The Boston Celtics will try and win the NBA Championship on Tuesday night but they are underdogs in basketball finals betting at Los Angeles. The Lakers are 6.5 point favorites in NBA betting in Game 6 with a total of 187.5. Basketball Finals betting is a 2-3-2 with the final two games in Los Angeles. The teams split their first two games in Los Angeles, the Celtics won two of three in Boston and now the last two games in are in Los Angeles. The Lakers trail the series 3-2 and must win on Tuesday to force a game seven on Thursday night.
The Celtics controlled Game 5 and covered the odds in basketball finals betting. Boston was not able to contain Kobe Bryant but they shut down everyone else and won 92-86 on Sunday. The Lakers didn’t play good defense and Boston took advantage. Ron Artest was signed by the Lakers specifically because he could play defense but he has not done so very often in this series. In fact, Artest is hurting the Lakers more than he is helping them. He missed two key free throws on Sunday that would have pulled the Lakers within three points late in the fourth quarter. It looks like the Lakers miss Trevor Ariza after all. Artest couldn’t contain Paul Pierce as Pierce had 27 points and continually dominated the Lakers.
Boston has been the tougher team in this series and now they have a chance to win the series on Tuesday night. The Lakers are getting a great series by Kobe Byrant but other than Derek Fisher’s one big game, no one else is giving him any help. Artest has been useless, Lamar Odom has been invisible again, Andrew Bynum is hurt and Pau Gasol is being pushed around again.
Boston is 5-2 vs. the basketball betting odds in their last 7 road games. The Celtics were very good during the regular season on the road and they are capable of winning in Los Angeles as they proved in Game 2. The Celtics are 6-2 ATS in the last 8 meetings in Los Angeles.
Looking at the total in basketball finals betting, the Celtics have gone under in four of their last six games. Six of the last eight Los Angeles home games have gone over the total. In this series, five of the last seven have gone under.