The pros at FiveStarPick.com have mixed emotions about Game 7 of the NBA Finals.  On one hand, we are excited because it’s a Game 7; on the other hand, it marks the end of the NBA season.  Tonight the oddsmakers are putting a lot of faith in Kobe Bryant and the Lakers listing them as 7-point home favorites with a total of 187.

The Lakers rocked the Celtics in Game 6 on Tuesday night, not only covering the spread, but downright embarrassing the green and white. Los Angeles beat down Boston, 89-67 to set the stage for Game 7 tonight at the Staples Center.

The Celtics shot 56% from the floor in their Game 5 victory, but things changed drastically in Game 6 shooting only 33% from the field. Boston’s starters combined for 75 points in Game 5, while totaling just 54 points in Tuesday’s loss. The Lakers jumped out to a 51-31 halftime lead in Game 6 and never looked back.

Kobe had another good night in Game 6 finishing with 26-points and 11-rebounds for his 17th straight game with at least 20 points. Pau Gasol added 17 points and Lamar Odom contributed with eight points and 10 rebounds.  Ron Artest also came alive with 15 points in Game 6.

Boston had some problems shooting in Game 6.  Basically, they all sucked.  Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Keven Garnett and Ray Allen combined to shoot 24 of 57, while Rasheed Wallace went 0-7 from the field. Kendrick Perkins went down in the 1st quarter with a knee injury and is listed as ‘doubtful’ for Game 7.

Phil Jackson has appeared in 13 NBA Finals since 1991 and this is the first time he will play a Game 7. There have been just two Game 7’s in the last 20 seasons in the championship round, with the home team winning each time (Houston, 1994 and San Antonio, 2005).

The Celtics have not been great in close-out games on the road going just 3-6 Against The Spread since their 2008 championship season. The sole victory came at Detroit in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2008, as the Celtics outscored the Pistons, 29-13 in the final quarter to win their first conference championship since 1987.

Tip is at 9:05 PM EST and will be televised on ABC.

Who covers the spread in Game 7 of the NBA Finals?  Let FiveStarPick.com take away the guesswork and provide you with tonight’s spread winner.  Tonight’s Game 7 spread winner is just $19.99.  Join our family today and start winning tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

The pros at FiveStarPick.com have basked in the glory of a 35-9 against the spread record in the 2010 NBA Playoffs.  Tonight we look to continue this unprecedented run for our members by giving them the spread winner of Game 6 in the NBA Finals.  Most books here in Vegas list the Lakers as 6.5 point home favorites with a total of 189.

The Lakers will be facing their first elimination game in these playoffs tonight as Boston (44-56-3 against the spread) trys to win its 18th NBA Championship. The Celtics took a 3-2 series lead by winning Game 5, 92-86, as two-point home favorites. The 178 combined points stayed ‘under’ the 187-point total, improving the ‘under’ to 3-1-1 for the series.

The Celtics let a double-digit lead evaporate late in the fourth quarter, but the Lakers could only cut the lead to five.  In fact, the Lakers had a chance for a backdoor cover if a last second three from Derek Fisher went down, but it didn’t and our members had to take one on the chin.  But it’s a marathon, not a sprint…right?   Paul Pierce led Boston with 27 points, while Kevin Garnett added 18 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and a pair of blocked shots.  Rajon Rondo posted 18 points, eight assists and five rebounds.

Los Angeles (44-56-3 Against The Spread) still has the best player in the league in Kobe Bryant who scored a game-high 38 points, connecting on 13-of-27 shots from the field. Pau Gasol added 12 points and 12 rebounds. 

Now let’s talk trends…The Lakers are 22-27-2 Against The Spread at home this year and 6-4 Against The Spread at home this year in The Playoffs. Boston is 27-23-1 Against The Spread in its road games, but during the postseason, the Celtics have posted a 6-4 Against The Spread record on the road.

Tonight’s game tips at 9:05 p.m. Eastern 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 are 3-1 against the spread in the NBA Finals this year and look to better or record to 4-1 after tonight’s Game 5.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Celtics as 2.5 point home favorites with a total of 188.  We think this line is DEAD WRONG.

The series is tied at 2-2 after Boston (47-54-2 against the spread) won Game 4, 96-89, over the Lakers (44-55-3 against the spread) on Thursday. The Celtics covered the number as four-point home favorites, outscoring the Lakers 36-27 in the fourth quarter.  Another FiveStarPick.com winner for the membership. 

Six Boston players finished in double figures in the victory including Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis (18 points), Nate Robinson (12 points) and Paul Pierce (19 points).

Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 33 points in the loss, but he also had a 2/7 assists-to-turnover ratio. Pau Gasol added 21 points, but committed four turnovers in the 4th quarter. Lamar Odom had 10 points and seven boards off the bench.

In the trends department, Boston is 21-30-1 against the spread at home this year.  During the playoffs, however, the Celtics are 8-3 against the spread at home.  The Lakers are 22-28-1 agains the spread on the road this season, but in the postseason, they are 5-5 against the spread in 10 road games.

Tip-off for Game 5 is tonight at 8:05 p.m. Eastern 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

After a 34-8 run against the spread in the 2010 NBA Playoffs, the pros at FiveStarPick.com had a minor setback in Game 3 taking the Celtics -2.5.  We are now 2-1 against the spread in the NBA Finals, but enjoyed a great bounce back win last night for our members with the Tampa Bay Rays on the money line. FiveStarPick.com is among the elite in sports investment and we WILL right the ship tonight as the Lakers take on the Celtics in Game 4 of the Finals.  Most books list the Celtics as 3.5 point home favorites with a total of 190.5.

