Handicapping a Championship Series with Elementary Symmetric Polynomials

On June 2, 1987, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics met in Los Angeles for the first game of the 1987 National Basketball Association championship series, with the Lakers heavily favored to win the series. The posted odds in advance in Nevada were 1 to 3 for the Lakers (a $3 dollar bet won $1 if the Lakers won the series) and 4 to 1 for the Celtics (a $3 bet won $12 if the Celtics won the series).