Game 2 of the NBA Finals is tonight and the pros at FiveStarPick.com have been working for two days analyzing stats and trends from Game 1.  This attention to detail is for one reason and one reason only…BRINGING HOME THE CASH!  Most Vegas books list the Lakers as 6-point home favorites with a total of 190.

In Game 1, our members got the UNDER 192.  Although it was a bit too close for our comfort, Kobe Bryant’s 3 with the clock expiring still kept us under the closing total of 192, albeit by 1 point.

Game 1’s outcome was determined in the paint, where the lakers took the Celtics to the woodshed. The Lakers out-rebounded the Celtics, 42-31, and they outscored the Celtics in the paint, 48-30, including 12 offensive rebounds.

All-Star forward Pau Gasol finished with 23 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks. His size and athleticism was evident against the Celtics’ Kevin Garnett, who had no answer for Gasol in Game 1.  Kobe Bryant put up 30 points, his 12th 30+ point game of this year’s playoffs. Ron Artest also did his job grinding out 15 points for the Lakers.

Ray Allen was plagued with foul trouble for most of Game 1. He played 27 minutes and finished with 12 points on 3-of-8 shooting. Allen was given the daunting task of guarding Kobe Bryant, so he didn’t have much time to rest on defense.  KG didn’t have his best performance in Game 1, but veteran Rasheed Wallace added 9 points and 4 boards in just 18 minutes. The rest of Boston’s bench only had seven points, which included just 3 points and 3 rebounds from Glen Davis. Point guard Rajon Rondo had a reasonable outing with 13 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists in Game 1, but Rondo will have to step up his speed and back court domination if he want a chance to leave LA tied 1 game a piece.

The win over Boston in Game 1 helped the Lakers improve to a 6-3 record against the spread at home in the playoffs. The loss for the Celtics was their sixth of the playoffs, four of them being on the road.  The Celtics have yet to lose a playoff game and cover the spread, which is something to think about for Game 2.  These two clubs will travel back to Boston for Game 3, which is scheduled for Tuesday night.

Tonight’s tip is at 8:05 p.m. EDT on ABC.

Who covers the spread tonight?  It is not your job to analyze these stats and trends, it’s ours.  This is our life and our living.  Let FiveStarPick.com take away the guesswork in the NBA Playoffs and provide you with winning NBA Playoff Picks that beat the spread and get results.  If you’re skeptical, monitor our daily plays on our homepage and see if our talent for picking winners exceeds your expectations.  Or join for two days…it’s only $19.99.  Join our family today and start winning tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

The pros at FiveStarPick.com look to continue our NBA Playoff hot streak handicapping every game in the 2010 NBA Finals.  We’re confident that our members share our desire.  The NBA didn’t get LeBron-Kobe, but they did get the next best thing in Lakers-Celtics.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Lakers as -180 favorites (risk $180 to win $100) and the Celtics as +150 dogs (risk $100 to win $150).  For Game 1, most books list the Lakers as 5.5-point favorites with a total of 192.

Over the last 10 years, the team that hosted the first 2 games of the Finals has won the title 8 times. The only two clubs to break that trend were the 2004 Pistons and the 2006 Heat. The Lakers have been weak in their game openers in the Phil Jackson era.  In the Lakers last five Finals appearances dating back to 2000, Los Angeles is meager 3-8-1 Against The Spread.  In game openers, LA is just 2-4 Against The Spread. In Jackson’s ten titles with the Bulls and Lakers, his teams have never swept the Finals, but also have never played a Game 7.

Since the inception of 2-3-2 format in 1985, the home team has won the first two games 13 times.  The road team has won the first two only twice, with Phoenix back in 1993, and Houston in 1995.  Ten times the home team has split the first two games, but in seven of those instances the home team still won the series.

Back in 2008, the Celtics covered the spread in all six games of the Finals, including four games as an underdog. Boston is 12-5 Against The Spread this postseason, while the Lakers are just 9-7 Against The Spread, including a 5-4 Against The Spread mark as a favorite. Nine of the last 12 Finals series openers have finished ‘under’ the closing total.

Who covers the spread tonight?  It is not your job to analyze these stats and trends, it’s ours.  This is our life and our living.  Let FiveStarPick.com take away the guesswork in the NBA Playoffs and provide you with winning NBA Playoff Picks that beat the spread and get results.  If you’re skeptical, monitor our daily plays on our homepage and see if our talent for picking winners exceeds your expectations.  Or join for two days…it’s only $19.99.  Join our family today and start winning tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

Isn’t winning fun? Isn’t cashing a huge ticket at the window of your favorite sportsbook satisfying?  It sure is for us! Congratulations to all our members on yet another spread winner in the NBA playoffs as we gave out the Celtics -3.5 last night over the Magic.  The trend will continue tonight as we analyze Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Suns as 1.5-point home favorites with a total of 215.

Game 5 was a wild one at the Staples Center and the man of the night was Ron Artest.  Artest finished the game with four points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field, but he did beat the Suns on a buzzerbeater layup to win the game 103-101, and take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Phoenix’s Jason Richardson tied the game on a 3-pointer off the glass with 3.5 seconds remaining, but on the last play of the game, Kobe Bryant caught the inbounds pass and hoisted a prayer from 3-point range. Fortunately for Los Angeles (41-52-3 Against The Spread), Bryant missed badly.  Artest grabbed the air ball and beat the buzzer with a put-back bucket that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Phoenix (58-37-1 Against The Spread) did hook us all up, covering the number as a 7.5-point underdog.

Bryant scored a game-high 30 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and dished out nine assists. Derek Fisher added 22 points, draining 7-of-12 shots from the field and all six of his free-throw attempts. Pau Gasol had 21 points, nine boards and five assists.

