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% [?]

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% [?]

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% [?]

Detroit Pistons (44-16) @ Boston Celtics (46-12)
7:30PM EST
The best two teams in the NBA’s Eastern Conference meet tonight in Boston for their second showdown of the season.  Before the Celtics made trades that brought Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to the team, Detroit absolutely dominated them.  With a win earlier this year in Detroit the Celtics ended what was a nine-game winning streak for the Pistons in this series.  Now that Boston has the talent to keep up with the Pistons they are certainly out for revenge.  Not many franchises are dominated so prominently as the Celtics have been by the Pistons, but, as Boston has proven, the tides are starting to turn.  The Celtics are riding high and on a five-game winning streak and that momentum should carry them to a victory.  Detroit recently finished up a four-game road trip, mostly near the West Coast, hit one game against Seattle at home (a game they nearly lost, mind you, to one of the worst teams in the NBA), and now head over to Boston to clash with the Celtics with there NBA-best 46-12 record.  At this point in the season, on a neutral court or in Detroit I would probably give the edge to the Pistons.  Their defensive numbers are more consistent than Boston’s, they rebound on the offensive and defensive glass more effectively, they don’t turn the ball over as much, and they have a deeper bench than Boston.  The fact of the matter is, however, that the Celtics have been nearly invincible on their home court, earning a 26-4 mark, one of the top home-records in the league.  For all of Detroit’s strengths, the Celtics have something they do not and that is the ability to score from anywhere on the court.  Boston dominates in terms of points-per-game, and field goal and free throw percentage.  All of those things are nice, but I believe that the outcome of this game comes down to Boston’s home court advantage plus the fact that they were able to beat Detroit earlier this year, in Detroit no less, to finally break their losing streak against the Pistons.

NBA Pick:  Boston Celtics -4

Popularity: 9% [?]

Boston Celtics (41-11) at Phoenix Suns (37-17)
10:30PM EST - 2/22/2008

Two of the NBA’s most dominant teams meet tonight in a game that will end up telling us a lot about both squads.  Boston owns the NBA’s best record and, at this point in the season, seem to be everyone’s favorite to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals.  The Suns have earned one of the best records in the West, plus added Shaq to their roster, though it’s still too early to tell whether gaining Shaq and losing Shawn Marion will improve this team or not.  What we do know is that this is a playoff-quality match-up and that the winner of this game will be making a strong statement for how good they really are.  I know the Suns are coming off a 4-point loss to the Lakers on Wednesday, and that game was certainly a statement-type game as well, but you do have to consider that it was their first game after the All-Star break, as well as their first game with the big guy.  That’s no excuse, rather, it’s all the more reason Phoenix should be ultra-motivate for tonight’s clash against Boston.  The Celtics are seen as the pinnacle of the NBA, so if Phoenix can find a way to win tonight, it should give them a huge boost in confidence.  Boston, as they have been so many times this season, are in a position where they are expected to win.  This will be no easy feat, however, if they are able to pull it off, they can further the perception that they are an invincible-type team.  Having that label is two-fold.  Of course they’ll get the “bulls-eye on their back”, but being seen as the Goliath in the league also gives your team the kind of swagger it takes to win a championship.  The bottom line here is that whoever comes out on top tonight is going to get a major boost to their confidence.  In the NBA a little confidence on a good team goes a long, long way.

Celtics @ Suns Pick:  Boston Celtics +1.5

I’m just not ready to go against Boston yet.  Their record on the road is just as good as the Suns’ record at home, and nobody has been better than the Celtics at covering the spread on the road as they’ve earned an unmatched 36-15 record against the spread in their last 51 road contests.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Boston Celtics (41-10) at Golden State Warriors (32-21)
10:30 PM EST
East meets West in a showdown of two of the best teams from their respective conference.  On paper Golden State actually scores more points, grabs more rebounds, has less turnovers, and gets more points from their bench than the Celtics.  What you need to remember about those stats is that they are primarily against Western Conference teams, which, despite having a few top-tier teams, simply isn’t as good as a conference as the East.  Look, Boston is sporting a 41-10 record, but why we’ve been riding them all season long is that they continue to cover the spread every night.  Their 31-18 record against the spread is one of the best records in recent memory.  Will the books wise up?  I don’t know, you’d think they would have caught on by now.  All I know is that I’ll continue to ride the Celtics until they buck me. 

NBA Pick:  Boston Celtics -1

Popularity: 7% [?]

L.A. Lakers Lakers (25-11) at Seattle SuperSonics (9-27)
DATE/TIME: Monday, January 14 - 10:00 PM EST

There isn’t much posititve you can say about the SuperSonics this season.  Sure, Kevin Durant has looked good, even great, at times, but with youth comes inconsistency and that factor does not bode well for Seattle tonight.  The Lakers are winners of 6 in a row and 9 of their last 10 games, how’s that for hot?  In the past they’ve been notoriously bad on the road, but the short trip up to Seattle to play a team that is really struggling this season should equal a win.  It’s not quite the All-Star break, but watching Seattle, you have to wonder if they are already thinking about who they can pick up in next year’s lottery to compliment Durant, instead of focusing on the season in front of them.

Pick:  L.A. Lakers -8

Washington Wizards (19-16) at Boston Celtics (30-5)
DATE/TIME: Monday, January 14 - 7:30 PM EST

Boston has looked almost human over the past week going just 1-2 over their last few games including a loss on Jan. 12th to their opponent tonight, the Wasington Wizards.  The Celtics are still the team to beat in the NBA and, with revenge on their mind tonight, they are one of the best bets on the board.  The Wizards accomplished something only one other team has done this season by beating Boston on their home court.  Asking them to repeat that feat is simply too much.  The Celtics have had some time to rest and will be back to their near-invincible form Monday night.

Pick:  Boston Celtics -12.5 

Popularity: 7% [?]