NBA Basketball
2008-06-05 - LA Lakers at Boston Celtics
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
The NBA Finals begin in Boston on Thursday night and I for one cannot wait. A fierce rivalry has existed between these teams but has been dormant since the 1980s when Larry Bird would go up against Magic Johnson. However, now they are both the number 1 teams in their respective Conferences, they meet for the right to be called the best team in the NBA.Boston Celtics
The Celtics play the first 2 games of the series at home and will look to take a 2 game advantage to LA where they will have to play 3 straight.
Boston finished the regular season with a Eastern Conference best 35-6 home record and only the Utah Jazz managed to better that record in the NBA. They did manage to finish the regular season with the best record in the whole NBA overall.
The Celtics have continued their solid home form during the playoffs where they have gone 10-1. They won their first 2 series by winning all 4 home games.
Boston seem to enjoy playing on Thursday nights as they are 6-2 against the spread in their last 8 Thursday night games. However they have gone 3-8 against the spread in their last 11 games during these playoffs. This record is 2-4 against the spread at home.
Back up guard Tony Allen was expected to miss this entire series a few days ago, but he was back in training last night although he will not suit up for this game.
Boston's likely starting 5- Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen.
LA Lakers
The Lakers would like nothing better than to at least split the first 2 games in Boston and give themselves a chance to win the Championship in LA.
They finished the regular season with the best record in the Western Conference and a road record of 27-14, meaning they won the most games on the road in the Conference. In fact only Boston managed to win more on the road than LA in the NBA.
LA have continued their solid away performances during the playoffs where they are 4-3, but that includes a win at Utah Jazz and at San Antonio Spurs so they will know they can enter hostile environements and come away with a W.
The Lakers are 12-4-1 against the spread in their last 17 games. This translates to 2-2-1 against the spread in their last 5 games on the road. The 2 times they have covered the spread has seen them win the game outright and both times was when they were the underdogs.
The Lakers do not have any new injury worries.
LA likely starting 5- Lamar Odom, Vladimir Radmanovic, Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant.
Head to Head
Boston and LA have met twice this season and it was the Celtics who won both meetings and also won both against the spread.
The Lakers have an impressive 7-1 record against the spread against Boston in their previous 8 games before this season but the acquiring of Garnett and Allen have made the Celtics a different prospect from the team that lost those previous matches.
Inter-Conference records
Boston had an incredible 25-5 record against the teams from the Western Conference this season.
LA were a little worse off but still had a strong 20-10 record against the Eastern Conference.
Prediction
I cant wait for this series to start and I think it will be one full of emotion and passion. The Celtics have proved how tough it is to come to their place this season and come away with a victory, with only 7 defeats there all year from 52 games. They have got over the fact they did not win a game on the road in the first 2 rounds of the playoffs by winning 2 in Detroit and I think they will be ready for this game.
The Lakers have really achieved more than expected of them by winning the Western Conference and their experience cannot be ignored. However, the Celtics did prove during the regular season as to how good they are and I think this will be a tough start to the series for the Lakers.
The line is set with Boston giving up 2.5 points and I think they will cover here.
BEST BETTING TIP :
Boston Celtics win
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Boston Celtics - 2.5 points
