-So the Lakers, at the top of the NBA Finals odds all season long, put away Orlando in five. Good on ‘em. Kobe gets his Shaqless ring and his Finals MVP, Phil’s got 10 and has to be the best coach ever now, and Trevor Ariza will be rich. Like, “way more than he deserves” rich.

-How much are you betting management of the Lakers will try to get Odom to take a paycut to stay, so they can keep Ariza?

-Turkoglu wasn’t even back in the dressing room before it was announced that he would be a free agent.

-Why was Kobe’s wife all up in the mix right after the game? She’s cute and all, but shoot…..give the man a second to breathe. He surely can’t cheat on you in the middle of an arena.

-NBA odds on whether Phil comes back: Not bloody likely.

Phoenix has to be one of the funniest teams in the NBA in terms of comedy, but of course, that doesn’t do much for your NBA Finals odds. First, Shaq tried to steal Lebron’s thunder with:

Then, I stumbled upon this back in April while going through my offshore sportsbook (it’s amazing what pops up when you type “Steve Nash” into Youtube):

I still have no idea what to think about that. But this is probably the best of the bunch. Nash did Letterman a couple of nights ago:

I swear, if comedy was pick-and-roll defense (actually, just all-around defense), the Suns would be the Pistons of the “Bad Boy” era, and their NBA odds would be through the roof.

Oh yeah, tonight’s NBA championship odds pick hasn’t changed. Kobe’s gon’ go OFF.

Looks like I’ll have to make a different French Open finals betting pick. Thanks, Serena.

I picked the Lakers to win the NBA finals, but it won’t be easy. The Magic opened their meetings with Boston and Cleveland on the road, and came away with a win to steal homecourt advantage. This takes pressure off them, because you lose the first game, the second game virtually becomes a must-win. They also have won their last two trips to Los Angles, but they’re still a 6-point favorite at the Staples Center tomorrow night according to NBA Finals odds. 

The Lakers have won eight of their 10 playoff games at home, where the supporting cast plays much better, and it doesn’t become a shotfest from Kobe Bryant. The Lakers will have to do a better job on the Magic’s three-point gunners, who shot 42.9% from long distance in a 109-103 victory in Los Angeles in January. Dwight Howard went off for 25 points and 20 boards, but the Lakers and their NBA odds stand a much better chance of winning if they can keep the likes of Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu and Rafer Alston quiet. 

No one, myself included, have given the Magic much credit during the playoffs. Think that’s not fueling them? 

NBA championship odds pick: Lakers to win, but not to cover

The last couple of games have proven just how important secondary players are to NBA championship odds. Michael Jordan proved that. It wasn’t until Scottie Pippen came on board, as well as a host of others, that MJ could really prove his worth.

Los Angeles Lakers - Lamar Odom could be the biggest factor in this year’s Lakers odds, including bigger than Kobe Bryant. Odom has an insane skill set for a man his size, and he dominated the Nuggets in Game 5′s win with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Not only can he play in the post, but he can bring the ball up the floor, and he may be the best 6’11″ passer in the NBA. When his heart is in it, of course.

Denver Nuggets – Chris “Birdman” Andersen brings insane rebounding and defensive skills to the Nuggets off the bench, but it’s more the energy he contributes. The Denver fans love Andersen, who has bounced back from a drug suspension, and that sparks the crowd. His play in Game 4 was the difference.

Cleveland Cavaliers – Pick one. Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 16 in Game 5 with Mo Williams adding 24, meaning LeBron James didn’t have to score 40 again (he ended up with 37, but whatever). I’ll take Ilgauskas because Williams is supposed to be scoring. Ilgauskas brings Dwight Howard out of the paint, leaving James space to do his thing.

Orlando Magic – Mickael Pietrus gets the nod over Rafer Alston because Alston was awful in Game 5, and Pietrus not only adds points off the bench, but he gets the task of guarding James as best he can. Pietrus hasn’t shut down James, but really, who can? But he makes him work, which makes James tired by the end of games. If they win Game 6, which they are favored to by NBA odds, Pietrus will have a huge hand in it.

