Gasol and Trevor Ariza. Gasol’s total production level has only dipped a small amount (from 24.0 PER to 21.7) despite him sharing the load with Bynum for the first half of the season, and Ariza (17.2 PER) has been a vital player for the Lakers off the bench – a young and talented group of reserves who are a year older and wiser from their playoff experience.
The Celtics also have a potent second unit, with Glen Davis subbing in for Garnett and providing a combined 24 points and 17 rebounds in his two starts. But P.J. Brown isn’t there to haunt the Lakers like he did in the Finals. Instead, Boston fans are getting quick glimpses (4.2 minutes per game) of Patrick O’Bryant, the third-year center from Bradley who spent the last two years in mop-up duty for the Warriors. The less we see Garnett on Thursday, the more likely we’ll see O’Bryant.
These are small matters for Boston as far as the oddsmakers are concerned. They’ve got the C’s as 5.5-point home faves with a total of 204 points – only a handful of books had this matchup off the board at press time. Early market reports had Boston pulling in about 60 percent of the action. The betting public wasn’t as tilted toward the Over as we’re used to seeing, checking in at about 55 percent. The Christmas Day game easily slid under the total of 200½ points. The six games in the 2008 NBA Finals produced three Overs and three Unders.
In addition to their Finals dominance, the Celtics also won and covered both their regular season games against L.A. last year, so there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that the Lakers, minus Bynum, are not equal to Boston. What we don’t have enough evidence on is Garnett’s state of health – but that should come down the newswires in plenty of time to make a sharp wager before the 8:00 p.m. Eastern tip-off.
