{"id":37767,"date":"2011-04-29T08:31:06","date_gmt":"2011-04-29T15:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/?p=37767"},"modified":"2011-04-29T08:31:06","modified_gmt":"2011-04-29T15:31:06","slug":"playoff-odds-picks-boston-vs-miami-series-predictions-29411","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/nba\/playoff-odds-picks-boston-vs-miami-series-predictions-29411\/","title":{"rendered":"2011 NBA Playoff Odds: Celtics vs. Heat Preview | Pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF Predictions: Celtics vs Heat Series Preview<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Before\u00a0nba betting<\/a> fans turn their attention to NBA Playoff basketball betting events this week, we have some more good NBA first round series Previews on tap, and our man Lawrence weighs in with his picks for the series. It\u2019s time for our weekly hoops picks for NBA gambling action. <\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT AT 2BETDSI.COM AND BET ON THIS NBA PLAYOFF MATCHUP!!!!!!<\/a><\/h3>\n

#3 BOSTON vs. #2 MIAMI PLAYOFF SCHEDULE<\/strong>
\nGame 1 – Sun May 1, Boston at Miami, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC\/R
\nGame 2 – Tue May 3, Boston at Miami, TBD, TNT
\nGame 3 – Sat May 7, Miami at Boston, 8:00 p.m. ET, ABC
\nGame 4 – Mon May 9, Miami at Boston, TBD, TNT
\nGame 5 Wed May 11, Boston at Miami, TBD, TNT (if necessary)
\nGame 6 Fri May 13, Miami at Boston, TBD, ESPN (if necessary)
\nGame 7 Mon May 16, Boston at Miami, 8:00 p.m. ET, TNT (if necessary)
\n Click here for indepth NBA ATS Stats —><\/strong><\/a>
\nSimply deposit $100 or more and receive a 20% free play signup bonus.<\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n

Odds to win Series<\/strong>
\nMiami -180
\nBoston +155<\/p>\n

Odds to win Eastern Conference<\/strong>
\nMiami 6\/5
\nBoston 3\/1<\/p>\n

Odds to win NBA title<\/strong>
\nMiami 11\/4
\nBoston 11\/2<\/p>\n

Injuries of Note: Boston<\/strong>: Shaquille O’Neal – C –\tOut Indefinitely (calf injury)<\/p>\n

Miami<\/strong>: Udonis Haslem – \tF\t – Out Indefinitely (foot injury)
\nMike Miller\t – F\t – Day-to-Day (sore thumb)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s come down to this for the Miami Heat. Two years of shedding salaries to be able to afford LeBron James, The Decision, the ridicule, the scorn, the attitude, playing games knowing that most everyone who cares even a centimeter about the NBA wants you to lose.<\/p>\n

If the Miami Heat can beat the Boston Celtics, get to the Eastern Conference finals and make a run at The Finals, it will be all worth it. Fall short and the finger-pointing continues unabated for another 12 months. The best team that money (and climate) can buy will be laughed at and ridiculed all summer, winter and into next spring.<\/p>\n

That said, this series sets up rather well for the Heat. They are young and healthy, which is what the Celtics are not right now. Boston\u2019s advantage at the center spot, Shaquille O\u2019Neal, may not play \u2013 and if he does, no one has a clue how effective he\u2019ll be and for how long. And Miami appears to have slain whatever Celtics demons were floating around when the Heat pounded the Celtics late in the season in what was in essence a battle to see which team would have home-court edge for their inevitable Eastern Conference semifinal matchup. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For the second consecutive year the Celtics are in the playoffs after basically coasting down the stretch, preferring to take a steady stream of losses rather than burn out their starters. And if the sweep of the Knicks was a bit unsteady (New York was a couple of made jumpers away from beating the Celtics twice in Boston), well, that\u2019s the way the Celtics roll \u2013 preserve energy at all costs, keeping powder dry for the when the games really really count. <\/p>\n

Boston beat the Heat three times this season as Miami was struggling to figure things out, and the Celtics have probably already forgotten the 23-point beatdown the Heat gave them in Game 80 of 82. But if the Celtics have shown one thing over the course of the playoffs since Pierce, Garnett and Allen were tethered together a few years ago, it\u2019s that they can circle the wagons, focus on winning a series, and then go out and do it.<\/p>\n

A big plus for Boston is the fact that Rajon Rondo appears to have emerged from whatever funk he was in during the latter stages of the regular season. When Rondo is on his game, the Heat \u2013 who are stuck with Mario Chalmers and the lost-in-space Mike Bibby at the 1 \u2013 have serious problems.<\/p>\n

The pick:<\/strong> Lets\u2019 get it out in the open: Are the Heat chokers? Is LeBron James just a schoolyard bully who scores at will against lousy teams and can\u2019t swallow when the game in on the line? The Heat\u2019s problems in the closing minutes of tight games against good teams are well-documented, and it figures that if this series goes the limit, then four or five games might be decided in the final minute. Whether James or Dwyane Wade gets the ball in the final minute of a close game against Boston\u2019s voracious defense will be fascinating theater. <\/p>\n

BOSTON IN 7.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lawrence Paul is a regular contributor to the Cappers Picks Blog, and is a free-lance gambling expert from Massachusetts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR THE BEST NBA WEEKLY GAMBLING PICKS!! \u2014><\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2011 NBA Playoff 7 game series between the #3 Boston Celtics vs #2 Miami Heat opens on Sunday, here\u2019s the odds to win and our free NBA Series prediction for the 2011 2nd round playoff matchup\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":37153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[28750,48300,48301,48762,48101,48763,48759,28151,28152,48760,48761,28154,1982,48304,23074,48302,12358,13136,48764,48303,11979,12004,29047],"class_list":["post-37767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","tag-28750","tag-2011-nba-playoff-futures","tag-2011-nba-playoff-playoff-picks","tag-boston-celtics-vs-miami-heat-predictions","tag-boston-vs-miami","tag-boston-vs-miami-playoff-schedule","tag-celtics-heat-lines","tag-celtics-heat-odds","tag-celtics-heat-picks","tag-celtics-heat-predictions","tag-celtics-vs-heat-series-preview","tag-celtics-vs-heat","tag-eastern-conference","tag-free-nba-playoff-series-pick","tag-nba-betting-picks","tag-nba-playoff","tag-nba-playoff-picks","tag-nba-playoff-prediction","tag-nba-playoffs-2011","tag-odds-to-win-series","tag-round-2","tag-round-2-predictions","tag-series-lines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37767"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37775,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37767\/revisions\/37775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}