Celtics will beat the Indiana Pacers in Round 1. Boston is already up 1-0.
$10,012 to win $5,000 Boston Celtics beat Indiana Pacers for the Series.
$6,000 to win $3,000 (OLY)
$4,012 to win $2,000 (Pinny)
This is my biggest NBA wager ever and if I lose it def. will put a dent into my account, although not a huge dent. Let me explain why I am so confident.
Celtics vs Pacers
Obviously Celtics are up 1-0 so I have that advantage but I paid to the price in laying -203. Doesn't bother me. Hopefully Celtics win game 2 so then it justifies me laying -203.
First of all, this series reminds me of the NBA Championship series last year between Pistons/Lakers. Celtics are a younger more athletic team and the Pacers are an older injured team missing one of their best players and their starting PG.
This is huge advantage for Celtics. They are deep team and they are playing extremely well right now. Let me talk about the obvious.
Pacers are without starter Artest. This hurts. Artest is solid offensively and is great defensively. Paul Pierce now doesn't have to be guarded by Artest. This makes Pierce game a lot easier AND helps the surrounding Celtic players.
PG Tinsley for Pacers is out. Not having your starting PG would hurt ANY team in the NBA. On top of Artest being out, Tinsely is out as well. Why does this hurt Pacers so much? GARY PAYTON! Payton is not solid on defense anymore and Tinsely is able to blow by him and create havoc. No Tinsely, No Payton liability. Starting Pacer PG is Johnson and he can't take Payton off the dribble. Now Tinsely is on the playoff roster but has not played in last 29 games and I doubt we see him in this series. Even if he does come back, he sure as hell will be rusty and not 100%. All in all, Tinsely is a great PG and Pacers relied heavily on him.
Now lets talk about the Pacers BEST player. J. Oneal. He struggled badly in game 1. Now I expect him to play better the rest of the series BUT their is chance he doesn't. He is playing hurt with bad shoulder and that could really be affecting him. Another thing, Oneal often settles for outside shots instead of taking it to the rim. Celtics will live with that ALL day. Oneal also has trouble on the defensive end in this series guarding the perimeter Celtic players.
Pacer injuries
F. Jones playing with hurt finger.
A. Croshere is playing hurt.
J. O'Neal playing with hurt shoulder.
J. Foster playing hurt.
David Harrison OUT.
Ron Artest OUT.
Jonathan Bender OUT.
This is a BANGED up team and on top of that missing 2 of their starters. (Artest and Tinsely)
No question this team has heart, as they played their way into the playoffs but this is as far as they will go. Unfortunately they won't give up and hand Boston the series but they just won't be able to beat Boston 4 games after being down 0-1.
Lastly, lets talk about Reggie Miller. He played great this season and carried Indiana on his back. His age is finally catching up to him and he will struggle in this series. He might have 1 breakout game but for Pacers to beat Boston, they need Miller to carry them. Pacers only have 3 guys who can potentially score big. Miller, Jackson, or Oneal. IMO, Pacers need all 3 playing great to beat Celtics. Jackson came up big in game 1 but Pacers got blown out. I wouldn't consider Jackson a great consistent player. He is solid but that as far I would go. Miller is old. Oneal is playing hurt. Tough job for these 3 to carry the team without Artest and Tinsley. Lets not forget that Celtic guard T. Allen plays superb defense on Reggie Miller. Allen is athletic and Miller struggles against athletic defenders. Miller doesn't have an easy time scoring and overall the Celtic defense has turned it up a notch in the playoffs. This is a hungry and confident Celtic team. They said prior to game 1 they were going to turn up their defense and they did exactly that.
Since Oneal returned back to the Pacers after injury, the team has not been sharp. Pacers came into the playoffs losing 4 of their last 6 and if you look at a lot of their wins/losses it was against teams who WERE WITHOUT their best player. IMO, this Pacer team is not playing great ball. Game 1 they throw the ball to Oneal and everyone was standing around. This is a team not playing great ball, who is injured, who is missing 2 starters, and playing against a talented, athletic and deep team in Boston. Oh yeah, they already down 1-0 in series.
