NBA Betting Odds

The Boston Celtics were formed in 1946 and in 1949; they began play in the NBA.

Celtics dynasty was formed when Auerbach was hired to coach the team in 1956. Point guard Bob Cousy was acquired by Boston. Auerbach got center Bill Russell forward Tommy Heinsohn.

they won their first championship in 1957 and in 1958, they returned to the championship series only to lose to the St. Louis Hawks.

In 1959, the Celtics reclaimed the championship.

as coach, Auerbach retired and Russell was named player-coach after the 1966 championship. In the NBA, he was the first black coach and won the championship in the 1968 and 1969 season.

In 1974 and 1976, Boston Celtics won the championship series twice.

The Celtics was joined by Larry Bird of Indiana State for the 1979-80 seasons. in the NBA, to form the best frontline, he teamed with forward Kevin McHale and center Robert Parrish. They became to be known as “The Big Three”.

in the same year, Magic Johnson and Magic Johnson joined Los Angeles Lakers and Celtics. NCAA Championship Game of 1979, the two famously met, in which Johnson’s Michigan State Spartans narrowly defeated Bird’s Indiana State Sycamores.

For Boston, the worst decade was 90s. Because of cocaine overdose Len Bias died, after being drafted. for Boston, tragedy struck again in 1993 as forward Reggie Lewis died too. Boston fell from its spot at the top of the Eastern Conference, and eventually struggled, with the Big Three aging.

“The Big Three”, second rendition was formed with the combination of MVP Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, combined with veteran Celtic Paul Pierce. in 22 years, Pierce, Garnett, and Allen led Boston to their first championship in 2008.

they are currently playing against the Orlando Magic, in the Eastern Conference Championship. after upsetting the number one seed Cleveland Cavaliers after a lackluster second half of the season, Boston appears to have found their stroke back in them.

The Miami Heat was the first to enter the league and two teams have been produced from Florida and a part of the National Basketball Association. Florida and are in the Eastern Conference, they are based out of Miami. Erik Spoelstra, team’s head coach and it is owned by Micky Arison. Pat Riley manages the team.

The Miami Heat was first formed as an expansion team into the NBA, in 1988. 13 out of 21 seasons is their franchise records. Winning one NBA Finals in 2006, they have won seven division titles in the Southeast Division.

The Heat started off with a young roster including the likes of Ron Seikaly, Pat Cummings, and Scott Hastings. In 1993, Glen Rice was acquired next year and had a winning season. Alonzo Mourning as well as Tim Hardaway is other notable players.

In the 2000’s, the Heat started to make some significant changes. They picked Dwayne Wade as one of their best drafts picks ever. He was given a few key players to help him build his team when the heat acquired Shaquille O’Neal from the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004.

The Miami Heat improved their season record to 59-23 and achieved the second best season record in franchise history, in 2005, behind Shaq and Wade and this really improved their basketball betting odds. In 2005 they would go far into the post season, before being ousted in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat would come back with a vengeance and would end up winning the NBA finals against the Dallas Mavericks in 2006, the very next year.

In the most recent season, 2010 prove to be too little as they were beaten in 5 games by the Boston Celtics.

The Eastern Conference Semi Finals between the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks is an interesting one. However, all odds suggest that Orlando will easily breeze through this series.

First of all, there is a lot at stake for both teams. There is plenty of pressure on the Magic to defend their championship, while the Hawks are trying to make franchise history by reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time.

Frankly, the Hawks’ lineup can’t match the Magic’s firepower. Joe Johnson’s solo efforts cannot outmatch the combinations of powerful and accurate scoring by Vince Carter and Dwight Howard.

The first round series also plays a role on the outcome of this clash. The Magic swept the Bobcats, while the Hawks barely got through the Bucks in game 7. Orlando surely comes into the Eastern Conference Semi Finals as the fresher team with more energy, while Atlanta is still somewhat fatigued. This is evident by the outcome of the first game of the series, as the Magic crushed the Hawks 114-71, one of the most convincing victories in the 2010 NBA playoffs so far.

Home court advantage proved to be a major factor, as the Magic used its crowd to intimidate and defeat the Hawks in Game 1 and Game 2. Lewis, Carter, Nelson, and Howard each scored more than 20 points in game 2 to beat the Hawks 112-98. Atlanta’s center Horford scored more points than the team’s star player Johnson, which is not a good sign.

So what are the dynamics of Game 3 of this series? to start with, Atlanta will finally have the home court advantage on Saturday night, as well as for Game 4. The Hawks must win Game 3 to have any hopes for competing in this series. However, at this point it seems that not even Atlanta fans can lift up the Hawks to a victory.

The Utah Jazz will try to pick up their first win of their Western semifinal series against the Los Angeles Lakers when the teams play Game 3 in Salt Lake City on Saturday.

Game 2 between the Lakers and the Jazz followed a nearly identical script to that of Game 1.

The Jazz jumped to another quick early lead but were overwhelmed by a flurry of Laker possessions that quickly built the lead, until an early fourth quarter meltdown allowed the Jazz to nearly come back. The two unquestioned leaders in Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol then finished strong, ultimately putting away the Jazz 111-103.

Once again, the Lakers, basketball betting favorite had their way with the Jazz down low. From the beginning of the series the Jazz simply could not match up with the Lakers on paper, and have so far proven unable to come up with a solution. LA had 64 point in the paint, with a 58-40 rebounding advantage and an astounding 13 team blocked shots. Forcing the Jazz to shoot outside, they hit a woeful 39% field goal percentage.

In game three, the Jazz need to avoid getting caught in the paint with nowhere to go. They need to establish their patented pick and roll offense high on the key and make better use of cutting wing players for layups or jump shots away from the Laker’s bigs. Defensive stopper Andrei Kirilenko should be ready to return and will match up with Bryant, and the Jazz excel on their homecourt, making this the Jazz’s best chance to avoid the 0-3 deficit. The Lakers on the other hand need to put the game away at the end, avoiding costly turnovers.

The key question regarding the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic series is whether or not Al Horford and the rest of the Hawks frontcourt can handle the likes of Dwight Howard. The Magic will need a second scorer, whether it happens to be Jameer Nelson or Rashard Lewis for example. You certainly want to make sure that Mike Bibby does not get out of control and start missing too many of his shots because it tends to impact his ball handling skills. If the Magic can cause a lot of turnovers by putting a lot of ball pressure on Bibby, the Magic can end up getting a lot of quality fast break points.

The Hawks certainly have the natural athleticism to compete with the Orlando Magic on the board, but they probably do not have the size to compete with Howard on the boards. The Hawks do have Jason Collins on their roster, it will be interesting to see if they end up activating for for the series.

The Hawks will need some quality second unit points from the likes of Maurice Evans, especially if they do not get a lot of production from the likes of Marvin Williams. Marvin Williams has got to take the ball to the post and to the basket in order to be effective.

Mike Woodson has his contract situation to worry about so the question is whether or not some of those worries will allow him to be out coached by the likes of Stan Van Gundy.