There was not much Magic in Orlando last night as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Orlando Magic 99-86 to win the NBA Championship.  It was the Lakers 15th Championship and the first they had won in 7 years.  By winning 4 out 5 games in the series Los Angeles was able to remove the cloud that followed them since losing to the Boston Celtics in the finals last year.  The Lakers Coach Phil Jackson seemed rather subdued as he acquired his own 10th National Basketball Association Championship.  That is one more than legendary Red Auerbach.

The Los Angeles Lakers may have had their hot and cold swings this season but when it mattered they faced the challenge and prevailed.  The 16-0 run in the second period of last nights game seemed to take the magic right out of the Magic.  Kobe Bryant won the Most Valuable Player Award and rightfully so.  He worked hard to claim his 4th Championship ring and no one can take that away from him.  His leadership carried on after the game was over as he encouraged his teammates to live in the moment.  He told them to forget about the adversity of last year and restrain from concerns about the next and to treasure the moment forever.

The Lakers players praised Coach Jackson for giving them the room to play the game the way it was intended.  He did not try to mold them but allowed the best in them to present itself.  Coach Jackson has not been able to get around like years past.  The 64 year old has gone through hip replacement surgery said he was unable to push players like he did a decade ago.  Physically he may have been a little slower but the fire of passion that pours from true champions still shown in his eyes.  He said he was proud of this team for the self motivation they displayed.  The bond between Coach and player was unmistakeable.

As for the Orlando Magic they ended their season with 1 finals game victory.  This year it was not to be.  As always in sports and competition there is the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.  However, the Magic should not hold thier heads low.  They reached the NBA Finals and they faced a powerful adversary with heart and passion.  They fell to a great Championship team but this does not mean that they are not Champions in thier own right.  The Magic will have to find solace in the fact that there is always the opportunity to find tha Magic again next year.  Until next time remember to always be a good sport.

Anticipation is building for the Thursday night tip off between the legendary Los Angeles Lakers and the upstart Orlando Magic. The Lakers are 12-6 in this years playoffs while the Magic are 12-7. The Lakers have the advantage of opening up the battle on their home court. It is no surprise that Los Angeles made their way to the finals again.

After all they have won 14 championships over the years and were in the finals last year even thought they lost to the Boston Celtics.

The Orlando Magic on the other hand has left more than one sports writer scratching their heads. The Magic have been underdogs from the get go. This has seemed to only encourage them to play harder. They came out unrepentantly victorious against Philadelphia, Boston and Cleveland on their way to meet the Lakers.

No team in NBA history has ever had the pleasure of eliminating three 60- win teams in a post season. Perhaps that time has come. Click here for NBA finals odds.

If the Los Angeles Lakers intend to pull off their 15^th Championship they are going to have to win the battle between the forwards. The match up between Gasol and Lewis is essential. Of course no one is underestimating the importance of Kobe Bryant. He is the key for the Lakers. Bryant has to be a dominant figure throughout the finals. He has to make his presence known. In addition Andrew Bynum will have to corral Dwight Howard and keep him away from the basket. The Lakers will also have to find a way to eliminate the Magic’s success from the 3-point range. The Magic have average almost 9 3-point conversions per game throughout the post season. It should be observed that Bryant has 5 technical fouls and if he gets 2 more he will be suspended for a game.

The Orlando Magic as mentioned above have made a living this season on shooting cleanly from the 3-point border. Dwight Howard has also walked right through single coverage on the box and if he continues to do so the Magic could stun. The Magic spread out defenses and make room for Howard to dominate. The other key to the Magic’s success will be the probable return of Jameer Nelson. His leadership potential and ability to give the Lakers headaches is well documented. Nelson has been out for four months with his shoulder injury and the chances of him coming in 100% are doubtful.

The Los Angeles Lakers have won 61 games in the finals over the years. The Magic are still looking for their first. The Magic are still dreaming about their first NBA Title whereas the Lakers have already won 14. The Lakers Kobe Bryant has 3 rings of his own and is looking hard for number 4. There is much discussion about Kobe winning the first 3 rings when former teammate Shaquil O’Neal was in Los Angeles. Kobe would love to win a ring now that he is out of O’Neal’s shadow.

The star-studded Lakers are a proven powerhouse led by legendary Coach Phil Jackson. Evan Van Gundy who won a finals ring as an assistant but reportedly has misplaced it coaches the Magic. All of this is fine and good but the tale will be told on the court. Some sports enthusiasts may fail to offer hope for the Magic. This only adds fuel to the Magic’s fire that burns even hotter when their ability is questioned.

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The NBA playoffs are officially at full capacity ramming speed and the past few nights have seen veterans and newcomers alike mixing it up with each other. From Derek Fischer putting Scola on his back, to Ron Artest and Kobe Bryant getting into it, to Rafer Alston smacking Eddie House upside the head – these playoffs are turning into an all out war. With the frenzy reaching a boiling point fans across the country are wondering what will happen next – who’s most likely to get a tech, and who’ll get ejected. This being the case the largest most successful sportsbook on the web posted odds on all things NBA Playoff fury!

