Sports Brokers Guaranteed Selections
NBA PLAYOFF PRIVATE PLAYERS CLUB WINNER
LA Lakers +2.5
The Hoops Guru Guaranteed Selections
NBA QUADRUPLE PLAY PLAYOFF WINNER
LA Lakers +2.5
CT Sports Picks Guaranteed Selections
LAL/BOS Under 192.5
As you heard in the postgame press conferences both teams point to defense when it comes to winning these games. Expect both BOS and LAL to come out and lock down to start this game. Even in game 2 that went over it was really due to the refs calling way too many fouls. Now these two are used to the physical play watch for a much more well played game with less fouls. Plus don't expect Ray Allen to shoot 75% from threes. Game three is really important to the LAKERS so they will play much better defense as well. This one has a one to two pt game all over it and lower scoring than most will think.
EXECUTIVE
600% W Sox
250% Celtics +2.5
Jeff Benton
25 Dime: BOSTON CELTICS
10 Dime: NEW YORK METS
Celtics
The Laker supporter tonight will undoubtedly argue that if not for Ray Allen’s incredible shooting display in Game – he drained his first seven three-pointers and finished with a game-high 32 points – the Celtics would have returned home down 0-2. I’ll counter that argument with this: Only two players showed up for the Celtics in Game 2 – Allen and point guard Rajon Rondo (19 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) – and the team had 11 fewer points from the free-throw line (and 15 fewer free-throw attempts), and yet Boston won going away 103-94.
Paul Pierce? Contributed just 10 points on 2-for-11 shooting. Kevin Garnett? Six points, four and five fouls in 23 minutes. And yet the Celtics rolled to a nine-point win.
The point is this: If the Celtics can win on the Lakers’ home court with two of their top four players contributing a combined 16 points and eight rebounds, what’s going to happen now that Boston is back home? Granted, it’s highly unlikely that Allen will come close to duplicating his Game 2 performance, but it’s also highly unlikely that Pierce and Garnett will play as poorly as they played.
Also, it’s highly unlikely that L.A. big man Andrew Bynum, who had one of his best games in months with 21 points, six rebounds and seven blocked shots on Sunday, will repeat his effort tonight (especially since he continues to deal with a knee injury that’s going to require surgery when this series ends).
Meanwhile, two interesting trends have begun to develop regarding the Lakers. First off, prior to Sunday, the Lakers had lost just four games in these playoffs, and it was a pair of two-game losing streaks in Games 3 and 4 on the road (at Oklahoma City in the opening round and at Phoenix in the conference finals). Secondly, not only did L.A. lose Game 3 on the road to both the Thunder and Suns, but they barely escaped with a 111-110 win in Utah in Game 3.
In fact, going back to the 2008 playoffs, the Lakers are 3-6 the last nine times they’ve played Game 3 on the road. That’s not a quirk, guys. That tells me this team has trouble adjusting when playing for the first time in enemy territory (when the crowd is more revved up than at any point in a series).
Boston is now on a 10-3-1 ATS roll against the Lakers, including three easy home wins in the NBA Finals back in 2008 (Games 1, 2 and 6). In fact, the Celtics have cashed in seven of eight NBA Finals contests against Los Angeles (only exception coming in Game 1 of this series). Boston is also on an 8-3 SU and ATS roll overall, including 6-2 SU and ATS at home (all as a favorite).
Finally, since an eight-game playoff winning streak (7-1 ATS), the Lakers have now split their last six games (2-4 ATS). And again, so far in this postseason, when Los Angeles loses once, it has not bounced back well. Expect that trend to continue tonight, especially in what’s going to be an extremely hostile environment.
Mets
I’m all about Mike Pelfrey in this one. I backed him in his most recent start a week ago today in San Diego, and he dominated the Padres in a 4-2 win, improving to 8-1 with a 2.39 ERA on the season. And if you take away one bad inning at Philadelphia – a six-run fourth inning – Pelfrey has given up just 13 runs in 70 2/3 innings, good for a paltry 1.47 ERA!
Pelfrey has been incredible at home, too, going 5-0 with a 2.05 ERA in seven starts, with New York winning six of them. Then again, all the Mets do is win at home. They’ve got the biggest home-road split in baseball (22-9 at Citi Field; 8-18 on the highway). And since starting the year 2-3 at home, they’ve won 20 of their last 26 in Queens. That includes a three-game sweep of the Marlins over the weekend, culminating with Sunday’s come-from-behind 7-6 win. That means the Mets carry an eight-game home winning streak into tonight!
True, the Padres got a split of their four-game series in Philadelphia on Monday, scoring a 3-0 victory after Sunday’s 6-5, 10-inning win. And San Diego took two of three from the Mets last week (and it has won 14 of the last 20 meetings going back to 2007. However, the road team has won 12 of the last 18 meetings in this rivalry.
Again, though, this is about Pelfrey, who limited the Padres to just one run on four hits and two walks while striking out eight in last week’s victory. And Pelfey has been – pardon the pun – lights out in night games this year (7-0, 1.50 ERA in eight games, all Mets wins) as opposed to 1-2 with a 5.09 ERA in daytime action.
Finally, Padres lefty Clayton Richard (4-3, 2.87 ERA) has been solid all year, and that includes a one-run, four-hit, four-walk, six-inning performance against New York on Wednesday (the Padres eventually prevailed 5-1 in 11 innings). But he’s still facing a Mets lineup that’s tattooing lefty pitching this year to the tune of a .291 average overall, a .322 average at home and a .314 average in the last 10 games. Hence the reason New York has won seven in a row at home against southpaws!
The Mets are also on runs of 7-3 against the N.L. West, 7-1 on Tuesday, 8-2 as a home favorite and 5-0 after a day off.
HOT SHOT SPORTS
4'* Lakers Under
4* Cards
3* Mets Under