NBA Picks: March 11th 2011
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Pick: Philadelphia 76ers +3
The Philadelphia 76ers are showing excellent value tonight as a home underdog to the Boston Celtics. Simply by name, the Celtics are a road favorite when they shouldn’t be. Boston is absolutely depleted right now and will get out-worked for four quarters by this deep 76ers team. Boston is without Delonte West, Shaq, Glen Davis, Von Wafer and Jermaine O’Neil. The Celtics had only seven players play more than eight minutes late time out in their 103-108 home loss to the Clippers. Their thin bench will do them in again tonight. The 76ers are the deepest team in the league with six players averaging in double-figures and 11 players averaging 10 minutes per game or more. While it’s hardly a surprise that no Eastern Conference team has more wins than the Boston Celtics, none having more than the Philadelphia 76ers over the past seven weeks certainly is. The 76ers have gone 16-6 since Jan. 21 – the only East team with a better record in that span is Chicago (16-4) – to climb to seventh in the conference. Philly has lost their first two meetings of the season to Boston by a combined 5 points, and I fully expect them to have their revenge in this one. The 76ers are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games as a home underdog of 0.5-4.5. Take Philly Friday. -Jack Jones

Pick: Utah Jazz +1
The Utah Jazz are fighting for their playoff lives. They should not be an underdog to the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves tonight. Look for Utah to build off of their huge last-second win over Toronto last time out and put forth a great effort Friday. Utah is 34-31 on the season while Minnesota is 16-50. Utah is a perfect 4-0 in their last 4 meetings with Minnesota. Minnesota is 2-9 ATS in their last 11 games following a ATS win and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games following a S.U. victory. The Timberwolves are 0-6 ATS in their last 6 Friday games. Minnesota hasn’t won back-to-back games since February 7th and 8th. The Jazz are 5-0-1 ATS in their last 6 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of less than .400. No question we are backing the right team in this one. Take the Jazz and the points. -Black Widow (Handicapperspicks.com)

For the fifth time this month, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics will take to the hardwood in NBA Finals betting action. For the second time in this series, the two teams are on terms. The C’s knotted this series at two games apiece on Thursday night when the bench proved to be the difference in a 96-89 win at TD Banknorth Garden.
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Boston Celtics (64-39, 47-54-2 ATS) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (71-31, 44-55-3 ATS)
Game Date/Time: Sunday, June 14th, 8:00 ET
Game Location: TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, MA
TV/Radio Broadcast: ABC, TSN, Sirius

NBA Finals Odds: Los Angeles Lakers +3 vs. Boston Celtics -3: Game Total 187.5

The biggest question for HC Phil Jackson and his crew is whether or not the team is really going to able to step up and put its foot on Boston’s throat in this series or not. G Kobe Bryant has certainly played this series as if he was the centerpiece and the only way that the Lakers will be able to win a game. He took 22 shots in Game 4′s defeat, and only connected on ten of them. Hitting six three pointers helped matters out quite a bit, as Bryant led the team with 33 points. Aside from Bryant though, the only man in purple and gold that scored more than ten points was F Pau Gasol. The Spaniard scored 21 points on 6/13 shooting, but his effort on the glass wasn’t fantastic, as he had just six boards. Los Angeles shot 45.1 percent from the field and just 7/20 from beyond the arc. However, the rest of the team outside of Bryant only hit one triple, and if you take out Gasol and Bryant, everyone else in purple and gold only went 2/4 from the charity stripe.

Once again, the winner of this game ultimately ended up being the team that won the rebounding battle. Boston had 16 offensive rebounds and won the battle 41-34 overall. Four of those offensive boards came from F Glen “Big Baby” Davis, who had the game of his career off of the bench. Davis scored 18 points in just 23 minutes of work, the second highest total of the team. F Paul Pierce shot 7/12 from the floor and scored 19 to lead all scorers in green. There were six Celtics that ended up scoring in double digits, including G Ray Allen, G Rajon Rondo, F Kevin Garnett, and G Nate Robinson. The Celtics scored a whopping 54 points in the paint in the victory, which was 20 more than the Lakers managed. The C’s also won the fast break battle 15-2 and consistently kept the Lakers off guard.

NBA Finals Insider Tip: The Celtics are 5-0 ATS in their L/5 clashes when playing on two days of rest.

With Lakers C Andrew Bynum’s knee once again giving him problems, I really feel the Celtics now hold the overall advantage in the paint. That’s huge considering the team that’s won the rebounding battle is now a perfect 4-0 ATS in this series. Doc Rivers has also done a masterful job with his substitutions, and I think he’s done a better job coaching his club than Phil Jackson’s done looking upon his. If the Celtics lose this game, the NBA Finals will almost certainly be lost. Again, I feel as though the Lakers have to feel somewhat accomplished by their games in Beantown. If Kobe goes off for 40+ and the Lakers beat me, so be it! That said; I don’t see it happening.

Back the C’s in NBA betting Game 5 action on Sunday night!
My NBA Playoff Prediction: Boston by 6
Source: BetUS Locker Room Featured on: Handicapperspicks.com