NBA Final: Lakers vs Celtics Game 1 Prediction

Written by Scott Burgess

Thursday, 05 June 2008

The L.A. Lakers hit the road to take on the Boston Celtics tonight as the great rival of the 1980’s gets set for the 2008 NBA Championship. It doesn’t matter what happened 28 years ago, this is a new NBA era and this series will be one of the best in years. Oddsmakers at SBGglobal.com have the Celtics as 2 ½-point favs over the Lakers with the over/under set at 192. Get your NBA Final: Lakers vs Celtics Game 1 Prediction in now at SBGglobal.com

The Lakers played Boston twice this season with the Celtics winning both games, but these were pre-Gasol games. The Lakers went 4-3 SU on the road in the playoffs where they’ve averaged 101 PPG and given up 86.5 PPG. In their last five games they’ve averaged 93 PPG, 43% from the field, 32% from downtown and 77% from the line. Kobe Bryant averages 31 PPG, Pau Gasol is good for 17 PPG and Lamar Odom averages 14 PPG and 10 RPG. When Kobe is on his game, he is virtually un-guardable. The Lakers have a Hall of Fame coach in Phil Jackson, who has vast Championship experience and a nice mix of veterans and youngsters in their lineup who enjoy playing together. Guys like Luke Walton and Ronny Turiaf bring energy off the bench and Sasha Vujacic has become a deadly outside shooter. Derek Fisher has been steady as well the last couple games with his three point shooting. The Lakers have had to play only 15 playoff games, they swept Denver, went six games with Utah and five with San Antonio.

The Celtics Big Three need to be consistent if they want any chance of getting past the Lakers. Kevin Garnett averages 21 PPG, Paul Pierce is good for 19 PPG and Ray Allen averages 14 PPG. But these averages are over a 20 game period. They were taken to a seventh game against the eighth seeded Atlanta Hawks, they went the distance against Cleveland and they went six games against Detroit. For a team that dominated in the regular season, they barely squeezed through the playoffs. They made it mostly due to home court advantage, if they didn’t have it, it would be a different story. You never know which Ray Allen will show up, he had a low 9pts in Game 1 against the Pistons and 11pts in Game 5. The Celtics are 10-1 SU at home where they’ve averaged 96 PPG and allowed 83 PPG. In their last five playoff games they’ve averaged 92 PPG, 44% from the field, 32% from downtown and 81% from the line.

Recent Trends to Consider

Lakers are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games playing on 3 or more days rest.
Lakers are 10-2 ATS in their last 12 games as an underdog of 0.5-4.5.
Lakers are 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 playoff games as an underdog.
Lakers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 vs. NBA Atlantic.
Lakers are 8-2-1 ATS in their last 11 games following a ATS win.
Celtics are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games.
Celtics are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as a home favorite.
Celtics are 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games following a ATS win.
Lakers are 5-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings in Boston.
Lakers are 7-3 ATS in the last 10 meetings.
Road team is 5-2 ATS in the last 7 meetings.

GAME: L.A. Lakers Lakers (69-28) at Boston Celtics (78-24)
DATE/TIME: Thursday, June 05 - 9:00 PM EST
LINE: SBGglobal.com TOTAL: 192
PICK: Lakers +2 ½

The Bottom Line: I don’t care who has the most Championships. The Celtics are to unstable, they never know which player will show up. The Lakers are consistent and Kobe can do whatever he wants to do to win. Get your NBA Final: Lakers vs Celtics Prediction in now at SBGglobal.com and receive a 30% sign-up bonus on your initial deposit.

Last Updated ( Thursday, 05 June 2008 )

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