LeBron James, MVP for the Second Straight Year

For the second consecutive year, LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers, was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the NBA betting , according to Monday's Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper.

With this nomination, James will become the tenth player in NBA odds history and the second youngest to receive the trophy "Maurice Podoloff" in two consecutive seasons. The NBA will announce the official results of the vote on Sunday.

The forward, 25, joins Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Moses Malone Chamberlain, Wilt, Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to win this prestigious award at least two years in series . Of these, only Bird, Chamberlain and Russell did not win the award three consecutive years. Abdul-Jabbar won the double in 1972, with a few months younger than LeBron.

James had averaged 29.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 8.6 assists per game.

The NBA commissioner, David Stern, expects to deliver the trophy to James formally before Monday's game when the Cavaliers face the Boston Celtics in their semifinal of the Western Conference playoffs.

The Cavaliers won 61 games this season and are favorites to win their first NBA title.

Kyle Busch Looks To Repeat At Richmond

Crew chiefs and drivers will have to re-engage the short track mindset for this Saturday’s race at Richmond International Raceway, the first night race of the betting online NASCAR season. A 75-Mile D-Shaped oval that demands communication between chief and driver, RIR is an excellent test for the patience and communication between teams.

On the issue of patience and communication between teams, or teammates in some cases, perhaps the biggest storyline outside of hockey betting heading in to this weekend’s Sprint Cup Series race will be the relationship between Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. The two were involved in an incident this past Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway that led to Gordon’s wrecking and subsequent 22nd place finish. Gordon was furious with Johnson after the race and told reporters that his patience with the 48-car was being tested. The four-time defending SCS champion responded by taking full accountability for the move that led to Gordon’s crash, noting that he was attempting to help his teammate out but miscalculated his timing. The 24-car has wrecked in consecutive races after placing in the top-five in two straight prior to that, and has been a lot more aggressive in recent weeks. That style of driving combined with this latest incident with Johnson could lead to fireworks when these two start their engines at a track known for tempers flaring, and player betting on boxing and not racing.

Contact is as inevitable as the NBA finals odds at RIR, something that comes naturally on a track that demands close driving and tons of rubbing, so it will be critical for drivers to maintain that balance of not being careless, but not being too careful either. Last year’s winners Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin did an excellent job of illustrating that, not only placing first but also each finishing in the top-three in laps led. Hamlin finished first, while Busch finished third. Who was the driver that split the two winners up in laps led? Jeff Gordon. Busch particularly has run well in Richmond, placing in the top-ten in all ten starts, and after closing the gap between him and Johnson for first spot in the standings to just 160 points with his third consecutive top-ten finish, the 18-car will be gunning for top spot once again.

In order to get there, Busch will have to leapfrog three other drivers, including Talladega Superspeedway winner Kevin Harvick. Harvick’s improbably slingshot move on the final turn at Talladega rocketed him past Jamie McMurray for his first win of the NASCAR season, and sixth top-ten finish in ten races to move in to second in the standings, only 26 points behind Johnson for the lead. In 18 races at Richmond, the RCR-driver does have one trip to victory lane, but a season ago placed 34th in May, and ninth in September with problems finding the rhythm of the track. Harvick will need to level out and solve this grinder once more to hold position in the standings as NASCAR battles for ratings with the Kentucky Derby Winners. Only 73 points separates him from Matt Kenseth in fourth place in the Sprint Cup Series, with Greg Biffle only 60 back.

Pick: Kyle Busch

NBA Basketball Betting – Miami-Boston Game 5 Preview

While the Kentucky derby odds will be the story as the week plays out, for now, it’s all NBA.

The Heat vs. Celtics odds are not exactly 50-50 at this point in time. A lot of NBA betting considerations have to be carefully weighed and measured before a single-game prediction can be made, but not in this particular series. It shouldn’t be hard to come up with the winner when Miami makes one more plane flight to the Northeast and takes on the Boston Celtics.

Eastern Conference First Round: Miami @ Boston, Game 5

Tuesday, April 27

If sports betting is a science, it’s not a very complex one heading into Game 5 of this Eastern Conference clash. The Miami Heat defied NBA playoff odds by avoiding a four-game sweep on Sunday afternoon in South Florida, but this is definitely not the type of team that appears ready to prolong this series even further. It would be a huge shock if coach Erik Spoelstra coaxed one more victory from his ballclub. The Heat’s next plane flight home should be followed by an immediate cleaning of their lockers, not a practice session in preparation for a potential Game 6 on Thursday.

If you think the Cleveland Cavaliers are a one-man act under LeBron James, Miami is even more of a single-person team. Dwyane Wade had to max out (and that’s really saying something) in order for the Heat to win Game 4 and avoid a Boston broom. Wade scored 30 points in the second half and 19 in the fourth quarter on Sunday. After the Celtics turned an 18-point deficit into a six-point lead entering the final period, Wade simply took over. The Marquette star banged in four treys in the last 12 minutes of regulation while adding five free throws en route to a franchise-record 46 points. No Miami player had ever scored as many points in a postseason game. The Heat needed almost every one of those points in order to prevail.

How dominant was Wade in Game 4? The best player on the floor – who will enter free agency on July 1 – proved to be so prolific from three-point range that the Celtics and coach Doc Rivers had to shift their defensive strategy. As soon as No. 3 crossed the midcourt line, the Celtics double-teamed Wade and forced him to give up the ball. Sure enough, Wade stopped scoring, and his painfully limited Miami teammates couldn’t put the ball in the bucket. The only problem with Boston’s maneuver was that it came too late. The Heat – thanks to their superstar – built a double-digit lead and held on to win thanks to three straight missed foul shots by Celtic guard Ray Allen, a 90-percent free throw shooter.

Yes, a lot of improbable events carried Miami to victory on its home floor. Now that the series is back in Boston, and now that Dwyane Wade might be double-teamed a lot more frequently, it’s hard to expect the Heat to string together consecutive victories. The 2006 Miami Heat had multiple weapons on the floor at all times. This 2010 version of the Heat is extremely thin and is waiting to be blown up in the coming offseason. That offseason should arrive Tuesday night at the end of Game 5.

Online basketball betting pick: Boston