The NBA Playoffs have provided some extremely exciting games during the 2009 playoffs in what has become one of the best postseasons in recent memory. The Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics battled in perhaps one of the best opening round series of all-time. The Orlando Magic conquered Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers who were big favorites to win the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile out West, some familiar faces have taken down the Conference in the Los Angeles Lakers. Now we are down to only two remaining teams as Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic will battle Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in a best of 7 series for an NBA Title. The stakes are not only high on the court, but also high in the sports betting world. All major sports books are providing various types of props and ways to bet on the 2009 NBA Finals are we will break down some interest bets to consider before Game 1 takes place this Thursday night. We take the opportunity to make some money off these interesting odds and betting lines provided by Betus.com.

NBA Finals Prop Bet #1

Who will be the 2009 Finals MVP?

Kobe Bryant -300
Dwight Howard +275
Pau Gasol +600
Rashard Lewis +850
Hedo Turkoglu +1200
Lamar Odom +2500

Predicting this year’s Finals MVP will not be an extremely difficult task. In fact, it would be pretty safe to say that this is a two horse race. Kobe Bryant will definitely be the most lethal scoring threat on the floor. Bryant who is arguably the best pure shooter in the NBA will be the leading favorite to take home the Finals MPV honors this season. Bryant has been knocking down 30 points per game during the playoffs while shooting 47% from the field. Bryant has high probability to average 30 points during the Finals which make him rightfully the leading candidate for MVP. However, Dwight Howard has already dethroned one King during the playoffs and he could play spoiler to Bryant’s MVP opportunities as well. Howard has dominated the inside game averaging 15.4 rebounds per game and posting 22 points per game during the playoffs. Howard has also knocked down 62% of his shots from the field that leads the 2009 post-season. The Magic’s big man has been very impressive during the last few games and his ability to not only score points, but dominate the glass give him an extra category to help him pull off the MVP upset. Considering the betting odds are so heavily favoring Bryant, we will place some extra cash with Howard and hope for the very profitable payoff.

Pick – Howard +275

NBA Finals Prop Bet #2

Series Total Games – 5 ½ Over -220, Under +175

The 2009 playoffs have been filled with back and forth series and we believe the stage is setting up to be another similar scenario in the Finals. The Orlando Magic have a strong inside game lead by Dwight Howard aided by some outside shooting the looks pretty dangerous at times by Rashard Lewis and an emerging Mickael Pietrus. The Lakers not only have one of the most dangerous shooters in the NBA, but a cast of outside shooters that can get hot on any given night. These two teams are going to find ways to give each other troubles and there is not much of a chance that this will be 4-5 game series. Throw in the fact of how wild everything has played out thus far in the post-season and you can rest assure there are a lot of fireworks left to be displayed. Simple fact is here, that the home court will be huge to each team as it normally is during the playoffs. The Lakers are sure to benefit from the first two being at home, but Orlando should be able to hold their own ground as well. There are those that believe that the Lakers high scoring offense may be too fast paced for Orlando. While that may be true in some ways, the Magic have been able to score more points lately as well. Orlando simply is too good to be shut out or dominated in this series and we don’t believe there is much of a chance for the series to be held under 6 games.

Pick – Over -220

NBA Finals Prop Bet #3

Who will win the first game and win series?

Magic to win game and win series +550
Magic to win game and lose series +500
Lakers to win game and win series -190
Lakers to lose game and win series +500

This particular prop bet is one that should open a lot of eyes. There are so many ways that could make a big payout if just the Lakers lose Game 1 or lose the series. However, that will be difficult considering Game 1 is inside the Staples Center and the Lakers seem to be the rather sizeable favorites for the Championship. However, people are quick to forget that the Magic were 2-0 against the Lakers during the regular season which included a victory on the Lakers home court. The odds are for going against the Lakers in this situation are just very inviting especially considering how well Orlando has played over the last few weeks. Going back to the previous article where we predicted a back and forth series, that would also play favorable to this prop bet. If Orlando is to come out and stun the Lakers in Game 1, either way the series ends is +500 or better odds. The difficult part of this bet is deciding which outside chance bet to take. However, the Magic winning Game 1 before Kobe and company get hot is just too profitable to not take a gamble towards making some extra cash.