Take a look into last year. Pacers had Artest and an injured Tinsely playing. They still often struggled at the offensive end in the playoffs. They would go into serious scoring droubts. Since they had Artest, they were a very solid defensive club and could withstand the droubts. This years playoff team doesn't have Artest or Tinsely. They will struggle on offense even more because they don't have Tinsely or Artest. They will struggle MORE on defense because they don't have Artest. Artest could neutralize Pierce and he has some game on offense. But even with Artest, the Pacers struggled badly at times on the offensive end. Against Celtics this series they are playing a younger and much more athletic team. SPELLS TROUBLE!
I have barely talked about the Boston Celtics as I have so much ammo against the Pacers. But I really like the Celtics team as well. So not only do I dislike the current Pacer team, I am big supporter of the current Celtic team. This is a team I think has flown under the radar and is VERY undervalued.
Pierce, Walker, Payton, and Lafrentz. Thats 4 solid veterans with playoff experience. All 4 players have played well at the end of season and game 1 (except for Pierce in game 1) Those 4 solid veterans are surrounded by super athletic and talented young players. THIS HURTS THE PACERS! These young players are playing exceptional basketball. These backups almost beat the Nets when the Nets were in a do or die game. I won 2k on Nets ML in that game but these Celtic players made a believer out of me. I find no reason for these backup players to start playing poorly but I also don't expect them to play great either. But they should play well enough to win because they are so much more younger and athletic than the Pacers and right there is a consistent advantage Boston has over Indiana. Celtics don't need these young players to carry the team. They have Pierce, Walker, Payton, and Lafrentz but mainly Pierce to carry the team. Celtics blew out Pacers in game 1 with Pierce making his first FG in the 4th quarter!
Major advantage for Celtics is............
Pierce and Davis. Pacers have no answer to these guys on defense. Davis is prob. the best 6th man in the NBA and has played exceptional basketball the last 1-2 months of season. He is instant offense and playing with super confidence right now. Not good news for Pacers that a guy you have no answer too on defensive side of ball is playing exceptional basketball at the moment. Same with Pierce. He has played exceptional ball last 2 months of season AND he is a legit superstar in NBA. So the legit superstar for the Celtics has nobody on the Pacers defensive side of the ball that matches up well against him. Expect Pierce to have a great series and game 1 was just a fluke shooting night.
Celtics don't really have an answer for Oneal but like I said earlier Oneal often settles for outside shots and he has not played well as of late. Not to mention he is playing hurt. Like I said earlier, the Pacers have not played well since Oneal returned and if you look at most of the Pacer wins/losses of late they have come against teams who were missing KEY players.
Some key highlight points.
*Celtics are up 1-0 in series
*Pacers are an injured team
*Pacers missing 2 "key" starters
*Celtics have been playing "great" basketball
*Pacers are not playing great basketball
*Celtics are getting great bench play
*Celtics are younger and more athletic team
*Celtics are the more confident team
*Celtics create 2 major mismatches (Pierce/Davis)
*Pacers create only 1 major mismatch (Oneal)
I see this Celtics team not only winning this round but playing tough in round 2 as well. I think its a nice blend of (athletic) veterans and (super athletic) young players. Right now, everyone is playing well and that is so important coming into the playoffs. Often in playoffs in all sports its the team who is playing best basketball coming into the playoffs that win, not necessarily the better team. I am not sure Pacers were the better team coming into this series but I do know the Celtics are currently playing better basketball.
What more can you ask for? Celtics playing great and Pacers not looking great and they have many handicaps to overcome. I don't see how the Celtics can allow the Pacers to win this series and even if it goes 7 games, I get game 7 @ Boston. This is not Indiana's year (for multiple reasons) and they should NOT win this series against Boston already down 1 game. I liked Boston prior to the series starting and my only question mark was how the young players would respond in an actual playoff game. I got my answer!
In addition to everything I just typed, history tells us that the game 1 winner in a 7 game series wins about 80% of the time! :toast:
All in all, I am willing to lose 10k on this wager because I see so many angles in my favor. I will be surprised (and sad) if Indiana beats Boston 4 times in the next 6 games. Very tough task ahead for Indiana. I am betting they can't do it. Tonight is do or die game for them and I still think Boston wins the series if they lose tonight. But lets not make me sweat it out and Boston should go up 2-0 in the series. I would not be surprised if Boston sweeps Indiana.
