History repeats itself. In this case, over and over again. The 2010 NBA Finals will be a renewal of the age-old rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics. It marks the 12th time the two teams have met on the NBA’s biggest stage.
Seven out of the eleven times the teams have faced in the finals, the team that won Game 1 also went on to win the series. So a Game 1 victory this time around could prove important. Here is a look at what to expect Thursday night.
The Lakers get the home-court advantage Thursday, and Staples Center will be loud – especially considering whom the home team is playing. Los Angeles has done great at home all season, posting a 34-7 home record.
In the regular season, the Celtics won 26 games away from TD Garden. They shocked the Magic in the Conference Finals by taking two wins from Amway Arena to open the series. Boston is hoping for a similar start to this series.
The biggest question for the Celtics is who can guard Kobe. It will probably come down to a combination of Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. If they can keep Kobe in check, the Celtics have a shot at a surprise win in Game 1.
The Lakers are a 5 1/2 point favorite. Bodog, Bookmaker and 5Dimes all offer the standard -110 spread.
Bodog doesn’t have a moneyline posted (yet), but Bookmaker and 5Dimes have the teams at the same odds: the Lakers at -235 and the Celtics at +195. The moneyline seems to be pretty good value here for a team that doesn’t seem as overmatched as the line might suggest.
The Celtics broke 100 points only three times this offseason. The Lakers started out with low team totals in their first round series win over the Thunder. They had higher scoring totals in their other two series, scoring 100 or more points in their last ten games.
While this could be an indication for high team totals on the Lakers’ side, they have shown that they can play the game any way their opponent does. Even though they scored in triple-digits ten times in a row, that doesn’t mean they will Thursday night against the Celtics.
Boston has had a great postseason on the defensive side of the Ball and they will try to shut down the Lakers’ high flying offense.
Bodog offers the over/under at 192 (-110), while Bookmaker and 5Dimes set it at 1911/2 (-110). On top of the game total, 5Dimes carries a team point total bet. The Lakers’ over/under is listed at 981/2 (-110). 5Dimes has the Celtics’ over/under at 94 (-110).
In the two regular season meetings, both teams were far from reaching those respective team totals as well as the game total. The Lakers beat the Celtics 90-98 on January 31st. The Celtics came out on top 87-86 in the teams’ second meeting on February 18.
While there is no direct correlation between the regular season totals and the playoff totals, the over/under seems generally a little bit high. The Celtics will come in with a defensive mentality and I can’t see this game being extremely high-scoring.
