Last night, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns kicked off the NBA's Western Conference finals in game 1 in Los Angeles. The end result was a 128 to 107 win for the Lakers. Star guard Kobe Bryant dominated the Suns defense, contributing 40 of the 128 pts the Lakers scored. Suns star guard Steve Nash on the contrary only chimed in 13 points and 13 assists. When participating in NBA betting, fans would have expected a high scoring affair from two of the league's top offenses, but at the same time would also be expecting a close matchup. Instead, viewers placing a bet online for the game saw one of the most dominant performances in NBA history, as the Lakers led from start to finish.

Aside from the second quarter in which the Suns were able to win the quarter 29 to 27, the Lakers were fierce as they reeled off an average of 33 points a quarter. Amar'e Stoudemire and Jason Richardson chimed in with 23 and 15 points respectively for the Suns in the losing effort while Paul Gasol and Lamar Odom each contributed with 21 and 19 points in the winning effort. If the Suns have any chance of winning in this series, they will need to get off to a much better start, as although they have come back the most times out of any team in the NBA this season, if last night is any indication it appears the comeback streak may be drying up. Further if the Suns expect to have any chance, they need the bench to step it up as they only contributed a lowly 35 points for the entire game.

The Chicago Bulls have made the move many anticipated would go through a long time ago, announcing that they would hold a press conference to announce the firing of head coach Vinny Del Negro on Tuesday. Sources out of Chicago have reported that General Manager Gar Forman will address the Bulls' coaching situation, in which he is sure to face several questions about his feelings with Del Negro, as it has been rumored for months that a deteriorating relationship between the two would eventually lead to Del Negro's demise. The former coach still has one year left on the guaranteed contract he signed with Chicago, which is worth approximately $2 million.

The Bulls finished 41-41 in the regular season, before being eliminated by the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games in the opening round of the playoffs. ESPN originally reported back in December that after this season, Chicago was expected to make a change in bench bosses. The move was finally made six betting days after they were eliminated.

It was revealed when the basketball betting series started that Del Negro had also clashed with Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson over the playing time of center Joakim Noah in March. At the time, Noah was recovering from a foot injury, and the dispute was over how many minutes the 25-year old would play. The argument reached its climax when Paxson shoved Del Negro, after the latter got too close during the heated debate.