GO CELTICS! :thumb:
$10,012 to win $5,000 Boston Celtics beat Indiana Pacers for the Series.
$6,000 to win $3,000 (OLY)
$4,012 to win $2,000 (Pinny)
This is my biggest NBA wager ever and if I lose it def. will put a dent into my account, although not a huge dent. Let me explain why I am so confident.
Celtics vs Pacers
Obviously Celtics are up 1-0 so I have that advantage but I paid to the price in laying -203. Doesn't bother me. Hopefully Celtics win game 2 so then it justifies me laying -203.
First of all, this series reminds me of the NBA Championship series last year between Pistons/Lakers. Celtics are a younger more athletic team and the Pacers are an older injured team missing one of their best players and their starting PG.
This is huge advantage for Celtics. They are deep team and they are playing extremely well right now. Let me talk about the obvious.
Pacers are without starter Artest. This hurts. Artest is solid offensively and is great defensively. Paul Pierce now doesn't have to be guarded by Artest. This makes Pierce game a lot easier AND helps the surrounding Celtic players.
PG Tinsley for Pacers is out. Not having your starting PG would hurt ANY team in the NBA. On top of Artest being out, Tinsely is out as well. Why does this hurt Pacers so much? GARY PAYTON! Payton is not solid on defense anymore and Tinsely is able to blow by him and create havoc. No Tinsely, No Payton liability. Starting Pacer PG is Johnson and he can't take Payton off the dribble. Now Tinsely is on the playoff roster but has not played in last 29 games and I doubt we see him in this series. Even if he does come back, he sure as hell will be rusty and not 100%. All in all, Tinsely is a great PG and Pacers relied heavily on him.
Now lets talk about the Pacers BEST player. J. Oneal. He struggled badly in game 1. Now I expect him to play better the rest of the series BUT their is chance he doesn't. He is playing hurt with bad shoulder and that could really be affecting him. Another thing, Oneal often settles for outside shots instead of taking it to the rim. Celtics will live with that ALL day. Oneal also has trouble on the defensive end in this series guarding the perimeter Celtic players.
Pacer injuries
F. Jones playing with hurt finger.
A. Croshere is playing hurt.
J. O'Neal playing with hurt shoulder.
J. Foster playing hurt.
David Harrison OUT.
Ron Artest OUT.
Jonathan Bender OUT.
This is a BANGED up team and on top of that missing 2 of their starters. (Artest and Tinsely)
No question this team has heart, as they played their way into the playoffs but this is as far as they will go. Unfortunately they won't give up and hand Boston the series but they just won't be able to beat Boston 4 games after being down 0-1.
Lastly, lets talk about Reggie Miller. He played great this season and carried Indiana on his back. His age is finally catching up to him and he will struggle in this series. He might have 1 breakout game but for Pacers to beat Boston, they need Miller to carry them. Pacers only have 3 guys who can potentially score big. Miller, Jackson, or Oneal. IMO, Pacers need all 3 playing great to beat Celtics. Jackson came up big in game 1 but Pacers got blown out. I wouldn't consider Jackson a great consistent player. He is solid but that as far I would go. Miller is old. Oneal is playing hurt. Tough job for these 3 to carry the team without Artest and Tinsley. Lets not forget that Celtic guard T. Allen plays superb defense on Reggie Miller. Allen is athletic and Miller struggles against athletic defenders. Miller doesn't have an easy time scoring and overall the Celtic defense has turned it up a notch in the playoffs. This is a hungry and confident Celtic team. They said prior to game 1 they were going to turn up their defense and they did exactly that.
Since Oneal returned back to the Pacers after injury, the team has not been sharp. Pacers came into the playoffs losing 4 of their last 6 and if you look at a lot of their wins/losses it was against teams who WERE WITHOUT their best player. IMO, this Pacer team is not playing great ball. Game 1 they throw the ball to Oneal and everyone was standing around. This is a team not playing great ball, who is injured, who is missing 2 starters, and playing against a talented, athletic and deep team in Boston. Oh yeah, they already down 1-0 in series.
