[No coincidences]

The Lakers-Jazz series is 2-0. Lakers have won both games relatively comfortably, with a Game 2 cover following a Game 1 that was never seriously in doubt.

The line for Game 3 in Utah opened at -4.

The Celtics-Cavs series is 1-1. Boston dominated well over a half of Game 1, and simply ran Cleveland out of the gym in Game 2. LeBron's obviously not 100 percent, but even if he were, that doesn't solve the fact that Cleveland seems to have no answer for Rondo.

So the line for Game 3 in Boston opened at....+1?!?!



Why would the Jazz be comfortably favored against a team they've been dominated by both during the regular season and, for all intents and purposes, the playoffs, while Boston is a home underdog after more than holding their own in Cleveland?

[lyon804]

Wonderful questions and points you bring up. Betting the "uncomfortable" side in both will serve you well perhaps. Lakers for sure look like a free chicken dinner to most here. The Cavs are a little more dicey.. If Cavs bring it and everything is right they can in fact take game 3 on the road. Unfortunately, I think the bookmakers made both lines very sharp.

[lakerboy]

Jazz are a different animal at energy solutions and obviously the oddsmakers saw enough in games 1 and 2 from the jazz to warrant the line. the lakers havent shown they can put teams away all season at home so how will they on the road?


The cavs just got blown out at home . Dont you think a team as good as the cavs will respond to that whipping? They want you to take the lakers and boston- the books arent gonna keep losing and im telling you the books have been cleaning up on the public all year on saturdays.(laker game)

[Goat Milk]

They want you to take Lakers, I dunno about Boston. I'm pretty sure they want you to take Cleveland, this game 3 Bos Cle is not a good game to bet big on, game 3 will tell you everything you need to know for game 4. I wouldn't be surprised if Cleveland loses game 3, Boston will get tired coming down teh stretch of this series.

Jazz will only win 1 game at home. I will take the Jazz game 3, then pound the lakers when they're + whatever game 4.

[No coincidences]

Jazz are a different animal at energy solutions and obviously the oddsmakers saw enough in games 1 and 2 from the jazz to warrant the line. the lakers havent shown they can put teams away all season at home so how will they on the road?


The cavs just got blown out at home . Dont you think a team as good as the cavs will respond to that whipping? They want you to take the lakers and boston- the books arent gonna keep losing and im telling you the books have been cleaning up on the public all year on saturdays.(laker game)

My initial reaction, LB, is to take the Jazz and Cavs. I feel like the books are telling us Utah will win relatively convincingly, and that the Celts are in trouble given the fact that they've been made a home 'dog despite what they just did in Cleveland.

Neither line makes sense to me. If you had told me the Jazz were favored by 1 and the Celtics by 4, I'd have believed it and then probably taken the Lakers and Boston. Since it's reversed, I'll probably go the opposite direction.

[AmpleGamble]

I wasn't really to surprised when I saw these lines. Jazz are an outstanding home team playing a Lakers team that just dropped 2 in a row to the Thunder on the road. The Jazz also kept the games in LA fairly close throughout. And, as lakerboy said, I think the Cavs are going to respond to getting swept off the floor from the Celtics. One would surely expect Lebron to step it up. Adding this to the fact that the Celtics aren't near as reliable at home as the Jazz, we get a line of +1.

I'm interested to see the public %'s on the Cavs/Celtics game. Both are pretty big public favorites and I would suspect a lot of people are going to LOVE the Cavs at only -1 and a lot of people are going to LOVE a Celtics team that has looked like the far superior team up to this point.

[No coincidences]

They want you to take Lakers, I dunno about Boston. I'm pretty sure they want you to take Cleveland, this game 3 Bos Cle is not a good game to bet big on, game 3 will tell you everything you need to know for game 4. I wouldn't be surprised if Cleveland loses game 3, Boston will get tired coming down teh stretch of this series.

Jazz will only win 1 game at home. I will take the Jazz game 3, then pound the lakers when they're + whatever game 4.

I agree that Utah and the Lakers will split in SLC. The Lakers are simply a bad matchup for the Jazz -- period. I'll say the same thing here I said in the OKC series -- if LAL makes a concerted effort to get Bynum and Gasol established underneath, they're unstoppable against teams like the Thunder and Jazz. The only thing that would concern me a little if I were LAL is the fact that Bynum and Gasol dominated in the paint and Deron was off in Game 2, so why did it dwindle down to a 4-point game down the stretch? If Milsap delivers the way he did in Game 2 and both Deron and Boozer play better, I like Utah's chances to at worst split at home, if not tie the series up.

