jeff benton thursday
1-0 yesterday. winner on the Blue Jays for 10 dime profite. overall, 35-41-3 MINUS 35 dime profit.
Thursday's Winner
20 DIME: BOSTON CELTICS
Celtics
Yeah, I know there’s a pretty good chance we’re going to get “I’m-pissed-off-and-I’ve-got-something-to-prove” LeBron James tonight. But there’s also a pretty good chance that the King’s elbow injury is worse off than he’s letting on, and while I doubt we’ll see another 3-for-14 stinker like Game 5, I’m not willing to bet he’s going to throw up a 38-point, 14-rebound, 10-assist triple-double tonight.
No matter what LeBron shows up, there’s now no doubt the Celtics are the better team and they simply want it more. In fact, I could argue that this series should be over by now – remember, I had a big play on Boston in Game 1 and the Celtics blew a double-digit third-quarter lead and completely fell apart in the final 4½ minutes and lost 101-93. Had Boston won that game (and they outplayed the Cavs virtually the entire way), it would’ve won the series in five games.
As it is, all three of the Celtics’ victories have been complete annihilations: 104-86, 97-87 and 120-88. In those three wins, Boston has shot a combined 50.4 percent, held Cleveland to 40.5 percent and had a whopping rebounding edge of 131-96. And with the exception of Rajon Rondo’s incredible performance in Game 3 (29 points, 18 rebounds, 13 assists), it’s been a complete team effort for the Celtics, who had six players score in double figures in Games 2 and 5.
Boston now has the edge over Cleveland in the season series (5-4), and the Celtics have been very impressive in the postseason, going 7-3 SU and ATS, including 4-1 SU and ATS at home. And with the exception of a two-point win in Game 3 at Miami, Boston’s other playoff victories have been blowouts by margins of 9, 29, 10, 18, 10 and 32 points.
As for the notion that the Cavs are the right side because their season is on the line tonight, well, I could make the exact same argument about Boston. No, they won’t be eliminated if they lose tonight, but do you think the Celtics want to tempt fate and try to win a THIRD time on Cleveland’s home court? Hell no. So this is very much a “must win” for Boston, too, and the Celts will play like that.
Finally, I saw something in the Cavaliers on Tuesday night that was very disturbing. I saw a team that gave up, and a superstar show absolutely zero emotion on the court, on the bench or in the postgame press conference. It’s almost as if LeBron knows he can’t beat the Celtics with the supporting cast he has and he’s just awaiting the inevitable (and his teammates, as always, are following their lead).
And when you get right down to it, this comes down to one thing: Whose killer instinct do you trust more, the experienced Celtics, with veterans like Pierce, Allen, Garnett and Rondo, or the inconsistent Cavaliers, who often show no heart? I trust Boston. And by the way, get this: The Celtics are 32-1 all-time in series in which they have a 3-2 lead, while Cleveland is 0-5 all-time when down 3-2. Pretty startling stats right there
