With four teams left in the NBA finals the first game of the NBA championship series is about three weeks away. Both the Eastern and Western Conference Finals are going into game three. So far the teams with home court advantage are up 2-0, and the championship series is likely to be between the Lakers and the Celtics.
The reigning champion Los Angeles Lakers are up two games to none on the Phoenix Suns. Los Angeles dominated at home. In Game One the Lakers maintained the lead throughout the whole game. Kobe Bryant had 40 points and his team finished the series opener 128-107.
Game Two for the Suns and Lakers started off much like Game One, but in the third quarter the Suns outscored the Lakers by nine points and were able to tie the game. The Lakers had a 34 point fourth quarter, outscoring the Suns by 12 and won 124-112.
Pinnacle currently has the Lakers at -161 to win the NBA championship. The Suns are +1845 to win the championship.
Game Three of the Lakers – Suns series match up is Sunday at 8:30 ET. TV coverage is provided by TNT.
After upsetting the top seeded Cavaliers with the hype of LeBron James, the Boston Celtics moved on to play the Orlando Magic. The Magic’s fate appears to be similar to that of the Suns. They lost both Games One and Two at home.
In Game One the Magic lost 92-88. They scored only 32 points in the first half. The Celtics had a 16 point lead going into the fourth quarter. Orlando was able to score 30 points in the fourth and keep Boston to just 18, but of course that was not enough. This ended the Magic’s 14 game win streak. Orlando is 1-10 all time post season when losing game one.
Game Two was a closer match up, and again the Magic pushed it in the fourth quarter to bring the game closer, yet the Celtics won 95-92. The Celtics played the Magic like Orlando had never played playoff basketball before. Boston’s Paul Pierce had 28 points, and Rajon Rondo had 25 points. Superman, Dwight Howard had 30 points, but could not rally his team past Boston.
Pinnacle sports has the Magic at +861 and the Celtics at +245.
Assuming the Lakers match up against the Celtics for the championship this June, the Lakers will start out as the clear favorite. The question is can Boston use their energy to take down Los Angeles? Phil Jackson holds ten NBA titles and is on the verge of winning his eleventh.
The Celtics will have a difficult time overcoming the Lakers’ size with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. The addition of Ron Artest will help the Lakers slow down Paul Pierce. Pierce averaged 13 points per game against the Lakers. One would expect the Lakers to be the significant series favorite against the Celtics. If they aren’t big favorites, there might be some value in that series price, and that is an uncommon sight for the Los Angeles Lakers.
