The Celtics grabbed the first two games on the NBA Finals in fairly decisive fashion.  The big question is whether or not the Lakers can get back on track with a couple of wins at home.  It looks like the odds-makers are on the Lakers’ side, setting them as 9.5 point favorites for Tuesday’s game.  This might seem like a lot of points, but if you look at the combination of the Lakers’ performance at home this season (especially in the playoffs) and the overall trend of home teams winning in the playoffs, the line probably isn’t too far off.  L.A. will need more help from their supporting staff than they’ve received in the first two games of the Finals.  Not surprisingly, Kobe Bryant has been the leading scorer and has hit key shots in difficult situations.  This has not been enough, however, as the rest of the team has not been playing their role as effectively as they did in say the series against the Spurs.  Boston got a pair of great performances out of Paul Pierce, something not many expected.  The Celtics will need to find the other two of the big three in future games because, as we’ve seen with the Lakers and Kobe, you don’t want to hang your hat on just one big scorer.  Tuesday’s odds have been posted over at Bodoglife.com.

NBA Finals - Game 3 Odds

Boston Celtics +9.5 @
Los Angeles Lakers -9.5

Popularity: 12% [?]

The stage has been set for an epic showdown of past NBA powers.  The two most successful franchises in NBA history, the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers meet in Boston Thursday, June 5th for game one of the NBA Finals.  There’s a lot to consider for this year’s finals.  Can Kobe finally get that elusive ring without the help of Big Daddy Shaq?  Can Phil Jackson further cement his place in the NBA Hall of Fame by adding yet another championship to his legacy?  Can Kevin Garnett finally overcome his label of being the best individual player in the NBA that hasn’t won a championship?  Will the Celtics end their hugely hyped season with the Big Three as champions or merely contestants?  Phew!  That’s is a lot to consider.  No matter who you’re backing in this year’s finals it’s hard to deny that this is the best possible match-up, both for the fans, for the league, and, let’s face it, for the league’s advertisers.  Even the casual NBA fan can get behind a classic Boston v. L.A. series.  Game one starts at 9pm Eastern Time from the Banknorth Garden in Boston.  Here’s a quick look at the latest odds on the game, brought to you by the best place to bet the NBA Finals this season,BodogLife.com!

NBA Championship - Game One Odds

Los Angeles Lakers +2.5
@ Boston Celtics -2.5

Popularity: 12% [?]

The 2008 NBA Draft is set for June 26th, but it’s never to early to start making predictions about who will be selected as the #1 overall pick.  The Chicago Bulls won the first pick in the lottery and they will have a tough choice to make.  The two favorite candidates right now are Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley.  Rose should be a solid NBA guard.  You might remember him tearing it up for Memphis throughout the regular season and the NCAA Tournament.  In 2007, Rose averaged 14.9 points per game, 4.2 assists per game, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.2 steals.  While those numbers don’t exactly jump out and say “superstar”, keep in mind he had a lot of teammates who could score, and he’s consistently shown he has NBA talent.  The Bulls already have a decent back-court, but Rose would certainly be an upgrade.  According to reports around the major sports networks, the Bulls aren’t sold on Beasley’s ability to have an immediate impact, so Rose is being touted as the favorite to be selected at the top spot.  It should go without saying, however, that the Bulls have to be considering drafting the services of Kansas State power forward, Michael Beasley.  Beasley was the most prolific scorer in college basketball in 2007.  He averaged 26.2 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 1.6 blocked shots per game.  At 6-10 he has the size to be an immediate impact player on any team.  The Bulls could certainly use a presence in the paint, but we’ll have to wait and see which direction they decide to go.  Beyond these two outstanding players, there isn’t another #1 overall pick in the class, but SportsBook.com has posted the odds for a few of the other players that have entered the NBA draft for 2008.

2008 NBA Draft - Odds to be Selected with the #1 Pick from Sportsbook.com

Brock Lopez - Forward - Stanford:  50-1

Derrick Rose - Guard - Memphis:  10-13

Kevin Love - Center - UCLA:  250-1

Michael Beasley - Forward - Kansas State:  1-1

O.J. Mayo - Guard - USC:  50-1

*Field - Any other player to be selected #1 overall:  50-1

Popularity: 14% [?]

Game one of the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals saw the Boston Celtics get out front early and ride to a seemingly easy victory.  Boston is at home again and is again favored to win.  The Pistons have to be desperate to pick up a win on Thursday night as it will be terribly difficult for them to recover from a 2-0 deficit.  If current trends continue, the Celtics will win Thursday, Detroit will win the next two of the series, and the Celtics will win game seven in Boston.  I think the numbers have to catch up, it just isn’t clear yet who they will catch up to.  Looking at the regular season results, you have to think that the Celtics have what it takes to win on the road, they just haven’t proven they can do it in the playoffs.  The Pistons have a great deal of motivation for the game, but they haven’t done anything to impress me enough to think they can win in Boston.  Thursday might be the night that home teams take a turn for the worse and finally stop the domination of the NBA Playoffs, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Here are the odds for Thursday Night’s NBA Eastern Conference Playoff - Game 2 as posted at Sportsbook.com :

Detroit Pistons @ Boston Celtics -3.5

Popularity: 12% [?]

