The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers were the two best teams in the NBA over this series, and they are putting on a show for the fans with a very entertaining NBA Finals. The favored Celtics will have a glorious chance to celebrate their 17th title when they host the Lakers at TD Banknorth Garden on Tuesday in Game 6.

The Boston Celtics almost did it again against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of the 2008 NBA Finals Sunday night at Staples Arena. The Celtics almost came back after facing a double-digit deficit to the Lakers in the final period. This time however, the Lakers held off the charge winning 103-98 forcing Game 6 back in Boston on Tuesday (June 17). According to oddsmakers at BetUS.com , the Celtics are -200 moneyline and -4 ½ point favorites against the spread with a 192 total. The Celtics are a perfect 5-0 covering the spread (ATS) in the 2008 NBA Finals. 

No team has overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals to win a title. The first 28 failed, and now the Lakers, who blew a 24-point lead and lost Game 4 and nearly squandered a 19-point lead in Game 5, have a chance to do something extraordinary.

Visit BetUS.com to check NBA Finals Game6 Online Betting Odds.

 Lakers to Extend Lead Over Jazz  

While the Utah Jazz, (58-31 SU, 49-40 ATS, 45-43-1 O/U) are undoubtedly one of the better teams in the NBA, their struggles against the NBA online betting favorite Los Angeles Lakers, (62-25 SU, 52-33-1 ATS, 41-45 O/U) this season are clearly apparent after viewing the opening game of their second round NBA playoff series - and four regular season matchups - against their Western Conference rivals, which the Lakers easily won three of.

Jazz all-star power forward Carlos Boozer said his team needs to get more physical – immediately.

The Lakers have approached the playoffs with the desperation of a team looking to stay alive one more day.

“Every game is Game 7. That’s been our approach,” Lakers star Kobe Bryant said. “I think with each win, we get more confident. Utah is a much bigger challenge for us than the first round.”

Utah Jazz point guard Deron Williams wanted to remind everyone that one loss does not a series make.

“It’s a seven-game series,” he said. “We’ve lost one game. We’ve just got to stay poised and try to get this next one. We want to try to get back to where we were. We don’t want to go back to Salt Lake down 0-2. We’ve been in that situation before and it’s not pretty.”

Here is a look at tonight’s key trends followed by my NBA Betting Free Picks:

The Jazz are 5-1 ATS in their last six after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.

The Jazz are 4-1 ATS in their last five games following a S.U. loss.

The Lakers are 7-0 ATS in their last seven after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.

The Lakers are 6-0 ATS in their last six games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record.

The Under is 4-0 in Jazz last four road games vs. a team with a home winning percentage of greater than .600.

The Under is 4-0 in Lakers last four games following a S.U. win.

The Home team is 8-2 ATS in the last ten meetings.

The Over is 6-2 in the last eight meetings in Los Angeles.

Analysis: I’m going to keep this pick short and directly to the point for my beloved NBA bettors. I like the Lakers to win this game as every Lakers victory this season over the Jazz, in 4-out of 5 games including their Game 1 postseason contest, has been by double digits. With Carlos Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko and Ronnie Brewer all scoring less points per game in the playoffs than they did in the regular season, I say take the Lakers to cover the spread while going up 2-0 in this series.

NBA Free Picks: Lakers-7 Points/Over 209½ Total Points

Visit here for Online NBA odds.

The defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers will face the team that most people believe will win the East this year, the Boston Celtics in game one of their best of seven series on Tuesday. The Celtics had all kinds of trouble dispatching the Atlanta Hawks in the first round while Cleveland was able to get past Washington. The Cavaliers will lean on LeBron James while the Celtics have the big three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.

James has scored 30 or more points against the Celtics in 9 of their last 10 meetings. In three games this season, James averaged 32 points, seven rebounds and just under 10 assists against the Celtics. “You’ve always got to keep an eye on him wherever he is on the court,” said Paul Pierce. The Celtics and Cavaliers split their four games this season with each team winning their home games.

