We finally know who will play in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals – although we suspected this matchup for quite some time. It’ll be the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons, following Boston’s Game 7 win on Sunday over the pesky Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland finished that series 6-1 against the spread.

Chauncey Billups is expected to start against the Celtics in Tuesday’s opener at the Garden. Detroit will have enjoyed a six-day break, while the C’s have been extended to Game 7 in both the first two rounds. The grind of playing a defensively tight series against the Cavs has to be taken into consideration.

The Los Angeles Lakers are counting on the same fatigue factor when they host the winner of Monday’s Game 7 between the New Orleans Hornets and the visiting San Antonio Spurs. The Hornets and Spurs have each won on their own floor, but unlike the Cavs-Celtics, the home team has yet to cough up the cash.

Bet on the NBA Western Conference Finals and NBA Championship here.

If the Boston Celtics want to win the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series against the Cleveland Cavaliers they have to win game six in Cleveland. The thing is, the Celtics haven’t won a game in Cleveland since 2004. Let’s hope they can replicate Wednesday’s game, where the Celtics beat the Cavs 96-89. In that game, Kevin Garnett scored 26 points; Rajon Rondo picked up 20 points and 13 assists; and Paul Pierce scored a team-high 29 points.

“We’ve got some work cut out for us as we go out here on this road and try to close this out, which is the most important thing for us right now,” Pierce said.

“The second quarter - we had a lot more energy,” said Garnett, who led all players with 16 rebounds. “Offensively, Rondo hit some big shots, got us going, got us in the flow, and we carried it over to the third quarter.”

The sportsbooks have the Celtics at 5/8 odds to win the Eastern Conference Championship, and 7/4 odds to win the NBA Championship title.

Maybe they will actually start foiling up. The Western Conference final between the Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars hit the fan Saturday night when Chris Osgood butt-ended Mike Ribeiro, who responded with a wicked two-hander across the chest. Neither man will be suspended for Monday night’s Game 3. Detroit goes into Big D as a road favorite with a 2-0 series lead, outscoring the Stars 6-2.

The Eastern Conference is unfolding in similar fashion. The Pittsburgh Penguins won the first two games of their series against the Philadelphia Flyers, both games ending 4-2. The Flyers are already missing defenseman Kimmo Timonen, and they lost another blueliner Sunday when Braydon Coburn was hit in the face with a puck at the start of Game 2. Coburn’s status for Tuesday’s Game 3 was unknown at press time. The Flyers have won nine of their last 10 games at home; the last nine times they’ve faced the Penguins, the home team won.

The Detroit Pistons will look to build on a 2-0 lead vs. the Orlando Magic in Game 3 tonight (at 8 ET on TNT). The Pistons took the last game at home and although critics are saying that the Magic have to play a perfect game tonight to win, the Pistons aren’t quick to write this team off yet.

“When they are making shots on the perimeter, they are tough to stop,” Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince said. “We got to start manning up and put more pressure on those guys and make them get off that (3-point line).”

The Pistons have made five straight appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals. And for the second consecutive season, the Magic are staring up at a 2-0 series deficit against the Pistons.

Still, oddsmakers like the Magic as 4-point favorites over the Pistons with the over/under listed at 187. The Magic are 3-0 SU at home in the playoffs and 3-4 ATS.

The Utah Jazz at Los Angeles Lakers game follows the Pistons at Magic game at 10:30 p.m.

Want more? Here’s the complete NBA playoffs schedule.

The biggest surprise of this year’s baseball season is the Oakland Athletics. Theses guys have continued to turn their heads to everyone who’s expecting them to do horrible this season. Currently, the team is tied with the Angles for the best record in the American League and has no signs of fading.

Because of their success thus far the A’s ran a promotion for the fans to increase attendance to the home games:

One dollar would be shaved off plaza level ticket prices to Sunday’s game for every hit the A’s collected Thursday.

The 2,500 plaza level tickets available as of Thursday were going for $24. Factor in the A’s 20 hits, and those seats are going for the bargain price of $4. The 20 hits were the most for the A’s since they banged out 24 on June 26, 2005 against the Giants.

