NBA Betting - Magic, Lakers Battle In Game 1
Written by unclerico, Tuesday June 02 2009
Preview of NBA Finals Game 1.
Since we've been looking ahead to Belmont betting, French Open odds and all sorts of other sporting events coming up later in the week, we may as well get a jump start on the NBA Finals.
Game 1: Orlando Magic @ Los Angeles Lakers
Thursday, June 4th, 2009
Lakers Magic Betting: Lakers -6
The sports betting community has been buzzing with all sorts of sporting events right now. After all, May is the busiest sporting month of the year and a lot of the action spills over into June.
While the NHL finals is finishing up, the NBA finals is going to kick off on Thursday as the Los Angeles Lakers will host the Orlando Magic for Game 1.
How important is the first game? For Phil Jackson's career, when his team's win Game 1 of the best-of-seven playoffs, they are 43-0. Needless to say, the Magic will be focused on setting the tone very early.
The Lakers have home court advantage, which makes it three consecutive series that the Magic will be without the extra home game. But there are some positives for the Magic with the first one being that they are confident. The Magic swept the regular season series between the teams - once winning without Dwight Howard - which gives them the confidence to believe that they can easily win this series.
They will get another boost from their bench as All-Star point guard, Jameer Nelson, who has been out since before the All-Star break, has been recovering from a torn labrum. But he completed his first full practice with the team on Tuesday and he should be able to contribute at some point - if not right off the bat - in this series.
One of the main concerns for the Magic will be keeping Dwight Howard on the floor. Howard has been dealing with foul trouble all the way throughout the playoffs and that became very evident in the Conference Finals. Howard picked up 32 fouls in six games, but it didn't hurt his team as much as people thought.
Against the Lakers, though, foul trouble could be a big deal as the Lakers have far more depth and scoring upfront than the Cavaliers presented.
For Game 1, look for the rested Lakers to act like they've been there before while the Magic play a little nervous.
NBA Championship Odds pick: Lakers -6
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