NBA Playoffs: Lakers and Celtics, Game1
The revenge angle is often overplayed in sports betting, but it might have some legs in this year's NBA Finals. Pau Gasol calls the Lakers' loss to the Celtics in the 2008 championship "painful," and his LA teammates still remember the treatment they received from Boston fans following the series. The two old hardwood rivals will begin their series on Thursday in Los Angeles with ABC providing the broadcast.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been waiting two years for this moment. Waiting, and scheming, and plotting their sweet revenge. The wait is over on Thursday.
This has all the earmarks of yet another classic NBA Finals between the Lakers and the Boston Celtics. I laid out some stats for you in Monday’s series preview and concluded that Boston has betting value at +155. Well, you can make that +160 as we go to press. Reports from the Strip have some early money coming in on the Lakers, although many of the sharps around our water cooler are finding it hard to pass up Boston at this price.
But that’s for the series. In Thursday’s opener, the betting odds have the Lakers favored by 5.5 points, and I firmly expect them to come out and put the gears to Boston. It’s been a long time coming as far as L.A. is concerned.
Not only did the Celtics humiliate the Lakers during the 2008 finals, when the series was over and the Lakers’ team bus was pulling out of the then-TD Banknorth Garden, rabid Boston fans pelted the bus with rocks, eggs, and pretty much anything they could find on the ground.
“It was painful,” Lakers power forward Pau Gasol told reporters. “It is a feeling that I want to keep in my mind for every single minute that I’m out there playing them.”
Gasol will be even more fired up given what happened on the court during that series. He was held to 14.7 points per game, down from 18.8 points in his 27 games with the Lakers after coming over in that brilliant trade with the Memphis Grizzlies – a trade that doesn’t look so bad for Memphis now considering the growth of his brother Marc, but I digress. The media slapped the “soft” label on Gasol after he was pushed around by Boston’s imposing frontcourt. It was a ridiculous accusation, but also a typical reaction to a European player in the NBA.
I’m generally not big on revenge angles and such. Sports gambling as we know it has leaned heavily toward statistical analysis over the past decade, and I’m proud to be part of that movement, because it’s based in reality and it works. This is one special case that I’m trotting out for one special game: Game 1. Motivation leads to action, and the Lakers have been waiting all this time to open up a giant can of whoop-ass on the Celtics.
That’s precisely why they went out and got Ron Artest. He’s been called a lot of things in his 12 years in the NBA, but “soft” is not one of them. Artest was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2004 and is still capable of shutting down opponents on the wing – which is where Paul Pierce did the bulk of his damage against the Lakers two years ago while earning the MVP nod for the finals.
Pop quiz: Who started at small forward for L.A. during that series? Vladimir Radmanovic, that’s who. Talk about soft. Radmanovic wasn’t that bad of a defender in retrospect, but he lost his job to Trevor Ariza the following year, and the Lakers went on to win the title. There’s been a lot of chatter about how Artest has had trouble replacing Ariza this season. Let’s look at some numbers:
Ariza 2008-09: 24.4 minutes, 8.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, plus-0.8 Roland Rating
Artest 2009-10: 33.8 minutes, 11.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, plus-3.0 Roland Rating
The only trouble Artest is having is with his shot selection, as we saw in Game 5 of the Western Finals against the Phoenix Suns when he hoisted that ill-advised three late in the fourth quarter. Craig Sager raked him over the coals during the post-game interview, even after Artest redeemed himself with the improbable game-winning put-back.
Artest handled the criticism brilliantly: “You just gotta play basketball,” he replied. Then he scored 25 points in Game 6 to put the Lakers in the finals. Now that’s a revenge game.
The revenge angle is often overplayed in sports betting, but it might have some legs in this year's NBA Finals. Pau Gasol calls the Lakers' loss to the Celtics in the 2008 championship "painful," and his LA teammates still remember the treatment they received from Boston fans following the series. The two old hardwood rivals will begin their series on Thursday in Los Angeles with ABC providing the broadcast.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been waiting two years for this moment. Waiting, and scheming, and plotting their sweet revenge. The wait is over on Thursday.
This has all the earmarks of yet another classic NBA Finals between the Lakers and the Boston Celtics. I laid out some stats for you in Monday’s series preview and concluded that Boston has betting value at +155. Well, you can make that +160 as we go to press. Reports from the Strip have some early money coming in on the Lakers, although many of the sharps around our water cooler are finding it hard to pass up Boston at this price.
But that’s for the series. In Thursday’s opener, the betting odds have the Lakers favored by 5.5 points, and I firmly expect them to come out and put the gears to Boston. It’s been a long time coming as far as L.A. is concerned.
Not only did the Celtics humiliate the Lakers during the 2008 finals, when the series was over and the Lakers’ team bus was pulling out of the then-TD Banknorth Garden, rabid Boston fans pelted the bus with rocks, eggs, and pretty much anything they could find on the ground.
“It was painful,” Lakers power forward Pau Gasol told reporters. “It is a feeling that I want to keep in my mind for every single minute that I’m out there playing them.”
Gasol will be even more fired up given what happened on the court during that series. He was held to 14.7 points per game, down from 18.8 points in his 27 games with the Lakers after coming over in that brilliant trade with the Memphis Grizzlies – a trade that doesn’t look so bad for Memphis now considering the growth of his brother Marc, but I digress. The media slapped the “soft” label on Gasol after he was pushed around by Boston’s imposing frontcourt. It was a ridiculous accusation, but also a typical reaction to a European player in the NBA.
I’m generally not big on revenge angles and such. Sports gambling as we know it has leaned heavily toward statistical analysis over the past decade, and I’m proud to be part of that movement, because it’s based in reality and it works. This is one special case that I’m trotting out for one special game: Game 1. Motivation leads to action, and the Lakers have been waiting all this time to open up a giant can of whoop-ass on the Celtics.
That’s precisely why they went out and got Ron Artest. He’s been called a lot of things in his 12 years in the NBA, but “soft” is not one of them. Artest was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2004 and is still capable of shutting down opponents on the wing – which is where Paul Pierce did the bulk of his damage against the Lakers two years ago while earning the MVP nod for the finals.
Pop quiz: Who started at small forward for L.A. during that series? Vladimir Radmanovic, that’s who. Talk about soft. Radmanovic wasn’t that bad of a defender in retrospect, but he lost his job to Trevor Ariza the following year, and the Lakers went on to win the title. There’s been a lot of chatter about how Artest has had trouble replacing Ariza this season. Let’s look at some numbers:
Ariza 2008-09: 24.4 minutes, 8.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, plus-0.8 Roland Rating
Artest 2009-10: 33.8 minutes, 11.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, plus-3.0 Roland Rating
The only trouble Artest is having is with his shot selection, as we saw in Game 5 of the Western Finals against the Phoenix Suns when he hoisted that ill-advised three late in the fourth quarter. Craig Sager raked him over the coals during the post-game interview, even after Artest redeemed himself with the improbable game-winning put-back.
Artest handled the criticism brilliantly: “You just gotta play basketball,” he replied. Then he scored 25 points in Game 6 to put the Lakers in the finals. Now that’s a revenge game.
go CELTICS!!
