This has been a bread & butter play for me during this series and I still find the number a bit mystifying because of the shooters these two teams have. Since Game 1 when the two teams combined to net just 7 threes, it's been a barrage of threes with totals of 16, 21, 15 & 15 in the next four games. Yes, I did sweat out Game 4 where overtime was needed to get past the total, but it still made it and perhaps more enticing in this series is the magnetic force this series seems to have for the extra periods. Of course, yielding extra opportunities if need be. I broke this one down hard to make sure that it still makes sense and well, to me, it does. You've got three players on each side that account for most of the long distance bombs being hoisted and I threw in a 4th for Boston. The numbers next to their names are three pointers made/attempts for the series.
Bulls
1. Hinrich (10/21)
2. Gordon (12/32)
3. Salmons (6/24)
Celtics
1. House (5/16)
2. Allen (16/35)
3. Pierce (10/27)
4. Rondo (4/7)
Within this group of 7, you have 63 of the 74 made three pointers in this series. These are the guys who have to get it done. The volume of shots has remained steady from this group over the course of the series. 3 pt. attempts from Game 1-5: 29, 32, 34, 33 & 34. And with the exception of Game 1, the made 3's from this group have eclipsed tonight's number with no further help in Games 2-5: 15, 16, 13, 13. Then throw in the stray attempts from Brad Miller, Brian Scalabrine, Stephon Marbury, Derrick Rose & even Tim Thomas ... and the opportunities will be there. And as I've said with each time I've made this wager, both sides have guys capable of getting 1/3 to 1/2 of this total all by themselves which is why I find this attractive. The key element for me here is that from the Magnificent 7 above, if at least 3-4 of them hit multiple threes then this thing's got a shot at -115 from my book.
Bulls
1. Hinrich (10/21)
2. Gordon (12/32)
3. Salmons (6/24)
Celtics
1. House (5/16)
2. Allen (16/35)
3. Pierce (10/27)
4. Rondo (4/7)
Within this group of 7, you have 63 of the 74 made three pointers in this series. These are the guys who have to get it done. The volume of shots has remained steady from this group over the course of the series. 3 pt. attempts from Game 1-5: 29, 32, 34, 33 & 34. And with the exception of Game 1, the made 3's from this group have eclipsed tonight's number with no further help in Games 2-5: 15, 16, 13, 13. Then throw in the stray attempts from Brad Miller, Brian Scalabrine, Stephon Marbury, Derrick Rose & even Tim Thomas ... and the opportunities will be there. And as I've said with each time I've made this wager, both sides have guys capable of getting 1/3 to 1/2 of this total all by themselves which is why I find this attractive. The key element for me here is that from the Magnificent 7 above, if at least 3-4 of them hit multiple threes then this thing's got a shot at -115 from my book.
