Heat, Celtics Tip Off 2012-13 NBA Season on TNT

Boston Celtics at Miami Heat
NBA Betting Preview
Date: 10/30/2012 at 8:05 p.m. (ET)
Opening Lines: Miami -7, O/U 184
(click for latest NBA odds)
Television: TNT

Miami Heat: The defending NBA champs beat Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals last year after trailing the best-of-seven series 3-2. The "over" went 5-1 in the final six games of that series. The Heat remain mostly intact and are the NBA title favorite again along with the Lakers. There are starting lineup changes with Chris Bosh moving to center and Shane Battier as a "stretch four." They also acquired Boston’s Ray Allen via free agency, and he is expected to play big minutes off the bench.

Boston Celtics: The Celtics would love to spoil Miami’s banner-raising night, plus get payback for stealing Allen. Boston coach Doc Rivers still has two aging veterans in Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, with Garnett now a full-time center. Courtney Lee has replaced Allen at shooting guard and will pair with Rajon Rondo in the backcourt. This is a 10-deep team that has tremendous scoring potential off the bench with Jeff Green and the newly-acquired Jason Terry expected to contribute solid minutes.

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Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Lakers
NBA Betting Preview
Date: 10/30/2012 at 10:35 p.m. (ET)
Opening Lines: Lakers -8 ½, O/U 187 ½
(click for latest NBA odds)
Television: TNT

LA Lakers: Things are rarely quiet in Tinseltown and certainly not this offseason with the acquisition of point guard Steve Nash and center Dwight Howard. The Lakers went 0-8 straight-up in the preseason with Howard (back) playing just the last two games. He could be rusty to start the season, and there’s a good chance that Kobe Bryant (questionable, foot - click for updated NBA injuries) misses this contest. The Lakers won all four meetings against Dallas last year, going 3-1 against the spread.

Dallas Mavericks: Dallas looks almost nothing like the team that won the NBA title two years ago. There are major injury problems with Dirk Nowitzki (knee) out indefinitely. New big man Chris Kaman (calf) is listed as questionable, but that seems optimistic. Eddy Curry could be the starting center after just being signed, and the entirely new backcourt of Darren Collison and O.J. Mayo will be counted on for scoring immediately.

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