2010 World Cup betting will be decided on individual matchups as much as team matchups, and the same holds true in the NBA Finals, where the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers will meet for the 12th time. The Lakers will be going for only their third win over the Celtics in the Finals, and they're going to have to get the better of these matchups when the series starts on Thursday in Tinseltown.
Ray Allen vs Kobe Bryant
These two have a rivalry that dates back to Allen's days with the former Seattle Supersonics, and it resumed in the 2008 Finals when Bryant averaged 25.7 points on 40.5% shooting, while Allen was much more efficient with 20.3 points on 50.7% from the field. Bryant dropped 19 in his lone meeting against the Celtics, a 90-89 win in Boston, while Allen has averaged 15.5 points in two games against the Lakers. Allen isn't known as a defensive stopper, but he finds an extra level of intensity when he faces Bryant. If this were a 2010 World Cup contest, it would Brazil-Argentina: two technically-sound combatants that aren't big fans of one another.
Paul Pierce vs Ron Artest
Pierce averaged 21.8 points against the Lakers in 2008, but the Lakers didn't really have a defensive shutdown player as Bryant split time between Pierce and Allen. While Artest isn't the defensive player that he once was, he can still make you work for every point you score, every single inch of real estate that you're looking for on the court, and he tries to get into your head. This probably won't bother Pierce much, and he has his own agenda in this series as he grew up in Inglewood as a Lakers fan. The odds that a technical foul will be called one of these two at some point in the series are very, very high.
Kevin Garnett vs Pau Gasol
The Celtics' return to being an NBA Finals betting option coincided with a healthy Garnett, who looked like his knee was 100% during the first two rounds of the playoffs, but he wasn't that sharp against Orlando. That's a bad sign as Gasol has been having a brilliant postseason run, averaging 20.0 points on 56.5% shooting with 10.9 boards. Garnett won't be asked to contribute much offensively, although he can as Gasol isn't the strongest defender on the team, but most of his efforts will be to keep the likes of Gasol and Lamar Odom from getting to the boards. However, the Lakers need to get Gasol more touches as he had a high of just 13 shots in the 2008 Finals. Remember, the Lakers had just picked up Gasol in February, and he's far more comfortable on the team, while Garnett was fully healthy. The winner of this matchup will have a big say in his team's betting chances in this series.
