Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics Game 1 Prediction & Odds: June 3rd 2010
BetUS Sportsbook begins wrapping up the basketball season with NBA Finals betting action beginning on Thursday night in Tinseltown. The Lakers reached this point in the season by dismissing the Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz, and Phoenix Suns from the Western Conference playoffs.
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Boston took care of the Miami Heat with no difficulties and ultimately also disposed of two of the three top favorites to win it all from when the postseason started in the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic.
Boston Celtics (62-37, 45-52-2 ATS) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (69-29, 42-53-3 ATS) – Game Date/Time: Thursday, June 3rd, 9:00 ET – Game Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA – TV/Radio Broadcast: ABC, TSN, Sirius
NBA Finals Odds: Boston Celtics +5.5 vs. Los Angeles Lakers -5.5: Game Total 191.5
In order for the Celtics to bring back the memories of an NBA Finals victory over LA from two years ago, their “Big Four” are going to have to play like four superstars. This feels like a team that needs to get more production, particularly out of F Paul Pierce offensively. Pierce did score 30+ points in two of the final three games of the Eastern Conference Finals, but 19.1 points per game just doesn’t feel like it is cutting it, particularly if F Kevin Garnett is only going to average 14.9 points per game like he has in the playoffs to date.
Role players are going to be critical for Boston. C Kendrick Perkins is only averaging 5.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in the first three rounds of these playoffs, and he is just one technical foul away from being suspended for a game in the Finals.
It’s going to take the efforts of some secondary players for the Lakers to be called champs as well. C Andrew Bynum recently had his knee drained of fluid in attempt to try to put him in a better condition to play in the NBA Finals than he was in the Western Conference Finals when he scored just 7.2 points per game.
However, as long as G Kobe Bryant is doing his thing, the purple and gold are going to be tough to beat. It was clearly “Kobe Time” against the Suns, as the star of the Lakers for the last decade was up to his old tricks again, scoring 30+ points in five of the six games and nearly recording three triple-doubles.
NBA Finals Insider Tip: The Celtics are 9-2-1 ATS in their L/12 NBA betting clashes with the Lakers.
Boston has been the team that has just refused to accept the logic of, “You can’t do that” all postseason long. This may be a completely different type of task trying to shut down Kobe and the gang, but we expect this to be a very, very close series.
This is a winnable game for the Celtics. However, we think that they’ll fall just short. Boston and the points are still the way to go in NBA Finals betting action in Game 1.
My NBA Playoff Prediction: Los Angeles by 3
Source: BetUS Locker Room Featured on: Handicapperspicks.com
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