Wednesday, February 8th, 2012
Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics will look to bounce back when they take the court to meet the LA Lakers in game 2 of their best of 7 NBA Finals series.
Tip time from the Staples Center in Los Angeles California is set for 8PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by ABC TV.
The LVSC NBA odds makers have set the point spread for game 2 and it was the home team LA Lakers opening as 5 ½ point betting favorites with the over under coming in at 191.
The early money from the NBA bettors came in on the home team as the LA Lakers is currently a 6 point favorite. The total has been bet downward to a current over under of 190.
Those backing the favored LA Lakers on the money line in Game 2 will find -250 odds.
Those looking to make a score on the road underdog Boston Celtics can take back +220 money line odds on the team to pull out the outright victory without the need for points.
The Lakers drew first blood in this series off their 102-89 home court victory over the Celtics as 5 ½ point favorites.
LA enjoyed a good shooting night hitting on 48.7% of their shots and 40% from the three point line. They held Boston to 43.3% shooting from the field. The Lakers attacked the boards and were the more physical team on the court as they out rebounded Boston by a 42-31 margin.
Kobe Bryant had good game 1 as he produced 30 points on 10 of 22 shooting. Bryant was also active on the glass with 7 rebounds.
The Lakers big men enjoyed a good shooting game as Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum combined for 12 of 20 from the floor and 33 points with 20 rebounds. Bynum has been playing through a knee injury and his presence on the defensive end really impacts point in the paint and limits quality shots at the basket for opponents.
With Bynum and Gasol effectively defending the paint the Celtics shooters will need to convert their looks from the outside.
Ron Artest in his NBA Finals debut with the Lakers contributed with 15 points on 5 of 10 from the field and 3 of 5 from the three point line.
Boston did not get on track offensively in game 1. The team made only 1 of 10 from the three point line and fell behind by as much as 20 in the second half.
Ray Allen was bothered by foul trouble the entire game covering Kobe Bryant and took only 8 shots in the game and making 3 of them. Allen saw only 27 minutes on Thursday.
Paul Pierce in 46 minutes emerged with 24 points on 6 of 13 from the field and 9 rebounds.
Kevin Garnett had a quiet 16 points but only pulled down 4 rebounds in his 35 minutes of play. The Celtics other big down low will need to be better on the boards as well as Kendrick Perkins pulled down only 3 rebounds in game 1.
The Celtics don’t have the threat from their bench they had in the 2008 NBA Finals. The Celtics reserves combined for just 5 of 14 from the field and 16 points.
Boston has shown to be a resilient team during the post season. They fell behind 0-1 and 1-2 in the Cleveland series and was able to win three straight to close out Lebron James and company in 6 games.
They also won three straight against Orlando to open the Eastern Conference Finals. In their opening round playoff series against the Miami Heat it was the Celtics winning three straight as well to open up a 3-0 series lead.
LA improved to 9-0 at home in the post season. Head coach Phil Jackson has a perfect 47-0 series record when winning the opening game of an NBA playoff series.
Trend: Boston Celtics is 9-3 ATS in their past 12 games with LA Lakers
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