As for the Cavs-Celts series, I don't know what to think. Boston is old, KG's not 100 percent, and I don't like their bench very much. I agree with Houli, though, that Shaq is simply getting in the way at this point for Cleveland and will continue to do so for as long as this team stays alive. If Cleveland is lucky enough to get through this series, Howard will make Shaq his bitch in the Finals and Orlando wins in 5 or at worst 6.

[Wilforth]

If I were to pick sides only based on the lines, I'd take Jazz -4 and Cavs -1. But these games look very tricky. But I think Jazz will cover. As for Cavs/C's, whichever team shows up in the 1H will take the game.

[No coincidences]

I wasn't really to surprised when I saw these lines. Jazz are an outstanding home team playing a Lakers team that just dropped 2 in a row to the Thunder on the road. The Jazz also kept the games in LA fairly close throughout. And, as lakerboy said, I think the Cavs are going to respond to getting swept off the floor from the Celtics. One would surely expect Lebron to step it up. Adding this to the fact that the Celtics aren't near as reliable at home as the Jazz, we get a line of +1.

I'm interested to see the public %'s on the Cavs/Celtics game. Both are pretty big public favorites and I would suspect a lot of people are going to LOVE the Cavs at only -1 and a lot of people are going to LOVE a Celtics team that has looked like the far superior team up to this point.

So far, it's 56% cavs and 67% Lakers at S(quare)portsbook.

[lakerboy]

The celtics look pretty fresh though. Allen looks charged and so does Garnett and even sheed showed some glimpses of hope. That game needs to be bet on in the second half. Jazz is an easy play.

[big0mar]

Isn't Utah a much better home team than Boston? I would think that has something to do with it.

But the biggest factor IMO is motivation. The Cavs are going to be a much more motivated team than the Lakers.

[No coincidences]

The celtics look pretty fresh though. Allen looks charged and so does Garnett and even sheed showed some glimpses of hope. That game needs to be bet on in the second half. Jazz is an easy play.

Agree with that.

Sounds like KG got his ankle pretty good, though. Doc claims that if they'd played yesterday, he would have been out.

I don't trust/like Boston's bench at all, either.

[shawnkang]

The celtics look pretty fresh though. Allen looks charged and so does Garnett and even sheed showed some glimpses of hope. That game needs to be bet on in the second half. Jazz is an easy play.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/1...-knee-injuries

[lakerboy]

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/1...-knee-injuries

media hype - dont buy it- they rested all of there main guys all year long thats why they kept blowing big leads.

[No coincidences]

media hype - dont buy it- they rested all of there main guys all year long thats why they kept blowing big leads.

Between KG's injury and LeBron's, I'm not sure which is legit -- if either.

[lakerboy]

Between KG's injury and LeBron's, I'm not sure which is legit -- if either.

none of them . lebron is hurting a bit but not that much.

[No coincidences]

media hype - dont buy it- they rested all of there main guys all year long thats why they kept blowing big leads.

And in Game 1?

They blow big leads because they're old.

Celts win or lose because of Rondo, not the Geriatric 3. Rajon was great in the first half of Game 1 and all of Game 2, and as a result, Boston looked good.

[uanl]

i already locked in the jazz -4, like most of you are saying, this line was pretty suspicious giving the fact that it seems like the jazz are really outmatched against the lakers, but despite that they were usually in the game in the 4th quarter in LA .. the books want everybody on the lakers and the jazz will win easily..the only thing that worries me is that the lakers will get plenty of rest in between games 2 and 3....

and im also getting close to locking in the cavs at -1, like some of you have said, after how dominating the celtics seemed to be for stretches of games 1 and 2, you would think the line would be celtics -4 or something ... i think the cavs win this game, i think we should look for the cavs getting most of the iffy calls in this game and coming out on top..

[uanl]

And in Game 1?

They blow big leads because they're old.

Celts win or lose because of Rondo, not the Geriatric 3. Rajon was great in the first half of Game 1 and all of Game 2, and as a result, Boston looked good.

i think the credit of the game 1 comeback goes to the refs, imho

[PAYTON20]

My initial reaction, LB, is to take the Jazz and Cavs. I feel like the books are telling us Utah will win relatively convincingly, and that the Celts are in trouble given the fact that they've been made a home 'dog despite what they just did in Cleveland.

