NBA Net Betting – Is The NBA Ready For A Lakers/Heat Final?
Many sports betting players picked an NBA Finals matchup between the two-time defending champions from Los Angeles and the new-look Miami Heat, and it appears as though both teams are going to make it to the second round, at least. This would likely be the best-case scenario for commissioner David Stern as the star power on the court would be blinding. Here is a look at how a possible matchup would go down between these two powerhouses.
In the post, the matchup between Miami’s Chris Bosh and the Lakers’ Pau Gasol would be crucial, and we all know that neither of these “power” forwards have been known to be the most physical players in the league. At times, you could say that both have been labeled soft, and for good reason as both seem content sometimes to sit outside and shoot jumpers, which isn’t what you want to be seeing out of your seven-footers. The most frustrating part is that both are very skilled on the block and have an array of post moves to go to. If you want banging, you’ll have to look to the center position, where the Lakers will send out Andrew Bynum against Joel Anthony, and Los Angeles has a big advantage here. Anthony is out there solely to bang and grab rebounds, while Bynum can score. He just has to stay healthy and keep his head in the game, because the Heat will throw Anthony, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Juwan Howard out there to try and get the youngster off his game. Where the Lakers have another edge is that they can bring Lamar Odom, the Sixth Man of the Year, off the bench to play in the paint if they need to.
Of course, most NBA betting players will be focused on the perimeter matchups, and you’re going to get some good ones. Los Angeles will likely send out Ron Artest to try and contain LeBron James, while Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade will duel it out. Both teams have deficiencies at the point, but the Lakers have to get the edge because of Derek Fisher’s championship experience, and they can bring Shannon Brown off the bench. The Heat have Mario Chalmers and Mike Bibby, and that just sounds like a recipe for disaster. We have the feeling that Artest isn’t going to make things easy for James, and that’s all you can really ask against the most talented basketball player on the planet. Bryant and Wade will battle each other to a standstill, and this could be the matchup that decides the series because Wade has to go wild in order for the Heat to win this matchup.
The reason that Wade has to go off is because the Lakers have a HUGE edge on the bench, where they not only have Odom, but they have Brown, Matt Barnes (who is essentially Artest Lite), and Steve Blake, who can hit the three-pointer as well as his Miami counterpart, Eddie House. The Heat have Chalmers coming off the bench, but he and Bibby split the point duties down the middle, while the Lakers can come in with Brown. Miami has aging big men that aren’t going to be a factor, unless Ilgauskas starts taking and hitting a lot of those 17-foot jumpers off which he has made a career.
The one x-factor in this matchup on either side is James Jones, who has made a living this season off making open three-pointers when teams double one of the Miami Big Three. We’re not sure who the Lakers will have on him, and as of right now, it looks like it’ll be Gasol, and that is a matchup nightmare for Los Angeles as not only can’t Gasol get out fast enough to defend Jones outside of the three-point line, Jones can drive past him, and it drags Gasol out of the lane, which helps Miami on the boards.
NBA betting players watched the Heat sweep their two-game season series against the Lakers, romping to a 96-80 win in Los Angeles on Christmas Day, and then they held on for a 94-88 win, but that was the regular season. This is the playoffs, and the Lakers have a huge advantage because of their championship experience that comes from being in the Finals three straight years. Their best bet may be to try and force a close game that comes down to the wire, because we all know the Heat have had troubles on the offensive end of the floor when it comes to tight games. We think the Heat will eventually win, but not this year. The Lakers have one more bullet in the chamber, and they have a bench that is far better than Miami’s, so if this is the matchup in the NBA Finals, take Los Angeles in your online betting picks.
