Sports Betting Blog

At 39-37 for the season, the Boston Celtics are barely holding on to the 7^th place of the eastern conference. They have played all their cards and by no means is this the same team that has dominated the Atlantic Division for nearly 5 years nor is this the team that had been a force to be reckon with coming out of the East. Still, and despite losing a 97-91 game at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that is 23-52 for the season and that was coming off a 10-game losing streak, some believe that this team could actually give a surprise to one of the big teams in the postseason. But truth be said, I really don’t believe that even head coach Doc Rivers thinks that this team is going to be able to go into the Playoffs and really prove that they’ve got it.

Because quite frankly, I don’t think they´ve got it anymore. For the sake of the sport, or at least for the sake of my entertainment I hope I´m wrong and be it the Miami Heat or the New York Knicks or whoever it is they face in the first round of the NBA Playoffs this spring, they can give them a good battle, and us a good show. But going back to the Cavaliers game. It seemed as if after an awful third quarter, where Boston went 6-of-22 in the third quarter they just never got back in track. It even seemed as if they just stopped trying. As a matter of fact, they were outscored 52-38 by the Cavaliers in the paint, and to make things worse, they only completed 13 of 22 free throw attempts. “We definitely thought we had an opportunity to win the game there, but we let it slip,” Jason Terry said in the postgame press conference. Terry would finish the night with only 8 points and 4 assists. “In the second quarter, we built up momentum, and for whatever reason, we let them back in the game, sent them to the free throw line and gave them some easy baskets in transitions.”

The Cleveland Cavaliers power forward, Tristan Thompson guided the visiting team effort with 29 points and 17 rebounds. He really wanted this win. Not that it’s going to make a huge difference down the stretch. After all this team is certainly out of playoffs contention, but he just didn’t want to go down with a team that loss 11^th straight, so he gave it all he’s got. He was fierce went it came down to picking up loss balls. He was a key part of the Cavaliers taking a 58-42 edge in boards, while his seven offensive rebounds was just 3 shy of the entire Celtics team effort. Alonso Glee chipped in with a double-double, ending the night 16 points and 10 rebounds. Wayne Ellington scored 12 points and Kyrie Irving added 11 points for Cleveland in his third game back since missing eight with a sprained shoulder.

The Celtics were playing without Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, both player are recovering from injuries. Jeff Green guided the Celtics with 23 points and 9 rebounds, while Shavlik Randolph had 16 points before fouling out with 6:57 left in the fourth. Brandon Bass scored 12 and Avery Bradley had 10 points for Boston.

The New York Knicks need to focus on the bright side of things. And trust on their own talent and the work that as a team they can put together. The NBA season is coming to and end and at the 8^th spot of the Eastern Conference, they are clinging for their last chances to qualify into the Playoffs. At 27-26 for the season, the Knicks are far away from been the prominent and dominating team that a rooster that included the likes of Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony was expected to be. Sure enough, they’ve been struggling with injuries all season long but they have also managed to find some interesting and unexpected surprises along the way. Not we have to mention one Jeremy Lin and the Linsanity that took over the NBA world in February. But then, on the other hand, they’ve had to dismiss their former coach Mike D’Antoni but have had some success with interim head coach Mike Woodson.

Now, facing the 17-33 Cleveland Cavaliers in the Madison Square Garden, a win was expected from New York. But just before the game began and knowing that the Knicks were already going to miss Amare Stoudemire because of injury, more negative news popped up the press conference when a couple of team officials said that Jeremy Lin would in would have surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and could miss six weeks. That is, Lin is probably going to miss the rest of the season, so that incident alone but an abrupt end to Linsanity. Now, on the long run, this is certainly going to hurt the Knicks as their second and third most prolific scorers are going to miss the last few decisive games of the regular season. But it seems that at least for now there’s no reason to panic. The Knicks have plenty of backup and if they can stay healthy, a spot in the Playoffs shouldn’t be out of the order.

J.R. Smith is something like the chosen one to fill in the scoring deficit that has been left by Stoudemire and Lin. And so far, he’s been doing a good job. Against the Cleveland Cavaliers he finished with 20 points and 9 rebounds, while the squad’s leader, Carmelo Anthony finished the night with 19 points and 4 rebounds, guiding the team to a 91-75 win over the Cavaliers. Tyson Chandler had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the eighth-place Knicks. The team spirit seems to be in the right place. “We’ve just got to hang in there together and keep the bodies that we do have healthy, keep them alert and ready to play when we step out on the floor,” said the Knicks interim head coach Woodson. “The season is what it is. I mean it’s not going anywhere. We’ve got remaining games left we’ve just got to take it one game at a time. We still control our own destiny and they’ve got to understand that.”

For the Cavaliers Antawn Jamison scored 13 points while point guard Donal Sloan chipped in with 10 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. The Cavs played without injured rookie Kyrie Irving. It’s not been a good season for this squad. They have lost seven consecutive matches and 10 of their last 11 games.

