Hoop And Harm

The Boston Celtics aim to even up their NBA Finals series with the Los Angeles Lakers at two games apiece. Tip is at 9 PM ET at the TD Garden; ABC will carry the game live.

The Celtics are 4.5-point NBA Championship betting favorites and the over/under is 190.

The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off of an impressive Game 3 performance after winning 91-84 as 2.5-point road underdogs. They now have six straight wins as road dogs.

The Lakers owned the boards 43-35 in Game 3 after surrendering their advantage in Game 2 and they also won the turnover battle (8-10). They were held to just 44.7 percent shooting, but that compares favorably to Boston’ 43.8 percent shooting.

Derek Fisher finally gave the Lakers a solid contribution picking up 16 points including a late shot that put the game out of reach for Boston.

Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 29 points in 43 minutes of action. It was the second straight game where Kobe failed to break 30 points after a long streak of dominating offensive play, but he was the best player on the court and his team won, so I doubt he cares much.

Andrew Bynum tweaked is injured knee and his production dropped off dramatically as a result. He had nine points and 10 rebounds after scoring 21 in Game 2. Bynum is a key player for LA, and if he’s not able to have an impact the Celtics will own the paint and reclaim the boards.

The bench finally contributed for the Lakers. Lamar Odom had 12 points and five rebounds. They were still outscored by Boston’s bench, but only by four points.

The Boston Celtics held the advantage in the paint in Game 3 outscoring Los Angeles 50-38. One of the big reasons for the advantage is Kevin Garnett’s play. He finally had a big game picking up 25 points while shooting 69 percent to lead the Celtics.

One game after his record-setting three-point shooting display, Ray Allen had a meltdown going 0-for-13. Allen’s complete lack of production basically doomed the Celtics in Game 3.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics start their NBA Championship series tonight in LA just two years after the Celtics defeated the Lakers in the finals in six games.

The Los Angeles Lakers have progressed since losing the Championships to Boston two years ago. They’ve added defensive specialist Ron Artest who should be able to guard Paul Pierce after the Lakers failed to stop him two years ago. Kobe Bryant is at the top of his game and Andrew Bynum is healthier this time around.

The Boston Celtics big three are older and slower, but they also have more experience and they’ve added Rajon Rondo who’s been making his case for a big four in these playoffs.

The Lakers are listed as NBA Championship odds favorites at -190 and the Celtics are +160.

The Orlando Magic face their biggest challenge yet as they hit the road to face the Boston Celtics while trying to complete come back from a 3-0 series deficit and tie it up at three. The game starts at 8:30 PM ET on TNT.

The NBA Playoff lines list the Celtics as 3.5-point favorites with a total of 187.

The Orlando Magic caught a big break in Game 5 when the Celtics lost all of the players that they use to guard Dwight Howard.

Kendrick Perkins of the Boston Celtics was ejected early in the game after taking two technical fouls. Glen Davis took an elbow to the head and suffered a concussion. Rasheed Wallace was incapacitated after tweaking his back.

Perkins has been very effective at times on Howard and losing just him damaged Orlando’s odds by throwing their game plan in to disarray.

The good news for Boston is that the NBA rescinded one of the technicals otherwise he would have been suspended for Game 6 as well, but Wallace is day-to-day and Davis will need some time as well so this team will be very thin.

The Magic have now won two straight after dropping the first three. They are competing a lot harder now and that’s helping them get open looks from three-point range where they are deadly.

Boston is 18-30-1 ATS this year at the Garden while the Magic roll in to town sporting a 27-19-1 ATS road record.

The Orlando Magic finally had an answer for the Boston Celtics in Game 4 and they now look to continue the long crawl back in to this series at home starting 8:30 PM ET on ESPN.

The Magic are 4-point favorites in NBA playoff lines and the over/under is 186.

The Magic look to become the first NBA team to come back from an 0-3 deficit in the playoffs. Boston fans have seen it happen a lot in other sports with the Red Sox completing the epic comeback versus the Yankees and Bruins a couple of weeks ago ending up on the wrong end of a Philadelphia Flyers comeback in the NHL.

Dwight Howard showed why he is called Superman in Game 4 scoring 32 points and pulling down 16 boards for the double-double. Jameer Nelson was a major contributor with 23 points, nine assists and five rebounds, but Vince Carter and JJ Redick definitely have a big playoff game hiding in them somewhere.

The Boston Celtics need the defensive effort that got them the 3-0 lead if they want to finish off the Magic. The Magic owned the paint in Game 4 outscoring Boston 36-28. Even with a less than complete effort, the Celtics could have finished the Magic on home court, but they didn’t play with enough urgency to finish the series.

Paul Pierce led the team with 32 points, but they only had two other players reach double-digit scoring. The Boston bench went silent getting just 12 points in Game 4.