Also before Saturday’s Game 6 between Cleveland and Orlando, check out some boxing betting action. There are two fights in Finland and Florida worth watching, which will pass the time.

David Stern must have set the NBA championship odds at the beginning of the season and laid money on them, because he’s doing his best to make sure that the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers are in the Finals, with the help of his officials, but it may be backfiring.

The Lakers odds to win their series with Denver are still good, but there have been alarming discrepancies for both teams in three of the five games thus far. Phil Jackson has earned a $25,000 fine for complaining after Game 4, but he got the upper hand in Game 3. George Karl has also complained, and the technical situation is out of hand. Denver’s Kenyon Martin has had three of the six Ts against him rescinded by the league.

But Cavs Magic betting players are being treated to one of the most inconsistent and quasi-blatant reffing exhibitions of all time. Look, I’m a big LeBron James fan, but dude is averaging 16 foul shots a game. SIXTEEN! At the end of Game 4, James forced a trip to the line by putting his head down and barging into Mickael Pietrus, praying to get the call. You don’t think he was going to get it? If you don’t , you also don’t think that Rachel Alexander has a Belmont Stakes betting chance in hell in a week. But the Magic are feeling it, too: Dwight Howard had a crap technical from Game 4 rescinded as well.

So basically, the Cavs aren’t out of it by a longshot, because they were getting shady calls on the road. In Cleveland, the Magic should just stayed lined up outside the lane, because that is where they’ll be all night. And the Lakers should be fine, with or without help. The NBA championship odds favorites aren’t done yet.

Evans Machida odds players are watching Denver battle with the Lakers and thinking, “I hope Machida can take down the champs like the Nuggets are”. The first two games of the Western Conference finals were supposed to be romps for the home team, but no one gave the Nuggets the memo, especially Carmelo Anthony.

Much has been made about the acquisition of Chauncey Billups, and it’s well deserved, but Anthony deserves some props as well. He somehow was missing from the All-Star team, and he had a little problem with coach George Karl when he was subbed out of a game, but the media made more a big deal about it than the team did. In the playoffs, ‘Melo has raised his game, putting up 28.6 points, 6.6 boards and 4.3 assists, and he’s even (gasp) playing hard on the defensive end of the floor. All of this improvement has boosted Denver’s NBA odds dramatically. 

Lakers Nuggets odds had Denver as a massive underdog in this series, but they’re now rated at +120 to pull off the upset after giving away a win in Game 1, and stealing a victory in Game 2.  Anthony has averaged 35.5 points in the first two games, and now he’s going home. ‘Melo knows that if his Nuggets beat Kobe Bryant’s Lakers, he’ll have to be considered one of the best players in the game, especially if he keeps up his play. Basketball betting players could be seeing the next step in the emergence of Carmelo Anthony.

Kobe Bryant will be checking out next week’s Champions League betting odds, as he is a big Barcelona fan and wanted to play for AC Milan while growing up in Italy. However, he took some time out form being a soccer fan to save his team from a shattering loss in Game 1 of their series with Denver.

Lakers Nuggets odds – Thursday, May 21, 9:00 PM ET

Bryant scored 18 of his 40 points to power the Lakers to a 105-103 victory, while no other Lakers had more than 13 points (Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher). The Lakers can’t win with Bryant jacking up 28 shots a game….or can they?

The Nuggets really should have won this game, as they had 11 more free-throw attempts than the Lakers (at the Staples Center, that’s impressive), but managed to go 23-of-35 from the line. Carmelo Anthony lit up the Lakers for 39 points, but free throws and a -9 deficit on the glass killed the Nuggets, who may have missed their best chance to win a game in Los Angeles, where they have beaten Denver nine of the last 10 games.