Take a look into last year. Pacers had Artest and an injured Tinsely playing. They still often struggled at the offensive end in the playoffs. They would go into serious scoring droubts. Since they had Artest, they were a very solid defensive club and could withstand the droubts. This years playoff team doesn't have Artest or Tinsely. They will struggle on offense even more because they don't have Tinsely or Artest. They will struggle MORE on defense because they don't have Artest. Artest could neutralize Pierce and he has some game on offense. But even with Artest, the Pacers struggled badly at times on the offensive end. Against Celtics this series they are playing a younger and much more athletic team. SPELLS TROUBLE!
I have barely talked about the Boston Celtics as I have so much ammo against the Pacers. But I really like the Celtics team as well. So not only do I dislike the current Pacer team, I am big supporter of the current Celtic team. This is a team I think has flown under the radar and is VERY undervalued.
Pierce, Walker, Payton, and Lafrentz. Thats 4 solid veterans with playoff experience. All 4 players have played well at the end of season and game 1 (except for Pierce in game 1) Those 4 solid veterans are surrounded by super athletic and talented young players. THIS HURTS THE PACERS! These young players are playing exceptional basketball. These backups almost beat the Nets when the Nets were in a do or die game. I won 2k on Nets ML in that game but these Celtic players made a believer out of me. I find no reason for these backup players to start playing poorly but I also don't expect them to play great either. But they should play well enough to win because they are so much more younger and athletic than the Pacers and right there is a consistent advantage Boston has over Indiana. Celtics don't need these young players to carry the team. They have Pierce, Walker, Payton, and Lafrentz but mainly Pierce to carry the team. Celtics blew out Pacers in game 1 with Pierce making his first FG in the 4th quarter!
Major advantage for Celtics is............
Pierce and Davis. Pacers have no answer to these guys on defense. Davis is prob. the best 6th man in the NBA and has played exceptional basketball the last 1-2 months of season. He is instant offense and playing with super confidence right now. Not good news for Pacers that a guy you have no answer too on defensive side of ball is playing exceptional basketball at the moment. Same with Pierce. He has played exceptional ball last 2 months of season AND he is a legit superstar in NBA. So the legit superstar for the Celtics has nobody on the Pacers defensive side of the ball that matches up well against him. Expect Pierce to have a great series and game 1 was just a fluke shooting night.
Celtics don't really have an answer for Oneal but like I said earlier Oneal often settles for outside shots and he has not played well as of late. Not to mention he is playing hurt. Like I said earlier, the Pacers have not played well since Oneal returned and if you look at most of the Pacer wins/losses of late they have come against teams who were missing KEY players.
Some key highlight points.
*Celtics are up 1-0 in series
*Pacers are an injured team
*Pacers missing 2 "key" starters
*Celtics have been playing "great" basketball
*Pacers are not playing great basketball
*Celtics are getting great bench play
*Celtics are younger and more athletic team
*Celtics are the more confident team
*Celtics create 2 major mismatches (Pierce/Davis)
*Pacers create only 1 major mismatch (Oneal)
I see this Celtics team not only winning this round but playing tough in round 2 as well. I think its a nice blend of (athletic) veterans and (super athletic) young players. Right now, everyone is playing well and that is so important coming into the playoffs. Often in playoffs in all sports its the team who is playing best basketball coming into the playoffs that win, not necessarily the better team. I am not sure Pacers were the better team coming into this series but I do know the Celtics are currently playing better basketball.
What more can you ask for? Celtics playing great and Pacers not looking great and they have many handicaps to overcome. I don't see how the Celtics can allow the Pacers to win this series and even if it goes 7 games, I get game 7 @ Boston. This is not Indiana's year (for multiple reasons) and they should NOT win this series against Boston already down 1 game. I liked Boston prior to the series starting and my only question mark was how the young players would respond in an actual playoff game. I got my answer!
In addition to everything I just typed, history tells us that the game 1 winner in a 7 game series wins about 80% of the time! :toast:
All in all, I am willing to lose 10k on this wager because I see so many angles in my favor. I will be surprised (and sad
) if Indiana beats Boston 4 times in the next 6 games. Very tough task ahead for Indiana. I am betting they can't do it. Tonight is do or die game for them and I still think Boston wins the series if they lose tonight. But lets not make me sweat it out and Boston should go up 2-0 in the series. I would not be surprised if Boston sweeps Indiana. GO CELTICS! :thumb:
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