Pick – Magic win game and lose series +500

This will be the first edition of a set of weekly articles that will come out just before every weekend breaking down the best proposition bets for the weekend. Basically, we will break down some of the most interesting and intriguing prop bets heading into the weekend for you to consider placing bets on to earn some cash on your days off work. We will be reviewing and studying every sport to give the best prop bet at the right time for your money while also trying to include the always popular prop bets as well. Take a look at these Top 3 Prop Bets for you to consider heading into the weekend..

Bet #1 – PGA Golf (The Masters)
Head to Head – Paul Casey (-130) vs. Sergio Garcia (Even) (Thursday)
The PGA Tour will make a stop in Augusta, Georgia this weekend to tee off for the first Major Tournament of the 2009 campaign. The Masters has been one of the most beautiful and exciting golf spectacles for many years now providing some great action for the PGA Tour’s first big event. Bodog Sportsbook has many great betting actions on the event from head to head matchups, opening round group odds, and more. We found a very interesting match-up between Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia. Garcia made the news earlier this season as he closed in on Tiger Woods number 1 ranking while Woods was still recovering from knee surgery. However, Garcia has been playing anything but strong over the past few weeks heading into the Masters. Garcia has played in 4 events and has not been in the top 10 once including a 77th finish in the Shell Houston Open last week. Casey on the other hand won the Shell Houston Open making it his first victory in the United States and jumped from 12th to 6th in the world rankings. Garcia has never been consistent at Augusta National and we expect some more of the same type performance this weekend. While Casey will be riding a wave of confidence and we expect him to play well. Consider placing an above average type bet on Casey. Pick – Casey -130

Bet #2 NBA (Denver at Los Angeles) (Thursday)
The Los Angeles Lakers host the Denver Nuggets late Thursday night at home in a showdown of front runners in the Western Conference. The Lakers are winners of 4 straight games and own a 2-1 record against the Nuggets so far this season. However, Denver is playing better than any team in the league perhaps winning 12 of their last 13 games and 7 straight. In the previous meetings these games have stayed unpredictably low in scoring despite both teams tendency to have high scoring averages. While nearly all indications point to the Lakers having a big night considering they are playing at home where they are 33-5 this season and Andrew Bynum will possibly return to the lineup. However, we are going to take Denver in this game considering how well they have been shooting the ball to be the spoiler this Thursday. J.R Smith and Carmelo Anthony have led the team in scoring every game since the middle of March. Both standouts are averaging right at 20 points per game over the winning streak. Even though Kobe Bryant has been stellar against the Nuggets this season, we expect Denver to have a similar outcomes as they did back in the previous meeting back in February when they got the victory 90-79 except this time there will be more points scored. Pick – Denver

Bet #3 – Kentucky Derby (May 2nd)
Whether you are a fan of horse racing or not, one thing is for sure that when you hear the Kentucky Derby you know it means something special. While most bettors tend to shy away from Horse Racing bets because they simply may not keep up with the sport, betting on a horse race may be the most profitable sport to bet on considering you always get great odds. The 2009 run for the roses is being hyped to be a very exciting spectacle mainly because there are so many great horses with legitimate shots to win this year. One of the horses to have your eye on is “I Want Revenge.” This California bred horse is a proven runner who captured a win just a few weeks back at the Gotham at Aqueduct. I Want Revenge is being posted as a 7/2 favorite to win the entire event this weekend. The horse is quickly emerging as the leading favorite to be covered in the blanket of roses after the most famous dash in horse racing on May 2nd. However, go ahead and get the odds while they are still reasonable and if you do not feel comfortable picking I Want Revenge as a winner be sure to place the horse for a bet to be a top 3 finisher. Pick – “I Want Revenge” (7/2)