Most of us remember the days of the past- Bird against Magic.

The Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics will resume the most famous rivalry in professional basketball this Thursday night. The two teams met in the NBA Finals seven times in the 1960s and three times in the 1980s, leaving an indelible mark on the game.

So to American sports commentators and fans, who are sentimentalists at heart, this year’s Final looks like a blast from the past.

It’s long been known that these teams have a great rivalry which makes these playoffs all the more exciting. This is the first big repeat face-off in the last 21 years.

What’s your bet on the NBA finals this year? As for me I’m California dreamin’.

Boston fans, take heart. Kevin Garnett won’t be named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player this year. But he’ll take home a more significant piece of hardware: the NBA Finals Award.

It’s within the realm of possibility that the Boston Celtics won’t win the NBA title. Their football brethren honked the Super Bowl after going 18-0, and there are sharks in the Western Conference waters. But at 5-4 odds (down from 3-2 at the start of the playoffs), the Celtics have a stranglehold on the championship futures market.

Garnett is Boston’s main man, respected in the press and the player most likely to get the Finals MVP vote. His main competition will come from his own teammates: Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. However, Boston’s scoring load has been evenly distributed all season, especially in the first round versus the Atlanta Hawks. If it stays that way, the Big Ticket won’t have to worry about split votes.

The end of Tuesday’s NBA action saw the usual suspects on the playoff bubble. No. 8 Golden State was a half-game up on No. 9 Denver in the Western Conference, while Atlanta held the same slim margin over New Jersey in the East.

For the Warriors, the writing may be on the wall now that Chris Webber is retiring. But the West is still anyone’s to win or lose; Denver is only six games out of first place. If Golden State doesn’t fall out of the top eight, maybe Dallas will.

The East is just a mess. Four teams have a reasonable shot at the No. 8 seed, and all four of them don’t deserve it. Atlanta has the best record of the bunch at 30-40, although Chicago just beat the Hawks on Tuesday night to stay in the hunt. The Bulls are 60-1 to win the East. Atlanta is 80-1.

After Wednesday’s 90-78 victory by the Boston Celtics (-4) over the visiting Detroit Pistons, commentators pointed to Detroit’s lack of motivation. In fairness, the Pistons did play the night before at the Palace against the Sonics, while the C’s had enjoyed a couple days off. But is Detroit really resting on its laurels?

Gauging a team’s emotional state isn’t just for nuanced handicappers – it’s a vital piece of the betting puzzle, particularly in a more creative sport like NBA basketball. All those worn-out sports clichés like “You gotta want it more” are worn-out for a reason: They’re true.

Detroit’s questionable hunger level is one of the key reasons the 2003-04 champions are 13-2 to win another title, while Boston is a co-favorite with the Lakers at 5-2. The big question is, can and will the Pistons decide to want it more? They have betting value if you think this year’s model has that extra gear.

We presumably bet on sports because we love sports. But it’s not always easy. There were some tough moments in 2007, as the following list of the year’s Top 10 stories will testify.

1. Barry Bonds hits home run No. 756; a nation shrugs and braces itself for the Mitchell Report.
2. Michael Vick sentenced to jail on dogfighting charges.
3. NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleads guilty to two charges in betting scandal.
4. Sean Taylor’s murder just one of far too many untimely deaths.
5. Marion Jones admits to steroid use, forfeits Sydney Olympic medals.
6. New England Patriots compile first undefeated regular season since ’72 Dolphins.
7. Rape charges against Duke lacrosse team dropped.
8. Alex Rodriguez wins AL MVP, skirts Scott Boras to re-sign with Yankees.
9. Boise State uses Statue of Liberty, other trickery to upset Oklahoma at the Fiesta Bowl.
10. Florida Gators sweep college football, basketball championships.

Even though the NBA season has started up again it doesn’t mean that all you basketball action junkies and betting afficionados can’t look elsewhere for some added action. Ever thought of betting on the WNBA? An increasing number of people are looking towards the WNBA to fill in any betting and action gaps they may be experiencing. Better yet, many bettors are finding that the WNBA is a profitable place to play.
Gerry Umana from Bodoglife says that his company has seen both the handle and the number of bets on the WNBA grow by 60 percent per year on average since 2003. They’re expecting it to go up another 60-75 percent this year. The increased TV coverage that the WNBA is getting, player’s presence and participation at the NBA All-Star weekend and the added attention that some of the players are getting in the media are all pointed to by Umana as factors contributing to the growth.

One of the reasons that bettors stick with the WNBA once they’ve tried it is the consistency. Five of the seven series in the 2005 playoffs were one by higher ranked teams in a sweep. There are teams that are consistently good (Connecticut Sun) and others that are consistently bad and when it comes to consistency it’s nothing for bettors to complain about.

Between the Tim Donaghy scandal and the Joey Crawford suspension, the betting public has been exposed to the sadder side of NBA officiating. ESPN’s Ric Bucher cited “as many as nine” veteran referees this past August who were unhappy with their jobs and the way the league is treating them. “With every whistle, guys think, ‘Will the tape justify the call?’” said one official.

The anticipated response from the zebras is one of zero tolerance around the rim, something the head office has advocated for several years. We may also see a rise in borderline flagrant fouls as the refs err on the side of caution. This march to the free-throw line would lead to higher scores (think Dwyane Wade) while further disrupting the flow of the game.

