Celts / Cavs

[Raji]

Cleveland at Boston (-10, 184)



One big Game 7 blowout sure seems to mean a lot to the books. Boston was consistently favored by 14 or 15 points at home throughout its hard-fought win over the lowly Atlanta Hawks and now opens as a double-digit favorite against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. That seems like a lot, even though the Celtics saw similar lines against Cleveland in the regular season.



The Cavaliers have been hanging out since disposing of the Wizards on Friday, so they’ll be rested while the Celtics have to get right back at it after Sunday’s win. Boston looked good enough to beat anyone in Game 7, but this club still doesn’t seem to have a great handle on what it wants to accomplish at times. Cleveland, meanwhile, might be playing its best ball of the season.



“I'm very excited about the way we played in the first round," James told reporters. "The best thing I've seen is how we bounced back from Game 5 into Game 6. Never being in that position with this team before, you never know how a team will bounce back, and the best game we had was Game 6.

"If you're going to pick a good time to be the best team you've been all year, this is the time to do it - in May and June."

Pick: Cavs

Raji

[Raji]

Sunday's NBA action went pretty much according to oddsmakers’ plans, which was great news for Boston Celtics backers.



Boston avoided the biggest playoff upset in NBA history on Sunday, crushing the Atlanta Hawks 99-65 in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 22 points, while Kevin Garnett dropped 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Boston.



The Celtics easily covered as 14 ½-point home favorites at BetJamaica.com in closing out the Hawks, finishing the series 4-3 against the number. Boston will take on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Round 2, with Game 1 on Tuesday night.



The Los Angeles Lakers kicked off their Western Conference semifinal series with the Utah Jazz in style, cashing as 8-point faves in a 109-98 victory in Game 1 on Sunday.



Kobe Bryant scored 38 points, while going 21-of-23 from the line, as the teams played under the 217 ½-point totals listed at BetJamaica.com. Kobe added seven assists and six boards for the Lakers, who got 18 points, 10 rebounds, and five dimes from Pau Gasol in the payday.



Mehmet Okur had 21 points and 19 boards to lead Utah, which is only 1-4 ATS this season against Los Angeles after Sunday’s defeat.



The betting action gets back underway on Monday night, when the Detroit Pistons (-6) host the Orlando Magic in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series.



Detroit rolled in Game 1 on Saturday, winning 91-72 as 6-point home favorites. Chauncey Billups had his way with the Orlando backcourt, going for 19 points and seven assists, as the Pistons held Dwight Howard 12 points and eight rebounds in the win.



Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu paced the Magic with 18 points each, with the game playing under the 189 ½-point total set by oddsmakers at BetJamaica.



Monday night also features Game 2 between the San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Hornets (- 2 ½), as Spurs backers look make up for some lost money after the series opener.



New Orleans made quick work of San Antonio on Saturday night, handling the Spurs 101-82 as 3-point home favorites. San Antonio had no answer for David West, who led the Hornets with 30 points and nine rebounds, while Chris Paul had 17 points and 13 assists for New Orleans.



The key to the Hornets’ payday was their defense of Tim Duncan, who was held to only five points and three rebounds in Game 1. Spurs bettors will need a better performance from the Big Fundamental on Monday night if they’re to have any hope of banking a payday in the Big Easy.

Raji

[Bobby O'Shea]

Am I the only one that is stunned at this opening line? 10 points? The Celtics are good and all, but the Cavs should keep it closer than that right?

Bobby o

[Raji]

Boston Celtics (1) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (4)

Series odds: Boston -800 Cleveland +600

Season series: 2-2 tie



Maybe it just took the Boston Celtics seven full games against the lowly Atlanta Hawks to find their A-game. Or, maybe they just weren’t as ready for the postseason as they thought they were. Either way, don't expect the Cleveland Cavaliers to let them off the hook.



The Cavs survived six scrappy games against the Wizards, covering the number in each of their four wins, thanks in large part to LeBron James, of course. King James didn’t back down from Washington’s tough play in the paint and he’ll likely cause some major problems for the Celtics too after averaging 32.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 9.7 assists in three games against Boston this season.



But everybody knows what LeBron’s all about. Cleveland’s going to need a lot of help from James’ supporting cast to keep up with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, though it looks like Daniel Gibson, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and ex-Celtics Wally Szczerbiak, and Delonte West could be ready to help out after some good work against Washington.



The first quarter will be particularly important in this series. Boston loves to come out and drop its pressure defense on teams early, trying to bury teams before they know what happened, so the longer Cleveland can hang around the better for Cavs bettors. The same holds true for the series in general, too. When the Celtics start fast and their shots are going down early there aren't many teams that keep up, and when they're doing that at home when the Garden's going bananas you can be two games behind in a hurry.



That's what LeBron and the Cavs need to avoid. If they can steal one of the first couple on the road, this series is going to be a lot closer than the series odds would have you believe. Boston is a deeper, stronger team, but if we're talking series prices, I wouldn't touch the C's at -800. Throw a little sprinkle on the Cavs instead.



Covers.com prediction: Cavs in seven

Raji