Neither line makes sense to me. If you had told me the Jazz were favored by 1 and the Celtics by 4, I'd have believed it and then probably taken the Lakers and Boston. Since it's reversed, I'll probably go the opposite direction.

Just like LB said, the Lake Show won't even try very hard in this game. It's almost a give-away game for them to get rested up. Jazz always win at home too....

On the other hand, Cleveland is coming out fully rested after suffering a bad loss at home. This whole arm injury is being overblown by Lebron because he wants to create extra drama when he comes back and leads his team to the series victory (in Jordanesque fashion). I agree this game is tough to pick, but I'd have to lean toward the Cavs. Cavs had the best record in the NBA for a reason- and this game is very important to them (unlike for the Lakers). The Cavs have also proven that they can handle playing on the road against the best in the NBA. The Cavs role players last game all had terrible games. Shaq was missing lay-ups, Jamison bricking wide-open shots, Parker couldn't hit a 3 to save his life. It was an off-night, and I don't see all those guys repeating that lousy performance. Lebron also wasn't being aggressive at all in Game 2- it almost seemed like he was taking the night off. I think Lebron comes out with a different attitude and much more intensity on Friday. And for that reason alone I wouldn't touch the Celtics in Game 3. (not to mention KG has a bum knee and Perkins is hurting too)

[shawnkang]

media hype - dont buy it- they rested all of there main guys all year long thats why they kept blowing big leads.

i think you're probably right. another report also came out which said lebron elbow is so hurt that he could supposedly not hold anything heavier than a basketball

but then he did a photoshoot for his mvp thing, and he was holding both mvp trophies. I'm not toally sure but unless those trophies are hollow, they weigh more than a basketball

[wrongturn]

I wonder if Lebron aggravated his elbow problem in game 2 on a monster block off the board.

[lakerboy]

Just like LB said, the Lake Show won't even try very hard in this game. It's almost a give-away game for them to get rested up. Jazz always win at home too....

On the other hand, Cleveland is coming out fully rested after suffering a bad loss at home. This whole arm injury is being overblown by Lebron because he wants to create extra drama when he comes back and leads his team to the series victory (in Jordanesque fashion). I agree this game is tough to pick, but I'd have to lean toward the Cavs. Cavs had the best record in the NBA for a reason- and this game is very important to them (unlike for the Lakers). The Cavs have also proven that they can handle playing on the road against the best in the NBA. The Cavs role players last game all had terrible games. Shaq was missing lay-ups, Jamison bricking wide-open shots, Parker couldn't hit a 3 to save his life. It was an off-night, and I don't see all those guys repeating that lousy performance. Lebron also wasn't being aggressive at all in Game 2- it almost seemed like he was taking the night off. I think Lebron comes out with a different attitude and much more intensity on Friday. And for that reason alone I wouldn't touch the Celtics in Game 3. (not to mention KG has a bum knee and Perkins is hurting too)

I can see the headlines already" King James leads his team to big win despite hurt elbow"


Solid post Payton. The media is waiting to get there dikksukker on him. I honestly need him to win though cause i have cavs for the series

[PAYTON20]

I can see the headlines already" King James leads his team to big win despite hurt elbow"


Solid post Payton. The media is waiting to get there dikksukker on him. I honestly need him to win though cause i have cavs for the series

Haha me too

I actually added more on it today, parlayed with the Series prices for Suns and Lakers, along with the Magic ML tonight.

I'm not too worried, I think the Cavs will win at least 1 in Boston over the next two. Let's go Bron Bron!

[Snowball]

(not to mention KG has a bum knee and Perkins is hurting too)

Actually, KG showed up to team practice today, says he feels fine, Perk was there also.
http://www.celticsblog.com/

Concerning the line, Cavs can be expected to be favored every game this series.

[Goat Milk]

Celts win or lose because of Rondo, not the Geriatric 3. Rajon was great in the first half of Game 1 and all of Game 2, and as a result, Boston looked good.

Rondo is nothing without the Big 3. Pierce and Allen are Boston's money players, and always will be. Rondo had a couple chances to show if he could make shots in big moments last year and this year and he's not once delivered. They will never give it to Rondo when it matters. The best pure shooter in NBA history in Ray Allen is somethin every true pg hopes for.

Cavs will have problems with Rondo and Ray Ray all series.