LeBron and Cavaliers look to even series with Magic
LeBron and Cavaliers look to even series with Magic
Cleveland saw their perfect postseason come to an end on Wednesday with a 107-106 loss at home to the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of the Eastern Finals. Now LeBron James and the Cavaliers are faced with a must-win Game 2 at The Q as 4-point favorites. Meanwhile out West, Denver's perfect postseason is still going after a 106-103 win over the Lakers in LA Thursday left the Nuggets 12-0 ATS in the playoffs.
I knew it: Vince McMahon has taken over the NBA.
Professional wrestling in the United States isn’t what it used to be, but the first two rounds of the 2009 playoffs still reminded me of the former WWF, more recently known as WWE. Speak of the devil. McMahon is wisely milking what publicity he can out of losing his May 25 booking at the Pepsi Center to the Denver Nuggets. McMahon’s wrestlers are pulling up stakes and moving to the Staples Center in Los Angeles for their big Monday night TV broadcast. Maybe they’ll drive a monster truck over Stan Kroenke’s limo instead of David Stern’s.
Game 3: Lakers at Nuggets
Saturday, May 23, 8:30 p.m. (ET), ABC
One thing’s for sure: The Nuggets will have even more heat with the L.A. crowd after Thursday’s 106-103 victory in Game 2. Denver got to the pay window as a 5½-point puppy to make it a perfect 12-0 ATS in the postseason. This was yet another close contest between the two clubs; the main difference from Game 1 is that Los Angeles held the lead early before the Nuggets came back to win.
Game 2 also went under the total of 212 points, yet another consistent winner for handicappers at 8-1 over the last nine Nuggets-Lakers matchups. The folks at LVSC opened the betting odds for Saturday’s Game 3 at Denver -2½ with a total of 211. However, the first lines coming offshore had Denver as a 4-point chalk. Make sure to do your line shopping for Saturday’s contest – the betting public should be out in full force this Memorial Day weekend.
There wasn’t much we saw in Game 2 to give us reason to jump off the Denver bandwagon. Kobe Bryant (32 points on 10-for-20 shooting) and Carmelo Anthony (34 points, 12-for-29) are both lighting up the scoreboard and spending a lot of time defending one another. Meanwhile, Chauncey Billups (27 points, four assists) has a major advantage at point guard over Derek Fisher, who hit one of nine shot attempts on Thursday. That advantage should only widen in the thin Denver air.
Game 3: Cavaliers at Magic
Sunday, May 24, 8:30 p.m. (ET) TNT
The Magic put an end to Cleveland’s 7-0-1 ATS playoff run by winning their opener 107-106 and cashing in as 8½-point road dogs. That’s just the third game the Cavs have lost at home all season. If they lose again on Friday night, the odds for Game 3 in Orlando will look a lot different than if Cleveland manages to tie this best-of-seven series at one game apiece.
It looked like the Cavs were going to cruise to victory in Game 1 after going up 14-4 in the first five minutes and taking a 15-point lead into the dressing room. But Orlando’s outside shooting once again saved the day at 9-for-20 (45 percent) from behind the arc, including Rashard Lewis’ game-winning trey with 14.7 seconds remaining. The two extra big men coming off the bench for Cleveland, Joe Smith and Ben Wallace, were a combined minus-22 as Dwight Howard dumped 30 points on the Cavs on 14-for-20 from the field. All of this in a game where LeBron James scored 49 points and lost.
The betting public was heavily on Orlando’s side for Friday’s Game 2 with the Magic as 9-point pups. The visitors were getting about two-thirds of the action on both the pointspread and the moneyline, which was up to +450 after paying out a handsome +400 in Wednesday’s opener. This is a situation where handicappers have to make a choice between Cleveland’s superior play over the course of the season (74-17 SU, 57-33-1 ATS) and Orlando’s record of 6-2 SU and 7-1 ATS versus the Cavs over the past two seasons. Those who saw the matchup problems Howard caused the home team in Game 1 will be more likely to go Magic on Sunday.
