The LA Lakers took Game 1 of the NBA Finals in dominating fashion last night and the NBA betting odds makers will be hard pressed not to widen the point spread for Game 2 in LA. The Lakers played nearly flawless basketball in the first game of the NBA betting championship on both ends of the court and it became obvious in the second half that if the Celts don’t play close to perfectly, they will lose this basketball betting matchup.
LA has better players and more talent and if they can afford to play at less than 100% and still win this NBA Finals betting series. The Celtics cannot. Boston has very little margin for error and 52 points and 19 rebounds from their “Big 3” (Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen) will not be enough to bring the NBA betting odds title back to Bean town.
Peirce was terrific, especially in the second half and finished with 24 points and 9 rebounds on 6-13 shooting. But what’s even more impressive about these numbers is the fact that he notched all these stats with crazy Ron Artest draped all over him for 45 minutes of basketball betting action.
Artest might just be the most important player on this Lakers squad during this NBA playoff betting series if it weren’t for Kobe Bryant and Pao Gasol. These two players had their way against a normally imposing Boston defense shredding the Celtics for a combined 53 points and 23 rebounds. The combination of Bryant and Gasol put up better numbers than all three of the Celtic’s stars combined. And that’s not a good sign heading into Game 2 for Boston fans.
In a departure from the 2008 series, when Bryant was forced to guard Peirce, and was likewise shutdown by Pierce on the other end. Artest was brought on board this NBA betting offseason to do the defensive dirty work and take the pressure off of Bryant. He did that and more in Game 1 of the NBA Finals betting action but not only making life miserable for Pierce but also chipping in 15 points on the offense board. If he can replicate those numbers for the rest of the series, the Lakers will win handily.
