[Sir_Don_Yeggins]

Celtics out for blood tn...thinkin about throwin a cool 250 on the celts ml tn

[bleek88]

heat will come to play tonight

[ashulga]

Just take the points to be safe. Celtics had better acquisitions, team is mad over ray Allen leaving regardless of what they say publicly, and they will be out couched completely.

[PerfectGrape]

People are overplaying the sportscenter storylines. Ray Allen this, Boston will be really mad. I guess the trend of champions losing the first game could be considered, but are people forgetting who the Heat are? The biggest public team had a winning ats record at home last year.

[High3rEl3m3nt]

Celtic spread is the right play in my opinion. Might even creep to 7 and if it holds steady at 6.5, you know Boston's the right side. Boston has this game circled and Miami faces the perennial challange of starting the following season as hungry as the year prior. Whereas great teams in the past have found ways to stay motivated, Lebron has shown that he's very immature when it comes to the mental aspects of the game. Anyone remember coming in to last year, Lebron pleaded with all of the NBA greats to tell him what he could do to get to the next level? As Charles pointed out, past NBA greats never asked how they could be great or improve to the next level...they JUST did it. I am not just another Lebron hater, but he's fortunate that he's been blessed with so much physical talent because it definitely makes up for his lack of mental toughness. I think the Celtics are the right side, as well as the under. At this point, these are just leans. Might play Boston and the points.

[Renojaguar]

The Celtics is the play here. Everyone in the "Joe Public" will be on the Heat tonight just for the simple fact that they won the Championship last year. It's the first game of the season and Boston will want to get this one on the road.

[tubguy]

The public must be forgetting how much more the Celtics have improved since last season. They're also forgetting the fact that the Celtics got robbed game 3 of the ECF last season. The series should have ended in 5 games if the refs got the correct call on Wades foul on Rondo with 1:36 left to play. The Celtics have Miami's number.

[vigster]

Either Celt with the points or heat ml. Game should be very close and most likely under IMO.

Good luck to all now and the rest of the season.

[ses_d]

on the Celtics plus points today. don't think the Celtics pull off a W tonight but will be close for sure. They will come out fighting...plus always fade the defending champs.

[drc6491]

if anything Heat spread 1st half, since celtics may fight it out in the 2nd half

[PerfectGrape]

covers.com/articles/articles.aspx?theArt=292383

Still, how much of a factor does the "Boston revenge" play into you Boston backers decision making? It could be a factor, but I don't think it will be a hugely deciding factor. Boston could be pumped up and Miami comes out flat, I could see that happening. I can also see both teams playing hard in a playoff atmosphere. Or both teams could be a little sloppy. I can also see Ray Allen try to stick it to his old team. I've noticed players who are traded/leave teams usually will have big games when they play against their ex-teams.

Most people fade the previous year champs first game of the season back. Taken from the covers article:
"Looking back another 10 years to investigate the trend further finds the complete opposite to be true. Defending champions between 1992 and 2001 thrived, going 8-2 SU and 7-3 ATS. Keep in mind that the Bulls (5), Rockets (2) and Lakers (2) accounted for nine of the 10 championships in that span."

If this was any other team, I would probably fade the champions, but the Heat are the huge favorites to win again. Their mentality is "defense this year" and winning multiple titles. If you look at the trend of teams of multiple title caliber, they will cover (small sample size either regardless).

"It's the second ring-night in Heat history. It's almost certain to go better than the first one after Miami's 2006 title.
Any mention of the score from that Chicago-Miami opener -- 108-66 -- still makes Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem cringe. They're the last two players remaining in Miami from that Heat team, which endured the worst opening-night loss ever for a reigning champion."

I'm sure D Wade remembers being blown out first game back after his previous title and will be trying not to let that happen.

"It sticks," Haslem said. "But it's six years later. You learn and you move on and you try not to let it happen again. We've got a different group of guys. We're smarter, me and Dwyane are. And we understand the challenges of defending the title now. We were naive. At that point, we thought we could do it again the next year and just do it again and do it again and do it again."

Either way, everyone on the forums will be making their plays for whatever reason and most have them booked, so it isn't like the discussion will influence anyone's bets. I still think
A) Heat spread is probably inflated a bit making Boston a +EV play
B) Most casual betters are overvaluing the Boston revenge factor and looking too much into the fact that it went 7 last playoffs.