Cleveland saw their perfect postseason come to an end on Wednesday with a 107-106 loss at home to the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of the Eastern Finals. Now LeBron James and the Cavaliers are faced with a must-win Game 2 at The Q as 4-point favorites. Meanwhile out West, Denver's perfect postseason is still going after a 106-103 win over the Lakers in LA Thursday left the Nuggets 12-0 ATS in the playoffs.
I knew it: Vince McMahon has taken over the NBA.
Professional wrestling in the United States isn’t what it used to be, but the first two rounds of the 2009 playoffs still reminded me of the former WWF, more recently known as WWE. Speak of the devil. McMahon is wisely milking what publicity he can out of losing his May 25 booking at the Pepsi Center to the Denver Nuggets. McMahon’s wrestlers are pulling up stakes and moving to the Staples Center in Los Angeles for their big Monday night TV broadcast. Maybe they’ll drive a monster truck over Stan Kroenke’s limo instead of David Stern’s.
Game 3: Lakers at Nuggets
Saturday, May 23, 8:30 p.m. (ET), ABC
One thing’s for sure: The Nuggets will have even more heat with the L.A. crowd after Thursday’s 106-103 victory in Game 2. Denver got to the pay window as a 5½-point puppy to make it a perfect 12-0 ATS in the postseason. This was yet another close contest between the two clubs; the main difference from Game 1 is that Los Angeles held the lead early before the Nuggets came back to win.
Game 2 also went under the total of 212 points, yet another consistent winner for handicappers at 8-1 over the last nine Nuggets-Lakers matchups. The folks at LVSC opened the betting odds for Saturday’s Game 3 at Denver -2½ with a total of 211. However, the first lines coming offshore had Denver as a 4-point chalk. Make sure to do your line shopping for Saturday’s contest – the betting public should be out in full force this Memorial Day weekend.
There wasn’t much we saw in Game 2 to give us reason to jump off the Denver bandwagon. Kobe Bryant (32 points on 10-for-20 shooting) and Carmelo Anthony (34 points, 12-for-29) are both lighting up the scoreboard and spending a lot of time defending one another. Meanwhile, Chauncey Billups (27 points, four assists) has a major advantage at point guard over Derek Fisher, who hit one of nine shot attempts on Thursday. That advantage should only widen in the thin Denver air.
Game 3: Cavaliers at Magic
Sunday, May 24, 8:30 p.m. (ET) TNT
The Magic put an end to Cleveland’s 7-0-1 ATS playoff run by winning their opener 107-106 and cashing in as 8½-point road dogs. That’s just the third game the Cavs have lost at home all season. If they lose again on Friday night, the odds for Game 3 in Orlando will look a lot different than if Cleveland manages to tie this best-of-seven series at one game apiece.
It looked like the Cavs were going to cruise to victory in Game 1 after going up 14-4 in the first five minutes and taking a 15-point lead into the dressing room. But Orlando’s outside shooting once again saved the day at 9-for-20 (45 percent) from behind the arc, including Rashard Lewis’ game-winning trey with 14.7 seconds remaining. The two extra big men coming off the bench for Cleveland, Joe Smith and Ben Wallace, were a combined minus-22 as Dwight Howard dumped 30 points on the Cavs on 14-for-20 from the field. All of this in a game where LeBron James scored 49 points and lost.
The betting public was heavily on Orlando’s side for Friday’s Game 2 with the Magic as 9-point pups. The visitors were getting about two-thirds of the action on both the pointspread and the moneyline, which was up to +450 after paying out a handsome +400 in Wednesday’s opener. This is a situation where handicappers have to make a choice between Cleveland’s superior play over the course of the season (74-17 SU, 57-33-1 ATS) and Orlando’s record of 6-2 SU and 7-1 ATS versus the Cavs over the past two seasons. Those who saw the matchup problems Howard caused the home team in Game 1 will be more likely to go Magic on Sunday.