Even with this loss of revenue for the team, their lack of money has never stopped them from winning in the past. One thing they will gain from this is the support that they need to keep this streak going. This year I’m rooting for the underdog and that underdog is now the dog on top!

Shaquille O’Neal’s star is on the wane. The Big Cactus is 35 years old and coming off his worst season since joining the league in 1992. His arrival in Phoenix wasn’t enough to get the Suns past their archrivals from San Antonio. Maybe Shaq should pack it in.

Except, why would he? O’Neal may be ancient in NBA terms, but he’s still a better than average center. His 17.17 Player Efficiency Rating was right up there with Tyson Chandler (17.56 PER). O’Neal’s production should drop a fair amount next year at age 36, but David Robinson was still good for 14.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game at that age.

O’Neal also has the chance to win a title with the Suns, presumably with a new coach who can sympathize with Steve Kerr’s makeover. And there are 40 million other reasons to stay that Shaq has coming over the next two years.

Before the Big Brown Experience took over the Triple Crown trail, Pyro was the favorite to win this Saturday’s Kentucky Derby: 5-1 at the end of Pool 1 wagering and 4-1 for Pool 2. Now you can get Pyro at the blue-light special price of 7-1 to win the Run for the Roses.

The competition for Pyro isn’t limited to Big Brown, though. Colonel John has impressed horseplayers with two wins in two starts as a 3-year-old, including the Grade I Santa Anita Derby. That was good enough to push Colonel John into a tie with Big Brown at 4-1 for Saturday’s race. However, no horse since Sunday Silence in 1989 has completed this Derby double. Even Point Given couldn’t get it done in 2001.

Pyro fell from the top spot after finishing 10th at the Grade I Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, but the polytrack surface at Keeneland may simply not have been to his liking.

You may have seen the word “value” used once or twice in this space. We’re always looking for the hidden gems to support – or the overhyped favorites to fade. But in the end, if you want to win a bet, you have to bet on the winner.

Athletes like Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and the retired Michael Schumacher have enjoyed dominant seasons in their respective sports. During these seasons, there’s nothing to do for handicappers but lay down some cash and eat the rare mouthful of chalk.

Big Brown is next on that special list. At 5-2 odds, hordes of people are betting on the bay to win the Kentucky Derby. His closest rivals are Colonel John at 9-2 and the former favorite Pyro at 7-1. Big Brown has steamed so far ahead of the pack that the odds on a Triple Crown winner have dropped to +475. The last one was Affirmed in 1978. Now that’s steam.

One game into the 2008 NBA Playoffs, and nothing’s changed – the No. 1 seeds in both conferences are heading toward a long-awaited Finals reunion.

The Los Angeles Lakers pulled away in the second half of Sunday’s series opener with the Denver Nuggets, cruising 128-114 as 8.5-point home faves. It was quite the day’s work from Pau Gasol: 36 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists and three blocks. Gasol played a complete game that bodes well for his potential playoff chemistry with Andrew Bynum.

It might take a Gasol-Bynum combo to derail the Boston Celtics in the Finals. This is a scary good team, as fans at the Garden witnessed in Sunday night’s 104-81 plucking of the Atlanta Hawks (+15). Other than Al Horford dropping 20 points and 10 rebounds, Atlanta had almost nothing for the Celtics. This series should only get worse as the deep Boston lineup grinds down the Hawks starting rotation.

So much for chalk. After Sunday’s action, these were the six MLB division leaders, with their won-loss records:

AL East: Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles (7-5)
AL Central: Chicago White Sox (7-4)
AL West: Oakland Athletics (8-5)
NL East: Florida Marlins (7-5)
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals (9-4)
NL West: Arizona Diamondbacks (9-3)

Just like we predicted, right? Never mind that the Orioles were 50-1 at press time to win their division. How about the Sox (6-1), the Cards (13-2), the A’s (9-1) and the Marlins (25-1)? The only division favorite on the good foot right now is Arizona at 5-4 odds.

If you leave out the Blue Jays (0.9 units in the black at press time), these are the six most profitable teams in the majors, raking in well over 20 units in profit for anyone brave enough to bet on this dubious assortment. Just beware of the small sample size before breaking open your piggy bank.