NBA Betting: Lakers Force Celtics to Game 7
It's winner take all in the NBA Finals after the Lakers forced a seventh and deciding game to the playoff series with an 89-67 rout of the Celtics on Tuesday. Kobe Bryant led Los Angeles with 26 points while Pauo Gasol just missed a triple-double with 17 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. Boston could be without Kendrick Perkins on Thursday after the Celtics center suffered a double- igament injury to his right knee.
“I was very happy,” Kobe Bryant said.
It takes a lot to make Bryant happy on the basketball court. But that’s exactly what the Los Angeles Lakers gave him Tuesday night, shutting down the Boston Celtics 89-67 in a game that was never in doubt for the home fans. The Lakers cashed in at -6 to extend this epic NBA Finals to a seventh game on Thursday (9:00 p.m. ET, ABC).
Things went wrong for Boston right from the opening tip. Kendrick Perkins didn’t even make it out of the first quarter before spraining both the MCL and PCL ligaments in his right knee. Nothing was being made official at press time; an MRI was scheduled for Wednesday, but the word on the street is that Perkins is not going to play in Game 7.
While Perkins is a valuable defensive piece for the Celtics, that doesn’t get them off the hook for Tuesday’s brutal performance. Nothing was happening on offense other than Ray Allen, who shook off his recent malaise with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting and hit two of his five 3-pointers. It was so bad that legend Bill Russell left in a huff during the fourth quarter.
“We each tried to make the home run play early,” Allen confessed to reporters after the debacle. “As a starting unit, we take responsibility. We have to do a better job next game.”
It wasn’t just the starters this time, either. Boston’s bench came up dry in the first three quarters before finally getting on the board in garbage time. Meanwhile, the Lakers got welcome contributions from sixth-man Lamar Odom (eight points, 10 rebounds, two blocks) and all three of their backcourt reserves, including Sasha Vujacic (nine points in 14 minutes, 2-of-4 from long range). Yes, “The Machine” is back online.
For the Celtics, it’s fair to expect both the starters and the bench to put in a more focused effort on Thursday. That’s what makes the zigzag theory the big deal that it is come playoff time. And the Lakers certainly aren’t out of the woods yet. Andrew Bynum only played 16 minutes during Game 6, partly out of concern for his balky right knee and partly because the Lakers were up 20 points at halftime.
“He wasn’t able to move very fluidly the second half,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “He had some tightness in the back of his leg. He just said, ‘You’ve got to take me out, I can't run.’”
Bynum says he expects to play Game 7 after getting some more treatment on his knee. He has yet to miss a game this postseason despite suffering a torn meniscus that will require surgery next month. However, the 7-foot center is breaking down as we get deeper into June; his Player Efficiency Rating (PER) has dipped from 20.26 in the regular season to 17.62 PER, equal with Boston’s Kevin Garnett.
Garnett had another one of his less effective performances in Game 6 (12 points, six rebounds, zero free-throw attempts), partly due to the absence of Perkins for all but the opening seven minutes. Without his enforcer on the court, the Celtics were out-rebounded 39-24 in the first three quarters. It’s only going to get more challenging for Boston’s frontcourt if Bynum can play some quality minutes in Game 7.
The first betting odds up on the board have the Lakers climbing to 7-point favorites with a total of 187, down three points from Game 6. The last four games in a row have gone 'under' thanks to either or both teams playing hard defense. Low scores tend to give the underdog the betting value, but the home favorite has taken each of the last three games SU and ATS. And no visiting team has won Game 7 since the 2-3-2 format was adopted back in 1985. But who knows; maybe Perkins will ride into Staples Center in a wheelchair and play Thursday night.
It's winner take all in the NBA Finals after the Lakers forced a seventh and deciding game to the playoff series with an 89-67 rout of the Celtics on Tuesday. Kobe Bryant led Los Angeles with 26 points while Pauo Gasol just missed a triple-double with 17 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. Boston could be without Kendrick Perkins on Thursday after the Celtics center suffered a double- igament injury to his right knee.
“I was very happy,” Kobe Bryant said.
It takes a lot to make Bryant happy on the basketball court. But that’s exactly what the Los Angeles Lakers gave him Tuesday night, shutting down the Boston Celtics 89-67 in a game that was never in doubt for the home fans. The Lakers cashed in at -6 to extend this epic NBA Finals to a seventh game on Thursday (9:00 p.m. ET, ABC).
While Perkins is a valuable defensive piece for the Celtics, that doesn’t get them off the hook for Tuesday’s brutal performance. Nothing was happening on offense other than Ray Allen, who shook off his recent malaise with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting and hit two of his five 3-pointers. It was so bad that legend Bill Russell left in a huff during the fourth quarter.
“We each tried to make the home run play early,” Allen confessed to reporters after the debacle. “As a starting unit, we take responsibility. We have to do a better job next game.”
It wasn’t just the starters this time, either. Boston’s bench came up dry in the first three quarters before finally getting on the board in garbage time. Meanwhile, the Lakers got welcome contributions from sixth-man Lamar Odom (eight points, 10 rebounds, two blocks) and all three of their backcourt reserves, including Sasha Vujacic (nine points in 14 minutes, 2-of-4 from long range). Yes, “The Machine” is back online.
For the Celtics, it’s fair to expect both the starters and the bench to put in a more focused effort on Thursday. That’s what makes the zigzag theory the big deal that it is come playoff time. And the Lakers certainly aren’t out of the woods yet. Andrew Bynum only played 16 minutes during Game 6, partly out of concern for his balky right knee and partly because the Lakers were up 20 points at halftime.
“He wasn’t able to move very fluidly the second half,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “He had some tightness in the back of his leg. He just said, ‘You’ve got to take me out, I can't run.’”
Bynum says he expects to play Game 7 after getting some more treatment on his knee. He has yet to miss a game this postseason despite suffering a torn meniscus that will require surgery next month. However, the 7-foot center is breaking down as we get deeper into June; his Player Efficiency Rating (PER) has dipped from 20.26 in the regular season to 17.62 PER, equal with Boston’s Kevin Garnett.
Garnett had another one of his less effective performances in Game 6 (12 points, six rebounds, zero free-throw attempts), partly due to the absence of Perkins for all but the opening seven minutes. Without his enforcer on the court, the Celtics were out-rebounded 39-24 in the first three quarters. It’s only going to get more challenging for Boston’s frontcourt if Bynum can play some quality minutes in Game 7.
The first betting odds up on the board have the Lakers climbing to 7-point favorites with a total of 187, down three points from Game 6. The last four games in a row have gone 'under' thanks to either or both teams playing hard defense. Low scores tend to give the underdog the betting value, but the home favorite has taken each of the last three games SU and ATS. And no visiting team has won Game 7 since the 2-3-2 format was adopted back in 1985. But who knows; maybe Perkins will ride into Staples Center in a wheelchair and play Thursday night.
