good luck man
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Boston shows up tonight with intensity and focus on the boards. Ray Allen should have a big game. Best off screen shooter in the series. He will have 24+ tonight.Comment -
I agree with these two.
The early whistles on Ray cost the Celts dearly in Game 1. He is a big key to this series, as he should be able to abuse Fisher. Then if Kobe is on him, it frees up Rondo to do his thing more effectively.
It may be the square play today, I don't know, but you're crazy if you don't think the Celtics will come out MUCH better across the board tonight. Improved games by Rondo, KG, and Ray. Better team defense. Better boxing out. Tighter execution.
They may not win (I could see Kobe hitting a game-winner or something), but I think they should cover.Comment -
BIG WINNER IN GAME ONE FOR SHARPS...GETS HIT AGAIN IN GAME TWO
Sharps came in very hard on the Under in Game One of the NBA Championship series this past Thursday Night. A total that opened at 195 would end up closing as low as 190½.
The final score was 102-89, which is 191. That means all the Under money won, except for people who pushed at 191, or any very late stragglers trying to play the steam at the worst possible price.
And, you KNOW that Under money is sharp money because the public likes to bet Overs. They want to root for points being scored. They like knowing a wild last few minutes or even overtime can bail them out. Squares (the public) bet Overs. For a prominent TV event to see a total plummet like that tells you there was aggressive money on the Under.
Knowing this, oddsmakers opened Game Two at 191...only to see MORE money come in on the Under, driving the number down to 190 as we go to press. Given that the first game landed on 191, that may be the end of the moves. On the other hand, there were a million free throws in Game One (67 actually), as the refs kept marching everyone to the free throw line. If the refs "let them play" a little more in Game Two, there's still room to come down scoring some more.
We saw something very similar last year, with the Game One total of Orlando/Lakers closing at 205, only to see posted totals in later games go as low as 198. Clearly the sharps like playing Unders with the Lakers when they match up with the East.
A quick look at last year's results may explain why...
THE LAKERS VS. ORLANDO LAST SEASON
Game One: 175 points scored in a 100-75 Lakers blowout
Game Two: 176 points scored in regulation in a 101-96 overtime game
Game Three: 212 points scored in Orlando's only victory
Game Four: 176 points scored in regulation in another OT win for the Lakers
Game Five: 185 points scored in the series finale
Orlando shot an amazing 62% in the game that went Over. Otherwise, it was a slow-down series with some pretty intense defense. Oddsmakers missed the totals to a significant degree given that the numbers on the board were near 200. Only one of five games made it past 185 in regulation.
We can deduce from this that the sharps are anticipating slow-down defensive basketball from the Lakers when they play the East. This isn't Phoenix or Utah they're facing. It's a slower, more defensive-minded opponent. The Lakers are fine with that. They WANT to win that kind of game so they can put all those "too soft to be champions" criticisms to rest for good.
This is why sharps are sharp!
They pounded Under 195, 194, 193, 192, and scored a Game One victory even with a lot of free throws.
I should also note that Boston played mostly Unders in the last round vs. Orlando. Those games landed on 180, 187, 165, 176 in regulation, 205, and 180. Clearly, "Eastern style" basketball is going to end in the 180's or less...and the Lakers have established they want to beat the East at their own game.
It will be interesting to see how this particular element plays out the rest of the way. Now that the market has made a big adjustment, it may largely depend on the officiating and some random hot streaks with three-pointers.
What about the team side? Well, we DIDN'T see an adjustment downward...which often happens because gamblers want to bet the Game One loser to bounce back strong in Game Two. Squares want to keep betting the Lakers because they love Kobe. Sharps were impressed with the Lakers dominance in Game One, and how well they've played at home the last 30 playoff games. I'm not sensing much sharp love for the Celtics just yet. It's still early. Maybe on Sunday morning that will happen. Or, maybe they're waiting to see if squares will drive the line up to Lakers -7 or more.Comment -
game 2
lakers will win so maybe taking the ml mite be better then spreadComment -
Lakeshow by DD again boston showed their age.Comment -
lakers for 1q and 1hsbrComment -
Good luck on your plays tonight.Scared money don't make money
182-120-6 (60.26%) Final Total NBA Record over 308 plays
37-20-1 (65%) Record for the 2010 NBA PLAYOFFSComment -
Any early leans that I should play? Want to get a play in before I head to bed.
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Well, you can bet like everyone and their mothers and take the Celtics....Cause they "have to play better tonight", "maybe even win straight up", "KG's gonna dominate Pau", "they're better than that"
LA-6
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my lean is lakers but havent put anything in yet..im sure the celtics will play better tonight but so will the lakers IMO..initial thoughts are that instead of losing by 13 the celts lose by 8 or 9...101-93 or 99-90 type gameComment -
no play. honestly there are smarter games to cap today bol allComment -
Any thoughts on player point totals o/u:
rondo 15.5
Kobe 30
gasol 21
pierce 20
??Comment -
i agree with this. boston's overmatched. all there is to it. percentages look to be split though, so i wouldn't say everyone and their mothers are on the celtics, but those bettors are more than likely taking them for the reasons you laid out.
i also have lakers -4 (+114) 1st half as well.Comment -
Lakers and over tonightComment -
over is being pounded right nowComment -
THE 2010 NBA FINALS - BOSTON at LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Lakers lead series 1-0; Game 2 is Sunday at 8:05 p.m. ET
Naturally, the most telling part of Game 1 in this NBA Finals series was that the Lakers were ready/willing/able to hand out their own brand of physical punishment to the Celtics ... but something's telling us that this Game 2 clash in LA-LA land is going to be more free-flowing.