Will home teams continue to dominate the NBA Playoffs?  Can the youth of the Lakers out-play the experience of the Spurs?  These are a few of the questions that come to mind before Wednesday night’s Western Conference Finals opening game.  For the sports bettor, the questions don’t stop there, we have the spread to consider as well!

Western Confernce Finals - Game 1 - San Antonio Spurs @ L.A. Lakers
It’s hard to compare the NBA regular season to the playoffs, even when the teams have played each-other a number of times.  It’s even harder when those teams have only played two games against each-other.  It’s harder yet to decipher who the better team is when the regular season series is split 1-1.  The major factor that seems to have played into both victories whether or not the team was playing on their home court.  The Lakers dominated the Spurs by 21 points in early April in Los Angeles, and you could make a strong argument that the Lakers have evolved into an even better team at this point in the season.  I will admit that it is hard to bet against the Spurs in the playoffs in any situation, but I just don’t see the same spark, the same team chemistry that past Spurs teams exuded.  It may be short-sited on my part, but I’m strong on the Lakers at home by seven Wednesday night.

Western Conference Finals - Game 1 Pick:  Los Angeles Lakers -7

Popularity: 11% [?]

Now it’s time to get down to business.  The Pistons and Celtics made it through the rest of the Eastern playoff field, and Tuesday night they meet in Boston to start their mutual quest for the coveted Eastern Conference slot in the NBA Finals.  The Celtics have the hype, the Pistons have the experience.  Will Boston live up to the expectations or do the Pistons have another title run in them?  Tough questions to answer, but we’ll give them a try for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals Tuesday Night.

5/20/2008 - Detroit Pistons @ Boston Celtics
You’ve heard it before, “To be the best, you have to beat the best”, and that’s exactly what the Detroit Pistons are going to have to do to push themselves into the NBA Finals.  Boston is incredibly tough at home.  Combined with the ridiculous winning trend that home teams are having in the playoffs this year, I don’t see how you can rationally take the Pistons in Game 1.  The game will be a good barometer for the rest of the series, particularly because Boston has the edge with 4 home games to Detroit’s 3.  I think Boston has finally turned a corner.  Instead of expecting to win, they have the confidence to win, and a chip on their shoulder to prove they are as good as everyone thinks they are.
Free NBA Playoff Pick:  Boston Celtics -4.5

Popularity: 11% [?]

Sunday, May 18th & Monday, May 19th
NBA fans get some bonus action from this year’s playoffs as both the Cavs/Celtics and Spurs/Hornets series will go to the seventh and final game of the conference semi-final round.  It will be interesting in both games, as well as the remaining NBA playoff games, to see if the trend of home teams dominating their opponents will continue.  The count is now at 13-2, an unprecedented winning percentage for home playoff teams.  It’s become something of a self-fulfilling prophecy at this point.  There’s so much talk about it, plus the numbers to back it up, so teams naturally start believing that they cannot lose at home.  Obviously, teams do have some advantage playing on their home court, but this year they’ve taken it to a completely new level.  If the trend continues, it looks like Boston and New Orleans will advance, but I’m not sold on either one.  The Celtics are starting to remind me a little bit of the New England Patriots last year.  They were so dominant in the regular season, but couldn’t get the job done in the only game that really mattered for their season.  This isn’t the NBA Finals, but it is a very important step for Boston if they want to win the NBA Championship and be considered one of the best teams in the history of the sport.  I also don’t think you can sleep on the Spurs.  Ever.  Chris Paul and the Hornets are having an amazing season.  CP is probably the MVP of the playoffs so far, but his team needs to get past a San Antonio team that knows exactly where they are and what they have to do to win.  Knowing and executing are two very different things, but the Spurs are just so experienced in the playoffs it would be stupid to write them off.  Pick:  For my money, I’d stick with the home teams to win outright.  Against the spread, I’d lean on Cleveland +8 and New Orleans -4.

Odds for the Up-Coming NBA Playoff Games Provided by BodogLife.com

5/18/2008
Cleveland Cavs +8 @
Boston Celtics -8

5/19/2008
San Antonio Spurs +4 @
New Orleans Hornets -4

Popularity: 11% [?]