Oddsmakers at BetUS.com posted the following NBA Playoffs odds on the boiling point:

Next Coach to get ejected during the playoffs:

• Mike Woodson ATL  7/1
• Mike Brown CLE  6/1
• Phil Jackson LAL  7/1
• Rick Adelman HOU  6/1
• Doc Rivers BOS  3/1
• Stan Van Gundy ORL  4/1
• George Karl DEN  5/1
• Rick Carlisle DAL  5/1

Next Player to get ejected during the playoffs:

• Joe Johnson  15/1
• Josh Smith  15/1
• LeBron James  20/1
• Mo Williams  15/1
• Zydrunas Ilgauskas  20/1
• Kobe Bryant  6/1
• Pau Gasol  8/1
• Andrew Bynum  7/1
• Yao Ming  20/1
• Ron Artest  4/1
• Luis Scola  8/1
• Carl Landry  7/1
• Shane Battier  12/1
• Paul Pierce  12/1
• Ray Allen  15/1
• Rajon Rondo  8/1
• Eddie House  8/1
• Dwight Howard  15/1
• Rashard Lewis  15/1
• Dirk Nowitzki  20/1
• Carmelo Anthony  18/1
• Kenyon Martin  6/1
• Chris Andersen  7/1

Sports and NBA odds can be found BetUs.com

The defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs are back in their series against the New Orleans Hornets after winning Game 3 and will now try and even things up in Game 4 on Sunday. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili scored 31 points each and Tim Duncan had 16 points and 13 rebounds in the Spurs 110-99 win on Thursday. “We know that going 3-0 – it’s never been done to come back like that,” said Ginobili, “Today, for us, it was a Game 7. We knew if we didn’t win today, it was almost over. So we had a different approach. We played with more passion, more edge.”   The Spurs will now try and take the next step and even the series.

SBGGlobal.com reports that early NBA betting has the public taking Spurs at Home.

Chris Paul had 35 point and nine assists while David West had 23 points and 12 rebounds in Game 3 for the Hornets.  New Orleans had their chance in the fourth quarter but missed wide open shots and the Spurs pulled away. “You got to give them a lot of credit,” Hornets coach Byron Scott said, “I thought they played a lot more aggressive tonight. A lot more physical. Basically kind of took us right out of our game. I thought we lost our composure tonight a little bit as well.” The Spurs didn’t contain Paul but they did hold Stojakovic to only eight points. “Chris is going to score regardless. He’s got the ball in his hands every single time. Every single play it’s Chris Paul,” said Parker, “He’s going to score. So we decided to put Bruce (Bowen) on Peja and at least hold somebody down because Peja was killing us.”

Current Odds: Spurs  – 5.5, Total  186

Here are the NBA betting stats for Sunday’s game. The Hornets are 43-21-1 ATS in their last 65 games overall. The Hornets are 21-11 ATS in their last 32 games as an underdog.

The Spurs are 15-3-2 ATS in their last 20 playoff games as a favorite. The Spurs are 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 games as a home favorite. The home team is 5-0 ATS in the last 5 meetings between the two teams and the favorite is 10-4 ATS in the last 14 meetings.

The Over is 8-1-1 in the Hornets last 10 Conference Semifinals games. The Under is 4-2 in the Hornets last 6 road games. The Over is 8-3 in the Hornets last 11 games as a road underdog.

The Over is 5-1 in the Spurs last 6 games as a favorite. The Over is 8-2-1 in the Spurs last 11 overall. The Over is 13-5-1 in the Spurs last 19 Conference Semifinals games. The Over is 8-3 in the last 11 meetings in San Antonio between the two teams.

 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 NBA playoffs haven’t even progressed past the first round already two coaches have been fired, and one has stepped down.  Inevitably Isaiah Thomas was fired, followed by Sam Vincent, and most recently Pat Riley has left his post as Miami’s head coach.

With furor over playoff and regular season mistakes reaching an all-time high in places like Phoenix and Dallas and elsewhere, fans are wondering who’s (and in some cases calling for) head will roll next.  This being the case, the largest most successful sportsbook on the web, Bet-US.com posted odds on the next NBA heads coach to be fired.

Oddsmakers at BetUS.com posted the following odds on NBA coaches:

Next Coach to be fired in the NBA

Marc Iavaroni (Memphis)       15/1

Mike Dunleavy (LA Clippers)   15/1

Lawrence Frank (New Jersey)   15/1

Reggie Theus (Sacramento)     15/1

Jim O’Brien (Indiana)         15/1

Avery Johnson (Dallas)        3/1

Mike D’Antoni (Phoenix)       2/1

Greg Popovich (San Antonio)   50/1

Field                         3/2

Graded as per first coach to be fired or to resign.

For more sports and entertainment odds, Visit BetUs.com Now!

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.

Houston Rockets vs. Utah Jazz

A series that looked to be competitive could end very quickly if the Utah Jazz does as expected and win at home. The Jazz won both road games at Houston and now come home where they had the NBA’s best home record. “We go into the game knowing that both teams have seen a great deal of each other,” Utah forward Carlos Boozer said.

Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Washington Wizards

The Cleveland Cavaliers will try and take a commanding lead in their series against the Washington Wizards on Thursday. The Cavaliers did as expected at home, winning the first two games. Now it will be up to Washington to answer. The series has been very physical so far and that may not change on Thursday.

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.