Heck, how many wrestling takedowns can one basketball series have, anyway?
If the game opens up a bit more here it should benefit a few players on each side but perhaps it will benefit nobody more than Boston point guard Rajon Rondo who has been widely hailed as the "second-best" player in this year playoffs behind Lakers' mega-star Kobe Bryant.
Note that Rondo (6-of-14 field-goal shooting and 13 points with 8 assists and only 2 turnovers in Game 1) was able to slip behind Bryant's man-to-man coverage to get a couple of second-chance shots but mainly he was kept on the outside looking in at the action in the series opener and here you can expect more end-to-end rushes by the Celtics star who should reasonably look at a couple of stats here:
How many times does he get to the free-throw line (1-of-4 FTs in the opener wasn't nearly effective enough) and does he or not get into the twin-figure range in assists here? If Rondo is able to dictate more of the pace and tempo of Game 2, then the Celtics will be all that much better for it - if not, then veterans Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are going to have to generate their own shots and that was not made easy in Game 1.
If this Game 2 tilt is more free-flowing, than it also will benefit the Lakers bench - a unit that contributed a modest 15 points in 64 total "man-minutes" and any NBA expert will tell you that your reserves always play better at home than they do on the road and so the likes of guards Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar (a combined 10 points in the opener) must get out and go and make things happen ... especially when the aforementioned Bryant is catching some rare minutes on the bench.
Make no mistake about it: Bryant can thrive when the throttle's been turned up in a game and he can grind it out as evidenced by Thursday's game-high 30-point showing (although "under" bettors who had the price at 190 ½ points are still cursing Bryant for taking and making that long-range triple in the game's final few seconds!) and so he'll adjust/adapt at any speed here.
The Lakers know that seven-footer Pau Gasol (23 points and 14 rebounds in Game 1 - including 8 offensive caroms) also will be a positive factor whether the game's been turned into a full-court affair or a half-court meat-grinder game. There's no more talk of this Spaniard being "soft" anymore but a big part of Game 2 will be how Gasol handles a fired-up Kevin Garnett who registered the "softest" 16 points in NBA Finals history. In case you didn't catch some of Friday's press conferences, there was Boston head coach Doc Rivers alerting any/all media members that the one-time league Most Valuable Player was not "finished" and instead Rivers claimed Garnett's practice the day before Game 1 was his best in a long, long time.
Suffice to say that Garnett holds a major key here as he must be more active on the glass and as a defender - only 4 rebounds and 1 blocked shot in 35 minutes in Game 1 - and mark our Jim Sez words that Garnett must show major life in the opening quarter here in Game 2 or else his teammates will get him the ball in the low box less often and Rivers might just find him a seat on the pine for half the game.
Lots to digest here while looking ahead to Game 2 of Celtics-Lakers and one thing worth checking into prior to Sunday's tilt is just how have the Celtics fared while coming off a loss in this year's playoffs - and here's what the Celts have done following an "L" this year's post-season:
DATE
FAV
SPREAD
DOG
RESULT
4-27
BOSTON
- 6.5
Miami
BOSTON 96-86
5-3
CLEVELAND
- 6
Boston
Boston 104-86
5-9
Cleveland
- 1.5
BOSTON
BOSTON 97-87
5-26
ORLANDO
- 4
Boston
ORLANDO 113-92
5-28
BOSTON
- 3.5
Orlando
BOSTON 96-84
As you can see, Boston's really bounced back from post-season losses this year with four wins in five tries and note the lone case of back-to-back losses happened in the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals series where the Celtics already owned a three games-to-one advantage while heading into a Game 5 against the Orlando Magic. Otherwise, the C's are 4-1 ATS (against the spread) in game-after-losses this post-season and that includes a Game 2 win at Cleveland and that all-important Game 6 win against Orlando.Comment -
JR,
Where are you getting these artciles from? This article you just posted is absolute garbage.Cause Sleep is the Cousin of DeathComment -
not many liking celts
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how bout 4 redsox runs this inningComment -
oops wrong thread! how u doin LB?Comment -
in to see what lb play isComment -
I dont have a play on this game yet. I might wait until halftime. To be honest im more interested in the hockey game. The flyers are my #1 team. The lakers are in the finals frequently and the series is still early. Im convinced that LA will win the game for sure but i lean Bos+6 and over 192.Comment -
I'm thinking the Flyers shock the hockey world tonight. Then Chicago wins at Philly in Game 6.Comment -
GL with whatever you decide to bet on guys...Comment -
Indeed. Guys like Shoebox had the Magic winnign the serieS last yr? 
Cause Sleep is the Cousin of DeathComment