Here are the NBA betting stats for Tuesday’s game. The Cavaliers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 vs. the Atlantic. The Cavaliers are 14-6 ATS in their last 20 playoff games as an underdog. The Cavaliers are 33-16 ATS in their last 49 games as a road underdog. The Cavaliers are 4-1-2 ATS in the last 7 meetings in Boston. The road team is 5-2-1 ATS in the last 8 meetings. The underdog is 6-0-1 ATS in the last 7 meetings between the two teams.

The Celtics are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 vs. the Central. The Celtics are 13-3 ATS in their last 16 games as a home favorite. The Celtics are 10-4 ATS in their last 14 Tuesday games.

The Under is 4-0 in the Cavaliers last 4 vs. the Atlantic. The Under is 10-1 in the Cavaliers last 11 Conference Semifinals games. The Under is 9-3 in the Cavaliers last 12 overall. The Under is 14-5 in the Cavaliers last 19 playoff games as an underdog. The Over is 19-7-1 in the Cavaliers last 27 Tuesday games.

The Under is 4-1 in the Celtics last 5 vs. the Central. The Over is 4-1 in the Celtics last 5 playoff games as a favorite. The Under is 6-2 in the Celtics last 8 games as a home favorite. The Over is 11-5 in the Celtics last 16 Tuesday games.

The Denver Nuggets haven’t been able to slow down Kobe Bryant and the Lakers so far but they hope their home court will provide them with enough of an advantage to get back in the series on Saturday.  The Nuggets were a sparkling 33-8 at home this season. “It’s our turn to hold serve,” Nuggets coach George Karl said, “It’s a great challenge, a lot of fun. The home court’s been kind of our biggest ally all year long.”  SBG Global reports that early NBA betting has the public taking Lakers on the Road.

Denver hasn’t played any defense so far in this series, giving up an average of 125 points per game to the Lakers.  Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol have ripped them apart but the Nuggets believe things will turn around on Saturday. “My sense is all year long when this team had its true back to the wall, they’ve responded great and the home court’s been a big part of that,” Karl said. “I think there’s an energy out there. Statistically there’s all sorts of positives that come our way here. We play better defense here.”  They sure couldn’t play defense much worse than they did in Los Angeles. 

The problem for the Nuggets is that they were next to last in the NBA this season allowing 107 points per game. Perhaps the home court advantage will be enough for Denver to make this a series. “I don’t think you’re going to see wholesale changes. They believe in their style of play,” the Lakers Derek Fisher said. “Defensively, I think they’ll play even more zone than we saw last night. I don’t expect them to do too many things differently than they’ve done so far. I just expect them to do them better on their home court.”

SBG Global Current Line: Nuggets  -1.5 , Total 230

The Lakers are only 4-6 in their last 10 road games in Denver.  Here are more NBA betting stats for Saturday’s game.  The Lakers are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall. The Lakers are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games as a road underdog. The Lakers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Conference Quarterfinals games. The Lakers are 19-7-1 ATS in their last 27 road games. The Lakers are 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings in Denver.

The Nuggets are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games as a home favorite. The Nuggets are 4-9 ATS in their last 13 vs. the Pacific. The Nuggets are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Nuggets are 3-13 ATS in their last 16 Conference Quarterfinals games. The favorite is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings between the two teams and the home team is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings.

The Over is 8-2 in the Lakers last 10 Saturday games. The Over is 5-2 in the Lakers last 7 playoff games as an underdog. The Over is 7-3 in the Lakers last 10 Conference Quarterfinals games.

The Under is 17-4 in the Nuggets last 21 Conference Quarterfinals games. The Over is 15-6 in the Nuggets last 21 games as a home favorite.

The Los Angeles Lakers will look to avoid a letdown in Game #2 on Wednesday as they host the Denver Nuggets.  The Lakers had little trouble in game one and are wary of the Nuggets coming out hard in game two. “The pressure’s still on us. We still have the pressure to win on our home court, play as hard as we did before.” Lakers’ head coach Phil Jackson said, “It’s very difficult for a team to come back with the same intensity.” SBG Global reports that early NBAbetting has the public taking Lakers at Home.