Lakers Nuggets odds are backing the Lakers by 5.5 points, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Nuggets come out after losing a seven-point deficit in the final 12 minutes of the game. They should keep feeding Anthony the ball as much as possible, as he’s too big for Kobe to guard, and well, then there is Trevor Ariza. J.R. Smith is usually a hot hand off the bench, but he was more wrapped in guarding Bryant, for obvious reasons. Defensively, you have to think the Lakers will step up their game on Thursday, and they could have been a little tired after being taken to seven games by the Rockets, while the Nuggets got a break after beating Dallas in five. Look for a much more balanced Los Angeles team. (Basketball betting pick: Lakers to cover)

The Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference series are something like Rafael Nadal’s French Open odds….it’s pretty much a lock. And while Roger Federer beat Nadal to end his win streak on clay, let’s be frank: the Nuggets are no Roger Federer.

Nuggets vs Lakers odds – Tuesday, May 19, 9:00 PM ET

The Nuggets steamrolled Dallas in five games, but their defense still leaves a lot to be desired. Before Chauncey Billups, they were terrible, now, they at least show a fleeting interest. They still won’t be mistaken for the Celtics or Spurs. 

The Lakers somehow were taken to seven games by Houston, which is a bit worrying because when the Lakers won, it was like they were toying with the Rockets. Must be nice to conserve energy throughout the playoffs. The Lakers need more from their bench to put this series away early.

Nuggets vs Lakers odds are favoring Los Angeles at -265 for the series, and they have a 6.5-point spread in Game 1 at the Staples Center, where they have beaten the Nuggets in nine of their last 10 meetings. The Nuggets’ defense is awful on the road, not something their fans want to hear heading into arguably the second-toughest arena in the league to play in. The Lakers will win the series, and kick off the matchup with a decisive basketball betting victory.

(Preakness Betting Odds pick – Rachel Alexandra is a massive favorite, and you’ll find out why on Saturday)

Okay, so Thursday’s NBA picks didn’t go as planned. Apparently both teams were waiting to get back home. Here is who is going to win on Sunday.

Rockets vs Lakers odds – Sunday, May 17, 3:30 PM ET

NBA odds have the Lakers as a 12.5-point favorite after a terrible performance in a 95-80 loss in Houston, and outside of Kobe Bryant, no one on the Lakers showed any emotion. The Rockets did well to even take this series to seven, but they’ll be in trouble in Los Angeles, where they were blown out by 40 in Game 5. (Basketball betting pick: Los Angeles to cover)

Magic vs Celtics odds – Sunday, May 17, 8:00 PM ET

The Magic are a 2.5-point underdog on the road after a heroic performance from Dwight Howard carried them to an 83-75 win in Game 6, as D-12 racked up 23 points and 22 boards after asking for more touches. The Celtics looked exhausted by the end of Game 6, and Ray Allen needs to snap out of his shooting slumber, but as usual, Paul Pierce will be the one hitting the clutch shots.  (Basketball betting pick: Boston to cover)

Preakness betting odds are out for this weekend’s big race, and a couple of proven thoroughbreds will advance to the conference finals in the NBA tonight. NBA odds has one Finalist from last year as an underdog on the road, while the other is favored away from home.

Celtics vs Magic odds (Magic -7) : 7:00 PM ET

After blowing a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter….IN BOSTON, no less….the Magic are done. This series should realistically be over by now, but the Magic don’t know how to put teams away yet, and Dwight Howard was right when he said that Orlando’s offense did the wrong thing and went away from him. They could get away with that against Philadelphia, but against the defending champions? Nope. Let’s see how Stan Van Gundy messes this up tonight. (Basketball betting pick: Boston)

Lakers vs Rockets odds (Lakers -9) : 9:30 PM ET

Now that’s the Lakers we know so well. After losing to a Yao-less Houston team in Game 4, you knew the Lakers would be fired up on their homecourt, and it turned into a Game 5 nightmare for the Rockets as they lost (putting it mildly) by 40 points. This game won’t be a rout, but if Andrew Bynum plays the way he did in Game 5, it’s a wrap for the Rockets. (Basketball betting pick: Lakers to win straight up, but not cover)