Ironically, Donaghy was believed to have increased his whistle-blowing in order to drive the “over” to the pay window. Now everyone will be able to profit at the charity stripe.

“It’s been humbling.”

That’s how Michael Jordan described his experience as a rookie – playing baseball. Jordan went from being the best player in the NBA to a struggling right-fielder with the Birmingham Barons of the Southern League, a Class-AA affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. “For the last nine years,” Jordan told the New York Times in 1994, “I lived in a situation where I had the world at my feet. Now I’m just another minor leaguer in the clubhouse here trying to make it to the major leagues.”

He never made it – and neither will the vast majority of the prospects and suspects down on the farm. This is baseball’s underclass, a group that we rarely pay attention to unless a Jordan comes along, or a name veteran is making a rehab appearance. If you’ve ever thought to yourself how great it would be to get a taste of being a pro baseball player, even in the minors, think again. You’d better be on your way to the bigs, or it gets old fast. Imagine the 1987 movie Bull Durham, but with nearly all the scenes taking place on the bus. Now watch that movie several times a day.

The Durham Bulls have parlayed their exposure from that box-office smash into a successful business, moving up from A-level ball to become the AAA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998. Most minor league teams aren’t so upwardly mobile, and there are around 250 of them in North America, many of them playing in front of fewer than 1,000 fans per game.

Millionaire major-league players are coached to tell the media that they’d play the game for free. Try saying that when you’re making $850 a month, and only during the season. That’s the maximum rookie salary in the minors, with a $20 per diem on the road, ostensibly for meals. Reaching AAA status will net you a minimum of $2,150 a month, and if you’re a member of the small handful of independents like the Northern League, you can make more. Maybe even enough to feed a family.

It’s enough to make you want to rejoin the Chicago Bulls and win three more championships, isn’t it?

I think I may have talked myself into believing in the King James Version of the NBA Finals.

In this telling of the story, LeBron James slices and dices his way through San Antonio’s defense, just like he did during the regular season, when the Cavs won both their games against the Spurs. It’s an easy story for a basketball fan to fall in love with. James’ star is ascending, San Antonio’s dirty style of play is growing tiresome, and most importantly for our purposes, the Cavs are +325 underdogs to beat the Spurs and win their first-ever NBA title. (Check for your NBA odds here. )

But in comes the Greek chorus, reminding us about the inconvenient truth of the situation. The Spurs are a proven commodity, having won the championship three times since Tim Duncan turned pro. James is no saint himself; he’s become expert at the slight, almost imperceptible tug of the uniform from behind as his opponent drives the lane. And the Cavs are sizeable underdogs because James doesn’t have nearly the same level of talent surrounding him that Duncan enjoys.

I wouldn’t hesitate to bet on the Cavs at this point, given the potential payoff. But to pick them straight up to win the title? The immediate reaction is to recoil. Until you look at Daniel Gibson. Then you fall in love all over again.

Gibson was a highly regarded freshman with the Texas Longhorns in 2004-05, but his numbers stagnated in his sophomore year, even as he cut down on his turnover rate. That, and his 6-foot-2 frame, caused enough scouts to peg Gibson as a tweener, and he slipped into the second round of the draft. But what he lacks in raw athleticism, Gibson makes up for in poise, determination (he insisted on playing for Cleveland alongside James) and a devastating 3-point shot.

I believe in the Gibson who rose up and helped the Cavs eliminate the Detroit Pistons. I believe he will do it again in the Finals. (And…you’re welcome!)

Usually, I give Bill Walton the benefit of the doubt. But his defense of Bruce Bowen mystified me.

During Game 3 of the series between the San Antonio Spurs and the Phoenix Suns, Walton chided Amare Stoudemire for calling Bowen and the Spurs “dirty.” It wasn’t just the bulletin-board material that Stoudemire unwisely provided the Spurs – Walton claimed the statement itself was false.

Then Bowen kneed Steve Nash in the groin.

I hate to say it, but the bad blood between the Spurs and Suns has been the highlight of the second round. Sure, the Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors have provided plenty of drama (and questionable behavior) on the Left Coast, but they don’t have the same talent level. And the two series in the East are about as fun as getting punched in the kidney.

Or are they? Forget about the awful Cavs-Nets debacle; the Detroit Pistons have dominated the Chicago Bulls so badly, I think it’s made people change the channel rather than enjoy the carnage. Hard to imagine overlooking the Pistons with Chris Webber in the middle. It’s a travesty to all concerned to call this series a referendum on Ben Wallace, but the way things are going right now, Joe Dumars is yet again smelling like a rose. If you had the Pistons a couple of weeks ago at 5-1 to win the NBA title, you must be feeling pretty good, too. Those odds had shrunk to 9-5 by press time.

Let’s say, hypothetically of course, that the Spurs beat the Suns and advance to the Western final against Utah. That will make it three very physical series in a row for San Antonio, with Denver’s interior defense doing a number on Tim Duncan in Round 1. Theoretically, the Pistons would come out of the East like vultures, picking away at whatever is left of the Spurs. Three titles in a row for the East? That would blow even Bill Walton’s mind.

Betting on the NBA playoffs? This site’s got some great NBA player props and NBA team props.