Nuggets vs Lakers | Magic vs. Cavs

Basketball Betting – Lakers, Cavs favored to meet in Finals

While UFC 98 odds and Indy 500 odds are at the top of the online sports book list this week, the NBA playoffs are down to the final four and the action tips off on Tuesday. NBA odds have the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers favored in a dream Finals matchup, but the Denver Nuggets and Orlando Magic will be looking to make it interesting.

Nuggets vs Lakers odds – 

The Nuggets stormed past Dallas in five feisty games, and Denver took full advantage of the Mavericks’ inability to defend in the post. The Lakers stretched out their series with Houston to seven games before putting the Rockets away in another physical series, but the Lakers’ lack of enthusiasm, particularly in Game 6, was alarming to their fans. The Lakers won three of their four meetings with the Nuggets this season, and Kobe Bryant dropped 31.0 points on Denver, along with Pau Gasol’s 18.3 points and 12.3 boards. Chauncey Billups missed the first meeting of the year between these two, but notched 18.0 points in the three games he played. Carmelo Anthony had only 14.3 points on 32.8% shooting, so he’ll definitely have to be better. The Nuggets’ only chance is to steal one in Los Angeles, where they’ve dropped nine of their last 10. It’s not looking good for the Nuggets, whose defense won’t be able to stop the Lakers. Nuggets vs Lakers odds are backing Los Angeles at -265.

Magic vs Cavaliers odds – 

The Cavs have been off since May 11th, when they wrapped up a four-game sweep of Atlanta. Cleveland is 8-0 in these playoffs, and they have won all eight by an average of 13.4 points. LeBron James, fresh off his first MVP award, has raised his game even more with 32.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists. The Magic surprised everyone with a 19-point rout of the Celtics in Boston to win their series in seven games, and they did it the way they’ve been winning all season: a large dose of Dwight Howard and a slew of three-point shooting. The Magic beat the Cavs in two of three meetings this year, including a 29-point thumping at home late in the season that the Cavs would love to avenge. Howard had 18.3 points, 14.7 boards and 3.7 blocks in those three games, while James had 30.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 7.0 assists. Magic vs Cavaliers odds are stacked towards Cleveland at -850, and there hasn’t been a better team in the playoffs yet. Orlando got away with a couple of bad shooting games in the Boston series, but they won’t do it against the Cavs.

Posted Late (our apologies we just found this in our email)