The Cavaliers without LeBron James are a thing of the past. Even thought that at 13-21 for the season the Cavaliers are very far away from the numbers they pulled off with King James, things have been running a bit smoother for the squad. With the incorporation of freshman Kyrie Irving this season, things have been running a bit smoother. Perhaps because of a matter of self-respect, the Cavaliers needed to come out against the Chicago Bulls and give a real fight. Last time around, back in January 20^th the Bulls manhandled the Cavaliers beating them by 39 points, despite playing without Derrick Rose, who rested a sore toe. Still, the Cavs gave a good fight, but it wasn’t enough to even get close after a brilliant third quarter by the Chicago and the Bulls took a 112-91 win over  the Cleveland Caveliers.

This time, the Bulls had to give it a little more of an effort, but it was clear from the start that the Bulls were going to take the win. The NBA’s reigning MVP was the guy in charge of leading the Bulls to their 5^th straight win and 10^th in their last thirteen matches. There was still a little suspense before the win. That was until Derrick Rose took over in the third quarter, scoring 10 of his 19 points and adding six of his nine assists. As if that was not enough, more help came from the rest of the Chicago Starters. Luol Deng scored a season-high 24 points and Carlos Boozer added 13 points and 11 rebounds to guide the visiting team. With this performance, the Bulls have now improved to 30-8 for the season, and are still just a step behind the Miami Heat, the team that currently leads the league.

Truth is that sometime Derrick Rose makes it all look a little too easy. “D-Rose can do whatever he wants whenever he wants,” said Carlos Boozer about the Bulls’ point guard performance. “The great thing about him is any moment he can take over a game. He has his imprint on every game we play. It’s fun playing with him, but it’s also fun to watch.”

And he was right about his comments. The third quarter was all about Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls. The Cavaliers really didn’t had anything to throw at them. For starters, Rose, alone, accounted for 22 points in the quarter as the Bulls scored 38 and crushed any remaining hope for the Cavs to take this win at home. Antawn Jamison scored 22 points, and finished the night with 4 rebound to close the match as the best performer for the Cavaliers, but it simply wasn’t enough to keep the Cavs from dropping their third straight game since the All-Star break.

The Cavs really missed Irving. He’s been gone for 4 games now and it is still uncertain when is he going to be back in the court. Irving has been fighting a flu bug for several days and having their leading scorer and playmaker out of the court has really proved to be an unbearable obstacle as the Cavs have now dropped their fourth straight game.

The Cleveland Cavaliers almost did it again. They managed to close a 22-point deficit in the last 2 minutes of the game to put the Boston Celtics in a very uneasy position. At the end, and perhaps thanks to the experience of Kevin Garnett and the rest of the Celtics, Boston managed to hang on for a 93-90 win over the Cavaliers in Cleveland. The Celtics were playing without All-Star point guard Rajon Rond, who missed his seventh straight game with an injured right wrist. The Celtics improved to 5-2 without him, but it sure enough wasn’t easy.

The Boston Celtics have been a very dominant team in the Eastern Conference ever since Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen got together in Boston. So far they’ve won one NBA Title, have been the title runner up once, and have been in each of the Playoffs since 2007. Every since Rajon Rondo, the multi-talented point guard, joined the Big Three, they have been a force to be reckon with all over the league. But then again, the big three are getting older and after losing to the Miami Heat on the conference finals last season, many believed that this team was over. I never really thought that Garnett, Pierce and Allen had already given the Celtics fans all they could deliver. Then again, little did I knew that the collective bargaining agreement would turn out into a very long lockout and that the fast paced and demanding schedule would take such a high toll against the veterans teams.

At 10-10 for the season, the Celtics are still a strong team in their division, but they have lacked the consistency and the momentum they usually need to really build on an important lead at this stage of the season. Just take for example the Collapse the Boston Celtics suffered on Sunday against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Boston Gardens. Kyrie Irving, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft scored 23 points, including the go-ahead layup in the final seconds. The Cleveland Cavaliers scored the last 12 points of the game to snap Boston’s four-game winning streak and stun the Celtics at home. Now, it was payback time. The Celtics had to win this one out of pride. And once again, despite holding a 22-point advantage in the fourth, the Celtics almost blew this on as well.

Paul Pierce scored 20 points, Ray Allen had 12 in the third quarter and Kevin Garnett made a key jumper down the stretch for the Celtics, to hold off the Cleveland Cavaliers. So sure enough, the Celtics barely recovered and quite frankly, barely survived the Cavaliers comeback.  Anderson Verejao had 20 points, 20 rebounds and 2 assists for the Cavaliers while point guard Kyle Irving pitched in with 21 points and 6 assists, but on this one, he couldn’t pull the magic shot that gave the Cavs a win on Sunday. The Cavs will now face the Orlando Magic will the Boston Celtics shouldn’t get into too much trouble (even if playing sans Rondo) against the Toronto Raptors.