Game Time:  Saturday, April 5th - 8:45 PM ET
Pick:  North Carolina -3 vs Kansas
If you’ve watched these teams play, you’ve seen how good they both really are.  The reason North Carolina gets the edge is consistency.  Kansas is a hot-cold team as we all saw against Davidson, and though they managed to pull out the victory based purely on superior talent, they won’t have that luxury against UNC.  The Jayhawks almost certainly have more players that will end up in the NBA, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are the better college basketball team.  I guess you could say that I see North Carolina as more of an elite team and Kansas more of five individuals on the court with a few elite players.  Look, I realize that I’m on the bandwagon here as over 70% of the betting world has picked the Tar Heels to cover the three point spread.  However, one thing I’ve noticed throughout the years is that the public struggles mightily during regular season games in all sports, but in the big prime time events they fair significantly better, particularly when the spread is so low.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Game time:  Saturday, April 5th - 6:05 PM ET
Pick:  UCLA +2 vs Memphis
Memphis looks to be the better team in this match up on paper.  Their problem is that, of course, basketball is not played on paper, it’s played on the hardwood.  I still have a problem with Memphis accumulating their stats for the season in Conference USA.  My contention is that UCLA would earn at least as good of stats as Memphis if they were to play in Conference USA while I do not think Memphis could match UCLA’s numbers in the PAC 10.  What I’m really saying here is that I see UCLA as the better team.  I can tell you right now that Memphis has impressed me throughout this tournament.  It’s not that I didn’t think they could make it to the Final Four, it’s just that I did not expect them to dominate teams like Texas and Michigan State like they did.  UCLA has done pretty much what everyone thought they would do.  They play some of the best defense in the nation and they’ve dominated the teams you’d expect them to.  It probably sounds like a broken record at this point since it’s been said so many times, but the difference in this game will come from the Bruins’ defense.  You basically have to pick a side.  You’ve got a Memphis team that has been virtually unstoppable on offense, against the UCLA team that has held three of their last four NCAA tournament opponents under 60 points.  Match that stat with the fact that UCLA has been able to play with high-octane offenses throughout the season and you’ve got a real winning combination.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Now that the field has been set for the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament, we’d like to take a look at who Vegas thinks is going to win it all.  As you might expect, the #1 seeds have the best odds.  North Carolina and UCLA are the odds-on favorites, both coming in at 4 to 1 to win the tournament.  Kansas and Memphis, the other two #1 seeds, are coming in at 5/1 and 6/1 respectively, so, according to Las Vegas odds makers, one of the number one seeds is likely to win the NCAA Championship.  But you don’t need us to tell you that the #1 seeds are the favorites to win the tourney, that’s why they are ranked #1, right?  What we’re more interested in, and what you’re probably more interested in, is which teams could make a run at the tournament that have odds that are a little more in your favor.  The first two teams I’d consider are Texas and Duke, both with 14 to 1 odds to win it all.  You aren’t looking at a monster pay off if one of them does win it all, but I feel that both Duke and Texas have just as good a chance to win the title as a team like Memphis or UCLA and you have to love 14 to 1 compared to 6 to 1 or worse.  Other teams I like in the field to possibly make a run are Wisconsin at 20/1, Stanford at 25/1, and Pitt at 30/1.  These are teams that, if they catch fire, could make a legitimate run in the tournament.  Granted, it would be difficult to do, but the possibility is enough for me to put them on this list.  There are two 40/1 teams that I also like, UConn and Clemson.  These are teams that struggled a little down the stretch, but teams I could see making it deep into the tournament and possibly upsetting one of the big guns in the bracket.  Well, those are our opinions on the recently released odds for the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  Here is the complete listing of the odds from BodogLife.com so you can form your own opinions: 

American 2000/1
 
Arizona 80/1

Arkansas 150/1
 
Austin Peay 1000/1
 
Baylor 150/1
 
Belmont 1500/1
 
Boise State 750/1
 
Butler 100/1
 
BYU 200/1
 
Cal State Fullerton 1500/1
 
Clemson 40/1
 
Connecticut 40/1
 
Coppin State 2500/1
 
Cornell 750/1
 
Davidson 150/1
 
Drake 80/1
 
Duke 14/1
 
George Mason 500/1
 
Georgetown 14/1
 
Georgia 250/1
 
Gonzaga 125/1
 
Indiana 100/1
 
Kansas 5/1
 
Kansas State 75/1
 
Kent State 200/1
 
Kentucky 150/1
 
Louisville 18/1
 
Marquette 55/1
 
Memphis 6/1
 
Miami Florida 100/1
 
Michigan State 50/1
 
Mississippi State 80/1
 
Mississippi Valley State 2500/1
 
Mount St. Mary’s 2500/1
 
North Carolina 4/1
 
Notre Dame 60/1
 
Oklahoma 150/1
 
Oral Roberts 500/1
 
Oregon 150/1
 
Pittsburgh 30/1
 
Portland State 2500/1
 
Purdue 70/1
 
Saint Joseph’s 250/1
 
Saint Mary’s 150/1
 
San Diego 500/1
 
Siena 500/1
 
South Alabama 200/1
 
Stanford 25/1
 
Temple 300/1
 
Tennessee 18/1
 
Texas 14/1
 
Texas A&M 200/1
 
Texas Arlington 2000/1
 
UCLA 4/1
 
UMBC 2000/1
 
UNLV 250/1
 
USC 45/1
 
Vanderbilt 50/1
 
Villanova 250/1
 
Washington State 40/1
 
Western Kentucky 500/1
 
West Virgnia 125/1
 
Winthrop 500/1
 
Wisconsin 20/1
 
Xavier 35/1

Popularity: 38% [?]