Is Game 4 a must-win for the Boston Celtics? Most would say a 3-1 deficit is nearly impossible to overcome in a best-of-seven series and the sportsbooks seem to agree after setting tonight’s line.

After beating LA in Game 2 on the road and tieing the series at 1-1, many, including us, expected Boston to come out pumped to win Game 3.  As we all witnessed, the Celtics didn’t play their best game on Tuesday and lost Game 3 to Los Angeles, 91-84.  The Lakers were up 26-17 after the first period and 52-40 at the break, covering the spread in both of ther first two quarters.  Boston got it within six points after outscoring the Lakers 21-15 in the third, but L.A. fought back with a 24-23 effort over the final 12 minutes of play.

The Celtics got within one point on a couple occasions in the fourth but could never take the lead over the Lakers. Los Angeles closed out the game when Derek Fisher drove the lane, coverted the layup and was fouled.  He would make his shot from the line and that was all she wrote.

Neither the Lakers (44.7%) nor the Celtics (43.8%) shot extremely well from the field, but Boston’s Ray Allen was the difference maker after going 0-for-13 from the floor in the loss, including 0-for-8 from behind the arc.  It’s amazing that one of the leagues all-time greatest shooters could go that cold, especially after hitting eight bombs from 3-point land in Game 2. Allen’s two points definitely stood out in the box score.

Paul Pierce had a tough Game 3 finishing with 15 points in 5-of-12 attempts after putting up 24 points in Game 1. Rajon Rondo had a reasonable night (13 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds), but Rondo was not the best player on the court. That honor went to Kevin Garnett, who finished with a series-high 25 points.

Surprise…Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 29 points. While Bryant was taking the most shots, it was Derek Fisher who made his shots in the clutch. Fisher scored 11 of his 16 in the 4th quarter. In the Lakers’ nine road games this post season, Fisher has posted double figures eight different times.  Odom hit all five of his shots from the floor and finished with 12 points, while Ron Artest got into early foul trouble and only finished with two. Pau Gasol (13 points) and Andrew Bynum (9 points) both played hard and were major contributors in the win at the Garden.

Now let’s talk trends…When coming off an outright loss in the postseason this year, the Celtics are 5-1 against the spread. Boston has only lost back-to-back games once during the postseason and that happened in the Eastern Conference Finals against Orlando after building a 3-0 lead. The Celtics have not dropped two in a row at TD Garden in this year, posting a 7-3 against the spread mark through 10 games.

The win in Game 3 improved the Lakers’ road playoff record to 5-4 Against The Spread.

Opening tip is at 9:05 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 winning ways tonight in Game 3 of the NBA Finals in Boston.  After a 2-0 against the spread record in the 2010 NBA Finals and a 34-8 against the spread run in the 2010 NBA Playoffs, there is no wonder why FiveStarPick.com is among the elite in sports investment…well at least our members think so.

Most books in Las Vegas list the Celtics as 2.5-point favorites with a total of 192.5.  We have formulated our own point spread for Game 3 and we think the Vegas line is DEAD WRONG!

The Celtics dealt the Lakers their first home loss of the 2010 playoffs with a 103-94 victory at Staples Center on Sunday night. Of course we gave out the Celtics +6 (too easy).  Rajon Rondo Boston finished with his second triple-double of the postseason (19 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists), while Ray Allen nailed a Finals-record eight threes on his way to 32 points.  The Celtics were an outstanding 11 of 16 from three-point range in Game 2. 

Kobe Bryant had to ride the bench for much of the game due to foul trouble, but L.A. still kept the game close until Boston’s 16-4 run in the last five minutes to close out the victory. Bryant put up 21 points, while Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 25 points and eight rebounds. Andrew Bynum, bad knee and all, blocked 13 shots in Game 2.

After Game 2, Boston improved to 7-4 Against The Spread in the postseason as an underdog. The Celtics eclipsed 100-points in a game for just the fifth time in their 19 playoff games, but improve their record to 5-0 Against The Spread when scoring in triple-digits.  The Lakers were held to less than 100 points in Sunday’s loss for the first time in their last 13 games. However, Los Angeles is still profitable at home in the playoffs despite the Game 2 setback, going 6-4 against the spread.

Teams splitting the first two games in the Finals have been a rare occurrence. Since 1998, only four NBA Finals series changed venues after splitting the first two. The last time a series was tied at 1-1 in the Finals was the Pistons/Lakers back in 2004. Detroit won the opener at Staples Center, followed by Los Angeles claiming Game 2 in overtime. The series shifted back to Detroit, as the Pistons went on to win the next three games and the NBA Championship.

The Celtics have been money in the playoffs when playing at TD Garden, compiling a 7-2 Against The Spread record, while closing out each series at home.  Boston has stepped up its defense at home, holding opponents to less than 100 points in eight of nine games.

The Lakers haven’t been impressive on the road in the playoffs, going 4-4 Against The Spread.  Another trend to consider is that the Lakers are 2-4 Against The Spread in Games 3 and 4 this postseason.  In L.A.’s last three Finals appearances against Orlando, Boston, and Detroit, the Lakers have struggled on the road. The reigning champs are just 3-6 Against The Spread their previous nine Finals road games, with two of their wins coming over the Magic last year.

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