Steve Nash was the man for the Suns, finishing with 29 points and 11 assists and Channing Frye produced a suprising 14 points and 10 rebounds. Amare Stoudemire scored 19 points, while Jared Dudley had 10 points and four boards off the bench.

The Suns have been outstanding at home this season, compiling a 31-16-1 Against The Spread mark. While the Lakers are 20-27-1 Against The Spread on the road.

So who will cover the spread tonight?  It is not your job to analyze these stats and trends, it’s ours.  This is our life and our living.  Let FiveStarPick.com take away the guesswork in the NBA Playoffs and provide you with winning NBA Playoff Picks that beat the spread and get results.  If you’re skeptical, monitor our daily plays on our homepage and see if our talent for picking winners exceeds your expectations.  Or join for two days…it’s only $19.99.  Join our family today and start winning tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

Congratulations again to all our members on another HUGE CASH in the 2010 NBA Playoffs as we gave our members the Magic -3.5 last night.  And as you probably witnessed…it wasn’t even close.  Winning sure solves a lot of problems.  Tonight our members will get the spread winner of Game 5 inthe Western Conference Finals as the Phoenix Suns travel back to LA to take on the Lakers.  Las Vegas sportsbooks have the Lakers favored by 7.5 with a total of 217.  THIS LINE IS DEAD WRONG!

The Suns bounced back from a pair of losses in Tinseltown to even their series with the Lakers by winning Games 3 and 4 at home.  Now Los Angeles (41-52-3 against the spread) will try and take the lead in this series by winning at home against Phoenix (58-37-1 Against The Spread).

The Suns got huge production from its bench in the second and fourth quarters of Game 4 (54 points) to beat L.A., 115-106, as a 1-point home underdog.  Another FiveStarPick.com cash.

Coming into Game 4, Channing Frye was in a major shooting slump, but caught fire in the second quarter to put Phoenix up 9 at the half. Frye finished with 14 points, as he drained four 3-pointers from beyond the arc.  For the game, the Phoenix bench made 20-of-32 shots and 9-of-20 from 3-land. Leandro Barbosa added 14 points, while Jared Dudley scored 11. Amare Stoudemire had 21 points and eight rebounds and Steve Nash, playing with a broken nose, produced 15 points, eight assists and four boards.

Phil Jackson seemed a bit concerned in his press conference after Game 4 mentioning that even with Kobe Bryant scoring 38 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, the Lakers still could not overcome the determination of the Suns. Lamar Odom, who was marvelous in Games 1 and 2 before throwing up a brick in Game 3, added 15 points and 10 boards in his 35 minutes off the bench.  Andrew Bynum was a non-factor.

The Suns failed to cover the number in both Games 1 and 2 in L.A. However, they are 27-21 Against The Spread on the road this season.  Having said that, the Lakers have won eight straight Game 5’s dating back to 2007.

Tip-off for Game 5 is slated for 9:00 p.m. Eastern on TNT.

So who will cover the spread tonight?  It is not your job to analyze these stats and trends, it’s ours.  This is our life and our living.  Let FiveStarPick.com take away the guesswork in the NBA Playoffs and provide you with winning NBA Playoff Picks that beat the spread and get results.  If you’re skeptical, monitor our daily plays on our homepage and see if our talent for picking winners exceeds your expectations.  Or join for two days…it’s only $19.99.  Join our family today and start winning tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

CELEBRATE my friends, CELEBRATE!  How much fun is this? Congratulations to our members on another spread winner last night as we gave out the Orlando Magic +7.5.  The FiveStarPick.com team celebrated at the window of the Mandalay Bay Sportsbook last night, then proceeded to the craps table where I hit a $1000 Hard Eight.  Hey man when your hot, your hot.

Tonight we’re giving our members the spread winner of Game 4 in the Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Lakers as 1-point road favorites with a total of 221.  Once again Vegas has this line DEAD WRONG!

The Suns kept the conference finals series alive with their victory on Sunday night. Now Phoenix will try to even up this series at two games apiece with another win over the Lakers.

All three games of this series have gone ‘over’ the closing total, with final totals coming in at 235, 226 and 227 points. The posted totals have jumped considerably from the series opener until now, going from 210 to 221 for Game 4.  The Vegas experts have been really off on the totals in this series.

Amare Stoudemire brought the house down with a 42-point, 11-rebound effort in Game 3 for the Suns. Which is light years ahead of his combined 41 points and nine rebounds in the first two losses of the series. The Lakers shot better from the floor (48%), from behind the arc (28%), and out-rebounded the Suns (41-40) in Game 3, but the Suns outshot the Lakers from the foul line (37-16,) which made the difference in the final score.

Kobe Bryant had 36 points and 11 assists, but the bigger story from Game 3 was Bynum’s knee injury. Bynum played seven minutes and scored just two points. Many have suggested that Bynum may sit Game 4 to rest his knee, but it’s more likely he will play tonight.

For gamblers, the Lakers have barely profited on the road off an away loss this season, going 7-5 Against The Spread. Meanwhile, the Suns are 8-6-1 Against The Spread following a victory at home.

The Suns and Lakers tip off at 9:00 PM EST on TNT.

So who will cover the spread tonight?  It is not your job to analyze these stats and trends, it’s ours.  This is our life and our living.  Let FiveStarPick.com take away the guesswork in the NBA Playoffs and provide you with winning NBA Playoff Picks that beat the spread and get results.  If you’re skeptical, monitor our daily plays on our homepage and see if our talent for picking winners exceeds your expectations.  Or join for two days…it’s only $19.99.  Join our family today and start winning tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com