NBA and NHL playoff predictions
Some great games in both playoffs tonight and a lot of teams looking to finish off the series. Here are my predictions for tonight.
NBA
Thursday, April 23, 2009 10:30 PM EST.
Los Angeles Lakers (67-17) at Utah Jazz (48-36)
Lakers (-2) at Jazz (215)
Tonights game is a tough one to call, LA has really looked dominant all series, but Salt Lake is a tough place to play at for visiting teams. Utah won three of the last four clashes against the LA Lakers at home, including a 113-109 victory in the only meeting in Salt Lake City this season. The Jazz have been a tough team to beat at EnergySolutions Arena, evident by their 33-8 home record. I remember wagering last year on LA against Utah in Salt Lake and getting burned as well, the Jazz beat the Lakers twice at home in the playoffs during Games 3 and 4 last year after losing the first two in LA.
The big question for me is Okurs status. The Jazz really need center Mehmet Okur back in the starting lineup if they are to compete on Thursday. Okur missed the first two games and the Jazz were dominated inside. He is a game time decision for Thursday. The Jazz needs to play some defense if they expect to get a win in this series. The Lakers shot 58% in the first two games and were rarely challenged.
The over seems like the best play for me tonight, as the stats are undeniable. The ‘over’ is 19-7-1 in the last 27 series meetings between the Lakers and Jazz. They have raised the score on this one but the over just seems to be the play between these two top ten offenses.
I wanted to paste this for anyone interested in wagering tonights game and taking the Jazz. I actually dated a girl in salt lake city and it is really a strange town. Salt Lake is a Mormon town with not a lot of sports so they are really passionate about basketball, you really see alot of jazz jerseys around the mall and this a tough place to play. I actaully read this in the local utah paper and its sort of surprising to see seats available for the playoff game tonight. It seems like alot of folks have thrown in the towel against a seemingly unstoppable LA.
” A resounding yawn: Playoff passion for lackluster, losing Jazz wanes
By Michael C. Lewis
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 04/23/2009 11:08:36 AM MDT
It has been happening for days now, full-page ads running in the local newspapers reminding basketball fans that Utah Jazz tickets are still available.
For a playoff series.
At home.
Against superstar Kobe Bryant and the flashy (and generally despised) Los Angeles Lakers.
Such a scenario would have seemed preposterous six months ago, when the Jazz began the NBA season amid soaring excitement and high expectations. But the easy availability of tickets that normally would be harder to find than a winning lottery ticket — nearly 600 other seats were available through just one of the myriad online ticket brokers, the day before the game — suggests that many fans have all but given up on the team as it
Jazz Blog
Steve Luhm and Ross Siler offer more insight on the Jazz and the NBA in their blog.
limps toward an inglorious end to what began as a promising season.
“If we took 300 texts today about the Jazz,” said Jon Lund, the co-host of a morning sports talk radio show on 1280 The Zone, “I’d say 75 percent were, ‘We have no chance, I can’t wait till the season’s over.’ Or, ‘Let’s move on, this dog is dead.’ … Hope is fairly low.”
The Jazz will try to avoid the possibility of being swept out of the playoffs for the first time in 20 years tonight when they meet the Lakers in Game 3 of their best-of-seven first-round series at EnergySolutions Arena (8:30 p.m.), but they have yet to offer many encouraging signs. Center Mehmet Okur is out injured, the Jazz have lost nine of their last 11 games overall while playing
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disastrous defense, and the Lakers have mostly dominated the series so far.
“We’ll see what happens,” coach Jerry Sloan said. “That’s all you can do.”
Fans seem to agree. A team spokesman said Wednesday that a “limited amount” of tickets remain for tonight’s game, though he declined to say exactly how many.
Recent sales of team merchandise have also been unspectacular at the Fanzz sports apparel store in the South Towne Center in Sandy, where only one Deron Williams jersey hangs in the front window amid a colorful collection of Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, Chris Paul and LeBron James jerseys. But store manager Derk McDermaid — a lifelong Jazz supporter — said many fans buy memorabilia on the day of home games, so today will give him a better indication how far passion has plummeted.
Yet McDermaid said he believes the Jazz will win tonight, and “our big challenge will be Saturday” in Game 4 of the series.
“I don’t think fans have given up,” added Zane Miller, one of the retail chain’s warehouse employees. “They’re just more frustrated. This was supposed to be our year, but we had so many injuries and it has been frustrating.”
Certainly, fans are unaccustomed to being in this position — cheering for a team that was supposed to have grown and matured in the two years since reaching the NBA’s Western Conference finals, but now occupies only the eighth seed in the playoffs against one of the top title contenders.
Only three such teams in 25 years have upset a top-seeded opponent, while only 14 teams in league history have rebounded from losing the first two games to win a best-of-seven series.
Even the team’s most dedicated fans are bracing for an early offseason.
“It’s going to be pretty hard to beat the Lakers down two games,” said Lynn Barlow, an original season-ticket holder who estimates he has seen 90 percent of Jazz home games. “We did beat them once at home. But they have Kobe Bryant and all the money in the world and they got Pau Gasol for free … it’s pretty hard to beat that type of organization”
My Pick
Over 213.5 risking 22 to win 20
LA -1.5 risking 22 to win 20
NBA
NBA Playoff Preview
Boston Celtics at Chicago Bulls (Series tied 1-1)
Thursday, 8:05 pm Eastern – TNT
Bulls – 2.5 , Total 201
I was really surprised to see boston pull out the last game with Ray Allen hitting a great three to their best-of-seven series against the Chicago Bulls. Allen hit the game winning three-pointer and finished with 30 points as the Celtics defeated the Bulls 118-115 on Monday to even the series at a game apiece. Boston needed every point they could get out of Allen because Chicago’s Ben Gordon scored 42 points.
You couldn’t pay me to take this Boston team with the injuries they have suffered , now they have Leon Powe who averages 7.7 points per game for the Celtics out for the remainder of the playoffs which leaves the Celtics with some serious size issues up front and some depth issues off the bench. Rajon Rondo, amjor player for the Celtics in their Championship title l of 2008, has a bad ankle and is questionable tonight although he will probably play.
The Celtics just don’t have the same team chemistry as last year without Garnett coming up with big rebounds and scoring big baskets .
Play Chicago -2.5 risking 22 to win 20
Usually playing overs especially against a good defensive team like the spurs is suicide but I really see Dallas getting over 100 tonight and the Spurs have been putting the points up as well. Plus you have Joey Crawford officiating. Over to the bank
play Dal/SA Over 190 risking 22 to win 20
Dallas money line -220 risking 50 to win 22
my other plays
NHL
3 way line
Pittsburgh penguins regulation win -110 risking 55 to win 50
Anaheim +.5 regulation -130 risking 40 to win 30
Cheers
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