NBA Finals Game Seven – Kobe’s Little Helpers

NBA Finals betting history will be made Thursday night when the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics play the fifth game seven between these two franchises.

A Phil Jackson coached team has never lost a series after winning game one; Jackson’s teams are 47-0. For the Lakers to go 48-0, they will have to beat the Celtics in a game seven, which is something they haven’t done in four previous attempts.

The NBA playoffs odds makers feel that 47-0 trumps 4-0 as they have the Los Angeles Lakers as 7-point home favorites.

If the Boston Celtics can continue their game 7 dominance over the Lakers in the 2010 finals, NBA bettors can make +270 on the moneyline.

NBA Finals Game 7 Odds

Thursday, June 17 at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA at 9:05 P.M. ET

Boston Celtics +7 +270

Los Angeles Lakers -7 -330

Game Total 187 (-110 O/U)

When this series began, I felt the revenge factor was too much for the Boston Celtics to handle. Phil Jackson needed to avenge his Finals loss to Doc Rivers, one of only two coaches to beat him in a Final; the other was Larry Brown.

Kobe Bryant needed to prove he could win a fifth title to separate him from Shaquille O’Neal, tie him with Magic Johnson and move him one title closer to the greatest player ever, Michael Jordan (six).

I didn’t think we would go to a game seven, but here we are and my above statement still holds true, although it looked grim before game six. Going into game six it looked like Kobe’s teammates had quit on him once again, which happens far too often to Bryant.

His team appears to sit back and be content with Bryant taking over and dominating the game for the win. That works fine in the regular season when half of the league happily sits back and admires Kobe going to work. But not in the NBA Finals.

If you are looking for another difference between Jordan and Bryant, it is that Bryant’s teammates rarely rise to the challenge of helping their man win, while Jordan’s teammates would do everything they could to please him and gain his favor.

This was again true for games one through five of these Finals but, down 3-2 and desperate, Kobe put out a simple plea, “Just man up and play…”

That plea was answered in game six when the Lakers jumped out to an early lead and the game was never in doubt after the first quarter.

The Lakers defense was ferocious, and even though the game was a no-doubter after the first 12 minutes, Kobe Bryant played another 40 minutes in an effort to break the mental will of the Celtics.

Game 7 will be a true test for the Lakers, but they may have caught a break as Kendrick Perkins will be out, opening a big hole in the middle.

While it’s doubtful Lakers center Andrew Bynum will be healthy enough to take advantage of the hole, Pau Gasol should score close to 20 and 10, and that will be the difference – Kobe’s teammates stepping up and helping their superstar win.