[Eagles27]

Celtics out for blood tn...thinkin about throwin a cool 250 on the celts ml tn

Nope, bet on Ray Allen knocking down at least a few threes tonight lol.

[Speedy88]

Am I the only one who thinks the Celtics aren't that good? Listened to Stephen A Smith on SportsCenter talk about how the only two contenders out East are Miami and Boston. I know Miami is a near lock for the Eastern Conference Finals, but I"m not sold on the Celtics. They are one old-man injury away from being in big trouble. I'm just waiting for the wheels to fall of KG or Pierce. I know they reloaded with Terry, Courtney Lee, and get Jeff Green back this year, but I still don't think they are better than Indiana or a 76ers team with Bynum.

[SmittyZ28]

First NBA Bet...

Result: Pending

Celtics(Boston) Heat(Miami) 10/30/12(20:00 ET) Celtics(Boston) +6.5

Mavericks(Dallas) Lakers(LA) 10/30/12(22:30 ET) Lakers(LA) -440

Wizards(Washington) Cavaliers(Cleveland) 10/30/12(19:05 ET) Cavaliers(Cleveland) -230

[Eagles27]

Am I the only one who thinks the Celtics aren't that good? Listened to Stephen A Smith on SportsCenter talk about how the only two contenders out East are Miami and Boston. I know Miami is a near lock for the Eastern Conference Finals, but I"m not sold on the Celtics. They are one old-man injury away from being in big trouble. I'm just waiting for the wheels to fall of KG or Pierce. I know they reloaded with Terry, Courtney Lee, and get Jeff Green back this year, but I still don't think they are better than Indiana or a 76ers team with Bynum.

I think the 76ers are going to surprise some people this year. Im not sold on Boston either. I think most importantly, people are forgetting just how deep the Miami bench is this year. Allen + Miller backing up D-Wade and Rashard Lewis backing up Lebron. The Miami bench could probably get 40 wins on their own, Miami is very solid this year (more so than last year). There is a reason why Allen took less money to play for the heat (he knows they are the better team).

[19th Hole]

if anything Heat spread 1st half, since celtics may fight it out in the 2nd half

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``

Agreed

[MikeTheKnight]

Am I the only one who thinks the Celtics aren't that good? Listened to Stephen A Smith on SportsCenter talk about how the only two contenders out East are Miami and Boston. I know Miami is a near lock for the Eastern Conference Finals, but I"m not sold on the Celtics. They are one old-man injury away from being in big trouble. I'm just waiting for the wheels to fall of KG or Pierce. I know they reloaded with Terry, Courtney Lee, and get Jeff Green back this year, but I still don't think they are better than Indiana or a 76ers team with Bynum.

I'm with you... I say this is Pierce fall off year.

[bleek88]

Am I the only one who thinks the Celtics aren't that good? Listened to Stephen A Smith on SportsCenter talk about how the only two contenders out East are Miami and Boston. I know Miami is a near lock for the Eastern Conference Finals, but I"m not sold on the Celtics. They are one old-man injury away from being in big trouble. I'm just waiting for the wheels to fall of KG or Pierce. I know they reloaded with Terry, Courtney Lee, and get Jeff Green back this year, but I still don't think they are better than Indiana or a 76ers team with Bynum.

no 1 gives a shit what you think man stop foolin yourself

[PerfectGrape]

no 1 gives a shit what you think man stop foolin yourself

At least this guy has an opinion. You just make lock threads with no analysis. Good luck "getting paiddddd"

[High3rEl3m3nt]

Great discussion going on in this thread! Enjoyed reading nearly everyone's posts.

[Sir_Don_Yeggins]

I cant decide if well see a defensive celtics or a more fast break oriented team with their new acquisitions..

[Capybara]

Celts are the play. Jeff Green is going to be not only back to his old OKC self but better. Celts guard play should be outstanding and deep after their acquisitions. And don't underestimate the impact Sullinger is gonna make. People compare him to Big Baby but his instincts and moves around the basket are about a million times better.

[Ch Br]

I cant decide if well see a defensive celtics or a more fast break oriented team with their new acquisitions..

ive been contemplating the same thing... and i dont think it would take much more than an early 8pt lead to take the crowd outta it after cheering for those damn rings......

I REALLY wanna bet celt ML, but i know the points are the SMART thing to do... hoping it gets nudged to +7 before tip with all the squares pounding the favorite champs