Sports wagering on game one of the 2009 NBA Finals begins tonight in Los Angeles at the Staples Center. Kobe Bryant and the Lakers are set to host Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic at 9:05 PM EST. Los Angeles returns to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year and 30th time in franchise history while the Magic head to the Finals for the second time in their history. SBG Global reports that early the NBA wagering action sees the public taking the Lakers at home as a 6-point favorite with a 206 over/under.

The matchup between the Magic and Lakers should be a good one as Orlando has the dominating presence of Howard while the Lakers have Kobe. The Lakers will try and control Howard with three big men, Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. He’s a unique kind of player," Pau Gasol said about Howard, "I don’t think there have been many players like him because of his physical gifts and attributes." Howard averaged 21.5 points, 16 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots in the two regular season games against the Lakers, both Orlando wins.

The Lakers main weakness is handling a point guard who is quick. Unless Jameer Nelson makes a surprise appearance, the Magic don’t have a guard that can give the Lakers trouble as Rafer Alston does not have the speed to cause Los Angeles trouble. On the other side, Orlando has no player that can stop Kobe. In the two regular season meetings, Kobe averaged 34.5 points per game.

Orlando lives and dies with three-point shooting and they could be in trouble against the Lakers who had the third-lowest opponents’ three-point field goal percentage in the regular season (34.5%), and the second-lowest in the postseason (31.3%).

Check out the NBA wagering odds stats for tonight’s game. The Magic are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games overall. The Magic are 19-7-1 ATS in their last 27 vs. the Pacific. The Magic are 17-7 ATS in their last 24 games as a road underdog. The Magic are 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings against the Lakers. The Lakers are 2-10 ATS in their last 12 vs. the Southeast. The Lakers are 1-10-1 ATS in their last 12 NBA Championship games. The Over is 4-0 in Orlando’s last 4 games as an underdog. The Over is 5-1 in Orlando’s last 6 overall. The Under is 5-0 in the Lakers last 5 games as a home favorite. The Under is 8-2 in the Lakers last 10 overall. The Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings in Los Angeles between the two teams.

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Game two of the Western Conference finals has arrived and yesterday during the off day, you would think the finals should have centered around how the Denver Nuggets almost upset the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 (a 105-103 Nuggets loss in which Denver covered at +7), but everyone seemed to be talking about was the Game 4 scheduling conflict at the Pepsi Center between the WWE and the Nuggets’ owner, Kroenke Sports. As it turns out, the Rasslers will head to the STAPLES Center in L.A., so take that Kroenke. Who double-books an arena anyways?

With the WWE-Nuggets battle settled, the focus can return to the battle between the Lakers and the Nuggets. Before Game 4 can even take place, Games 2 and 3 must be played. Game 2 takes place at the new site of Monday Night Raw, that would be the STAPLES Center. The line at Sportsbook.com has the Lakers a 5.5-point favorite with a 211-point over.

The Lakers are 9-4 straight up in the playoffs but haven’t been profitable for their backers, with only a 6-7 ATS mark. Worth noting is that Lakers have posted five straight unders in their last five post-season starts.

The Denver Nuggets have been hot in their last 20 games going 15-5 SU and 15-4-1 ATS and have been, pardon the pun, gold in the 2009 playoffs going 10-0-1 ATS. Facing the Lakers, Denver has struggled, Game 1 aside, as they are only 6-14 ATS the last 20 times they’ve played LA. Again, looking at the Under these two have stayed Under the number in nine of their last 11 meetings.

Although Denver was able to cover in its Game 1 road tilt against the Lakers, it failed to do so in the six road games previous against the purple and gold and in its last 20 games at the STAPLES Center is 5-15 ATS.

The battle between the Nuggets and the WWE is over, but the bigger battle goes tonight, as Denver tries to steal a road game from Kobe and crew. Sportsbook.com is reporting 61% of the betting action coming in on the home side Lakers for Game 2. It should be another great game.

The Los Angeles Lakers were thought to be a serious contender to win the NBA Championship this season. With their recent play against the Houston Rockets, not many people are thinking that way anymore. The undermanned Rockets have forced the Lakers into a Game 7 on Sunday, a situation that the Lakers should not be in. The Lakers are so inconsistent and unenthusiastic that no one can figure them out. SBG Global reports that early NBA wagering has the public taking the Lakers at home as a -12 1/2 favorite with a 195 total.

Sunday’s game should be another big win for the Lakers but with this team you never can tell. "For a team that wants to be champs, they are bouncing us around. It’s painful," The Lakers’ Sasha Vujacic said. "Like inside, outside, they were doing what we were supposed to do."

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In this series whichever team wins the first quarter wins the game. In Game 4 in Houston, the Lakers fell down by 17 points and said they would never let that happen again but in Game 6 on Thursday they fell behind 17-1. "Really tough to watch," said Jordan Farmar, "They did a good job, man. They started off with a lot of energy, being really aggressive and that’s how you have to be in these kinds of games. Up 3-2, down 3-2, you have to be aggressive. They just hit us in the mouth early. Once we were dazed, they kept throwing."

The Lakers head home now for a Game 7 they shouldn’t have to play. "Home court of course is big," Lamar Odom said. "And right now in this series, playing well in the first quarter is even bigger. You can’t give up (17-1) leads. Not on the road. It just can’t happen.”

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Here are the sports wagering odds stats for Sunday’s game. The Rockets are 6-1-1 ATS in their last 8 games playing on 2 days of rest. The Rockets are 1-5 ATS in the last 6 meetings in Los Angeles. The Lakers are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games playing on 2 days of rest. The Under is 8-2 in the Rockets last 10 overall. The Under is 5-2 in the Rockets last 7 playoff games as an underdog. The Under is 7-2 in the Lakers last 9 overall. The Under is 11-5 in the Lakers last 16 games as a home favorite.