The Lakers were led in game one by Pau Gasol who had 36 points and 16 rebounds.  Gasol does not expect things to be as easy in game #2. “When Marcus left me, most of the time they didn’t cut off that second man. That second man helper didn’t get there on those rotations to me. I guess they will try to allow us to shoot more from the outside and not get in the lane as easy as we did. You’d rather give up open long shots than layups and dunks.”  The total on game #2 is almost five points higher than in game number one since the teams combined to score 242 points on Sunday.

Here are the NBA betting stats for Wednesday’s game.  The Nuggets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Wednesday games. The Nuggets are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 playoff games as an underdog. The Nuggets are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 Conference Quarterfinals games. The Nuggets are 1-8 ATS in the last 9 meetings in Los Angeles.

The Lakers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite. The Lakers are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games as a home favorite. The Lakers are 2-6-1 ATS in their last 9 playoff games as a favorite. The home team is 13-5 ATS in the last 18 meetings between the two teams.

The Under is 5-1 in the Nuggets last 6 overall. The Under is 13-3 in the Nuggets last 16 playoff games as an underdog. The Under is 16-5 in the Nuggets last 21 Conference Quarterfinals games.

The Over is 4-1 in the Lakers last 5 games as a home favorite. The Under is 6-2 in the Lakers last 8 Wednesday games. The Under is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings in Los Angeles between the two teams.

For many years, the NBA Zig-Zag Theory was money in the bank when it came to betting the NBA playoffs. But as is the case with nearly every successful sports gambling system, it became too popular for its own good, and since 2000 is a losing proposition.

The NBA Zig Zag Theory was created by longtime sports bettor Tony Salinas roughly 35 years ago and the premise behind the system is a simple one - simply bet on the team that lost the last game in a playoff series. The system started out great, but like the Monday night home underdog in the NFL, it started being used by many bettors and in the past eight years is 260-244, as the line is now adjusted to factor in the theory.

The rationale behind the system makes sense, as a team is likely to fight harder coming after a loss, but the success the system had in previous years, make it something that has essentially run its course for the time being.

When the NBA playoffs start, you’re likely to hear about the NBA ZigZag Theory and how great it has done over the years, but remember a lot of that success came many years ago and as a sports bettor, you should be much more concerned with recent history and the future.

MLB Betting - Toronto Blue Jays vs. New York Yankees
The Blue Jays and Yankees play the second game of their series on Wednesday as A.J. Burnett faces Mike Mussina. The Yankees will be looking to Mussina to rebound from a poor 2007 season in which opponents batted .311 against him. Toronto will be looking to get Matt Stairs into the lineup on Wednesday.

NBA Betting - Golden State Warriors vs. Dallas Mavericks
Two teams battling for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference meet on Wednesday as Dallas hosts Golden State. The Warriors face a tough situation on Wednesday as they played in San Antonio last night. The standings change every day and each of the remaining games for both teams is critical. “Right now, you can’t play the scoreboard.

Soccer Betting - UEFA Cup Quarterfinals Begin Thursday
Bayern Munich is the favorite to win the Soccer Betting UEFA Cup and they will try and stay on track as they host Getafe in the first leg of the quarterfinals on Thursday. If they are able to win their series against Getafe they could end up playing their German rival Bayer Leverkusen. Both teams have won the UEFA Cup before as Leverkusen.

Soccer Betting - Manchester United and FC Barcelona Win
Manchester United and FC Barcelona won first leg road games in the quarterfinals of the Champions League putting them in excellent position to advance next week when they play the second legs at home. Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney scored as United defeated AS Roma 2-0 while Bojan Krkic scored for Barcelona in a 1-0 win over Schalke.

Visit and Place Bets at Sportsbook.com

The Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors play the back end of their home-and-home series tonight in Golden State with the Lakers trying to bounce back from last night’s 115-111 defeat.  The Warriors had a huge 26 point lead in the third quarter last night but the Lakers came all the way back to take the lead in the fourth quarter.  The Warriors though got two big three-pointers by Stephen Jackson late to win. Kobe Bryant had 36 points to lead the Lakers, 27 of those in the second half.  Jackson had 31 points to lead Golden State. “I hated that it came down to that,” Jackson said. “I think we got a little too complacent with that lead. We should have known Kobe was going to come back and take over and bring his team back. The biggest thing was in the third quarter we walked the ball up and they ran. And we got the lead by running. But we found a way to win. That shows the growth of this team from last year. It was ugly, but it was still a win.” SBGGlobal reports that early NBA betting has the public taking Lakers on the Road.

