Michael Cannon
30 Dime BOSTON CELTICS
Brett Atkins
40 Dime BOSTON CELTICS
Jay McNeil
20 Dime Lakers
KELSO
20 Units White Sox -130
20 Units Yankees -1.5
10 Unit Parlay
15 Units Braves -120
Anthony Redd
Celtics buy the half point up to 7.5
Steve Budin
Lakers buy the half point down to 6.5
Al Demarco
Teaser: Lakers & Under
The Duke's Sports
Boston Over (186) for 2.5 Units
So far in this series, we've seen tight and relentless defense; however, in Game 6, there were glaring defensive weaknesses, by both teams, that weren't exploited. Tonight, we'll look for the proper offensive adjustments to be made. The Celtics are 4-0 O/U after scoring less than 75 points, and 13-6 O/U off a SU loss of 10+. On the other hand, the Lakers are 4-0 O/U off a SU win by 10+, and they're 6-2-1 O/U as a home favorite. Perkins' absence creates a defensive void for the Celtics; at the same time, more offense can be created with replacements - Rasheed Wallace and Glen Davis. We'll look for a better offensive rhythm set by both teams tonight after they shake the early Game 7 jitters and get into the flow.
Jeff Benton
30 DIME Boston Celtics
Blown away. I was completely blown away when I saw the pointspread in this game. How in the world could the biggest spread in this series come in a decisive Game 7? It’s a completely bogus number, and it’s a panic move by the oddsmakers, who clearly believe the public is going to hammer the Lakers in this contest because the last thing the public saw was Game 6 when L.A. mutilated Boston.
Maybe the public will hammer L.A. – hence the reason I encourage you to buy the half-point if this number jumps to 7½ – but the smart players will be all over these inflated points. They’ll be all over the points for numerous reasons:
1) The Lakers have yet to win – let alone cover – consecutive games in this series.
2) The Celtics have lost back-to-back games just once in 29 playoff games, and the first of those back-to-back losses was a four-point setback in overetime (Game 5 vs. the Magic). In other words, Boston hasn’t suffered consecutive defeats of more than four points in the entire postseason.
3) Not only is Boston 6-1 SU when coming off a defeat this season, but it is ¬6-1 ATS. The Celtics have also covered in four straight games when coming off a double-digit defeat – meaning they have short memories.
4) The Celtics have been blown out just twice in these playoffs – a 124-95 home loss to Cleveland in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals and a 113-92 loss at Orlando in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals. How did the Celtics rebound from those embarrassing defeats? With double-digit victories: 97-87 over the Cavs as a 1½-point underdog and 96-84 over the Magic as a 3½-point favorite.
5) The Lakers have cashed in consecutive games just once in their last 10 outings, and that was in two different series (Game 6 at Phoenix; Game 1 vs. the Celtics). In fact, if you go back to the regular season, Los Angeles is in a 6-14 ATS rut when coming off a spread-cover.
Now, I know your first question is, “But Jeff, what about the loss of Kendrick Perkins? Isn’t that a huge blow to Boston’s front court on both ends of the floor? Wasn’t that evident in Game 6 when the Lakers dominated the boards en route to their 22-point win?”
Well, here’s my take on Perkins: Sure, he was an important piece to the Celtics’ puzzle. But it’s not like Boston doesn’t have capable replacements. Glen “Big Baby” Davis and Rasheed Wallace aren’t exactly chumps. In fact, you could argue that without Davis’ performance off the bench in Game 5, the Celtics wouldn’t even have this shot at a Game 7. As for Boston’s collapse in Game 6 after Perkins went down, such a shell-shocked, in-game reaction was totally understandable. But now, Doc Rivers and his players have had 48 hours to digest Perkins’ loss and devise a game plan to work around.
In other words, the Perkins injury doesn’t concern me in the least tonight – and certainly it doesn’t justify this pointspread hike.
Bottom line: The Celtics have shown an uncanny ability to rebound from poor performances, and I fully expect that to happen again. I also expect Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant – in his first NBA Finals Game 7 – to try to steal the spoolight and be the show. And we’ve all watched enough of Kobe to know that when he tries to take over a game by himself and freeze out his teammates, it often doesn’t go the Lakers’ way.
Throw in the fact that the Celtics are 12-5-1 ATS in the last 18 meetings with the Lakers, and I’ll gladly take these big points – and I wouldn’t be the least bit shocked if Boston scored the outright win and grabbed title #18.
KARL GARRETT
50 DIME LA Lakers
ERIN RYNNING
Boston Celtics +7
KELSO
10 Units Boston Celtics +7
10 Units UNDER 186
5 Unit Parlay Boston Celtics & Under
ANTHONY REDD
100 DIME Boston Celtics buy the half point up to 7.5
MIKE LINEBACK
4* Atlanta Braves
SPORTBOOK GURU
3 Units Philly +180
Dr Baseball Guaranteed Selections
HOME RUN BASEBALL DOMINATOR
Boston w/Lackey -145
Andrew Powers Guaranteed Selections
POWER PLAY BASEBALL CHALK EATER WINNER
Florida w/Nolasco -150
The Hoops Guru Guaranteed Selections
NBA TRIPLE PLAY PLAYOFF TOTALS WINNER
BOSTON and LA LAKERS OVER 186
NBA QUADRUPLE PLAY PLAYOFF WINNER
LA Lakers -7
Billy Coleman
4* NY METS
3* ATLANTA
3* NY YANKEES Under
3* LAKERS Under