In this piece we will break the series down both historically and statistically, to give a better idea of what we can expect come Thursday night.

In the 2009-10 regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers finished seven games ahead of the Boston Celtics. From 1947 through the 2010 NBA Semifinals, when NBA teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by seven regular-season games, they have won 23 of 27 times in all seven game series vs their looming opponents. Boston has a 59-19 series record, a 17-3 Finals-round series record, and a 55-23 Game 1 record, while the Los Angeles Lakers have a 65-28 series record, a 10-14 Finals-round record, and a 62-31 Game 1 record. This will be the eleventh time these two teams will be meeting in a best-of-7 NBA playoff series. Boston has won 8 of the previous 10 meetings including the last one in 2008. The last 3 times these teams have met every game has been decided by 1 point. They split the season series this season with the Lakers coming from behind to win in Boston by one point. The Celtics later returned the favor with a one point win in Los Angeles.

Looking at the two teams statistically to find some spread advantages we find the Lakers are 1-6 both straight up and against the spread when they score 90 or less points on the road. When they score 90 or less at home this season they are 0-7. Boston is 0-9 against the spread when they score 90 or less on the road this year and 1-9 at home in that same situation. The Celtics have played solid defense in the playoffs as evidenced by their 11-2 record when allowing less than 100 points. They have beaten two excellent teams in Cleveland and Orlando both times without the benefit of the home court advantage. The Lakers have taken out a hungry and talented Oklahoma City team and followed that up with an exciting run and gun style method against an undersized Phoenix team.

This should be a good series with highly competitive play from both teams especially on the defensive end. The Lakers have revenge for their Finals loss from 2 years ago against a Celtics team that was more talented and younger than this current group. Boston should be able to win at least 2 games here and may push it to a game seven, and will be aided by the 2-3-2 format. However the Lakers appear to be a tad more poised and in the end should win the series in six to seven games. Game 1 home teams in the NBA Finals are 47-16 a 74% proposition all time. Should the Lakers win game one we note the infamous coach Phil Jackson trend in which teams he coaches are 48-0 when winning game one.

Whichever team you root for, enjoy the series and good luck with all your wagering endeavors.

RV

Rob Vinciletti is a sports wagering consultant and founder of Golden Contender Sports Consulting. Rob is having another fine post season in NBA Playoffs and has Cashed his last 4 NBA Selections, while in the midst of a big 9-0 run in all sports while using his never before seen Cutting edge system plays. You can listen to Rob and get a free pick on Monday nights at 8:05 eastern, on the weekly sports talk radio show "The Bandbox" hosted by Anthony Pierno on 88.9 Wsia.fm. RV