The win by the Warriors was their 10th in 14 games and kept them 1.5 games ahead of Denver for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. The loss snapped the Lakers nine game home winning streak against Golden State.  The Warriors have not swept a home-and-home series against the Lakers since the 1975-76 season. “It’s really hard in the NBA to beat a team twice in a row, especially the Lakers, so we have to be on our A-game, we can’t have letdowns like we did (Sunday),” Jackson said.  Lakers’ center Pau Gasol did not play on Sunday and will not play tonight.  He may return later this week.

SBGGlobal Current Line: Lakers  - 2 , Total 232

Here are the NBA betting stats for Monday’s game.  The Lakers are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 Monday games. The Lakers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games playing on no rest. The Lakers are 10-3 ATS in their last 13 vs. the Pacific.

The Lakers are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games as a road favorite. The Lakers are 19-9 ATS in their last 28 games overall. The Lakers are 5-0 ATS in the last 5 meetings in Golden State. The road team is 6-1 ATS in the last 7 meetings between the two teams.

The Warriors are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog. The Warriors are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games playing on no rest. The Warriors are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 vs. the Pacific. The Warriors are 4-13 ATS in their last 17 home games.

The Under is 12-4 in the Lakers last 16 Monday games. The Under is 8-3 in the Lakers last 11 games as a road favorite. The Over is 8-2 in the Warriors last 10 games as an underdog. The Under is 4-1 in the Warriors last 5 overall. The Over is 7-2 in the Warriors last 9 games playing on no rest. The Over is 38-13 in the Warriors last 51 Monday games. The Under is 5-2 in the Warriors last 7 vs. the Pacific. The Over is 11-2 in the last 13 meetings in Golden State.

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The Washington Wizards would sure like to get Caron Butler back in the starting lineup but that may not happen until after the All-Star break although Butler is traveling with the team.  He did not play in Wednesday’s 85-77 home loss to San Antonio. Butler came back from a hip flexor injury and played Sunday against the Lakers but didn’t look right and then aggravated the injury in Tuesday’s loss at Philadelphia.  The Wizards are 1-4 without Butler in the starting lineup this season. SBGGlobal reports that early NBA betting has the public taking Nuggets at Home.

“We listen to our training staff, we listen to Caron and what our doctors say,” Wizards’ head coach Eddie Jordan said, “There’s no real damage there, it’s just sore, so if he feels he can go with moderate pain, he’s going to try to go. We want him to get better as well as he can for us so we can win games.” Some of Butler’s teammates did not think he would play until after the All-Star break.  The Wizards are a completely different team when Butler is in not in the lineup.  They are 7-24 without him since he joined the Wizards in 2005.

Denver is coming off a heart-breaking 118-115 overtime loss to Utah on Wednesday.  Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points before fouling out in overtime.  Allen Iverson led Denver with 34 points and 10 assists.

Here are the NBA betting stats for Friday’s game.  The Wizards are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 Friday games. The Wizards are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 vs. the Northwest. The Wizards are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 road games. The Wizards are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Wizards are 1-4 ATS in the last 5 meetings in Denver.

The Nuggets are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 Friday games. The Nuggets are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 home games. The Nuggets are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 vs. the Southeast. The Nuggets are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games overall. The Nuggets are 37-17 ATS in their last 54 vs. the Eastern Conference.

The Over is 5-0 in the Wizards last 5 road games. The Under is 9-0 in the Wizards last 9 vs. the Western Conference. The Under is 5-2 in the Wizards last 7 vs. the Northwest. The Over is 5-1 in the Nuggets last 6 home games.

The Over is 4-1 in the Nuggets last 5 overall. The Over is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings in Denver between the two teams.

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