The defending champions still have some good basketball betting odds as they head into Game 2 against Chicago, but Game 1 was enough to worry even the most ardent Celtics fan.
The look on Kevin Garnett’s face throughout the first half of their overtime loss to the Bulls in Game 1 was enough to tell the story. The Celtics could not stop Derrick Rose from getting into the paint at will, and while most teams can’t do this, Boston has a better chance than most with KG in the lineup. Without his sore right knee, KG is one of the best help defenders in the NBA, probably of all time, and there’s no way that Rose finishes as easily as he does with KG in there (no knock on Rose either, y’all know how I feel about him. Garnett’s intensity on defense is sometimes taken for granted, but not after Game 1. He couldn’t even come back on the bench, he was so frustrated. Give Ray Allen’s awful shooting (1-of-12? Gross.) and Paul Pierce’s free-throw missed a nod as supporting actors, but KG’s knee is the star of the show, and Boston’s basketball betting chances are definitely not the same without the “Big Ticket”. Think of the Celtics as a horse trying to beat the Kentucky Derby odds with one leg. It’s not going to work. Basketball betting players will see what heart the Celtics have in Game 2.
