Celtics/Lakers Line?

[savage1]

Has anyone seen a line yet? Will the Lakers be a dog at home? I say yes.

[mrbenny]

if the lakers are a dog at home..im unloading on the lakers on the money line

[LVJimmy]

LVSC send out is Lakers -2 1/2

[savage1]

LVSC send out is Lakers -2 1/2

Considering that the Celtics have won 19 straight, the Lakers have played like shit of late, last night notwithstanding, Celts should be favored or no worse than a pick-lets not forget who won the NBA Championship last year rather convincingly when these two teams met.
ps No matter what happens tomorrow, at this point the Celtics are a better team than Lakers no matter what standard or criterion you use.

[savage1]

Bookmaker has Lakers - 1 1/2.
I think under normal conditions that might be the right line, but when a team has won 19 straight and shown they can defeat the other team in its building such as was the case last year in the NBA Finals, they deserve to be favored.
I think Celts deserve to be a favorite of 1 to 2 1/2 points in this game.
Then again, though, if I recall correctly, the Celts were a 250 or so underdog to these same Lakers in the finals last year.
Apparently there are still a lot of folks who believe that Celts aren't that good or that because of Kobe, the Lakers are the best team around.

[savage1]

Lakers are up to 2 1/2. I guess the 19 consecutive games won by the Celtics and their recent success against Lakers doesn't mean much to some.

[poskid]

The line is inflated towards LA for a few reasons...

1) People feel Kobe is prime to get hot at anytime. While this is true his team has to keep them close for the first half because we all know he's gonna dish the ball away to keep himself fresh for money time.

2) The Celtics are traveling coast to coast. This may keep the Lakers closer during that time when Kobe is getting his team involved early due to some travel lag that plagues teams often at the beginning of games.

Personally I'm hoping for a >8 Celtic lead going into the second half so the Kobe factor will be minimalized some and the game should stay comfortable coming down the stretch where I think the Celtics have more players who can handle the ball late in the game compared to the Lakers 1 player. If I dont get that kind of lead the bet is still winnable as long as Pierce plays like he does in big games coming down the stretch and the Celtics "D" takes care of Gasol and Fisher when they are inevitably required to collapse on Kobe.

PK

[bryce]

I will be on the Lakers. I suck at the NBA so the play probably is the Celts.

[Winton]

I will have to take Boston +3 on the buy I ain"t going against 19 straight!

[savage1]

I suppose there are two ways to look at this.
One can simply go with the streak and take the points with the Celtics.
On the other hand, sooner or later the Celts are going to lose a game this season(I think so anyways lol), and if they are going to lose any time soon, a hot Kobe and the Lakers in their own building would seem to have a reasonable chance.
The rule of thumb with streaks like this that you either go with the Celts or pass.
I will probably just pass and enjoy the game.
There is always the chance of doing a teaser with the Celts, but those can be risky and tricky also for obvious reasons.

[ELJUGO]

The line is inflated towards LA for a few reasons...

2) The Celtics are traveling coast to coast. This may keep the Lakers closer during that time when Kobe is getting his team involved early due to some travel lag that plagues teams often at the beginning of games.


PK

Lakers travelling from New Orleans to LA the same day that Boston is going from Boston to LA...not much difference IMO

Lakers have been East for the last week so their body clock is similar to BOS

[poskid]

Lakers travelling from New Orleans to LA the same day that Boston is going from Boston to LA...not much difference IMO

Lakers have been East for the last week so their body clock is similar to BOS

I dont exactly disagree with this synopsis however it is much easier to travel back home from coast to coast than it is to travel away from home that way. These were just reasons as to why the line I think the line may be inflated. I personally think it is and the play is definately celts here IMO