Rockets, Blazers battle to see who gets Lakers
Rockets, Blazers battle to see who gets Lakers
The season is about to end for either the Houston Rockets or Portland Trail Blazers as the two teams prepare to face off in the 4-5 box of the NBA's Western Conference Playoffs. The consensus is the winner of this series will merely serve as warm-up fodder for the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round. Brandon Roy and Portland welcome Yao Ming and Houston to the Rose Garden for Game 1 on Saturday.
It’s time to bid a fond farewell to the 2008-09 NBA regular season. We’ll miss the multiple betting opportunities provided by 30 teams over an 82-game campaign. But if you’re a true basketball fan, the playoffs are what it’s really all about. The quality of basketball we’re exposed to is about to increase tenfold. And with the betting public swarming over the marketplace like ants on a picnic, the betting odds are as vulnerable as ever.
The best value is arguably in the two conference matchups between the No. 4 seed and the No. 5 seed. There’s often very little real difference in talent from one team to another. That’s definitely the case in the Western Conference this year; the East might be another matter.
No. 4 Portland Trail Blazers (-140) vs. No. 5 Houston Rockets (+120)
Game 1: Saturday, Apr 18, 10:30 p.m. (ET) in Portland (ESPN)
The 4-5 battle out West looks a lot tighter. Only one game separates the combatants in the final standings, and each team went 20-21 on the road this year. It’s also a compelling clash of styles between the No. 2 offensive team in the NBA, the Trail Blazers (54-28 SU, 45-36 ATS), and the No. 4 defensive team, the Rockets (53-29 SU, 40-41-1 ATS). The main storyline difference is that Portland is a young team making its first playoff appearance since 2003, while Houston was eliminated in the first round four of the last five years.
At least they won’t have Tracy McGrady to kick around. McGrady, who famously has never made it into the second round of the playoffs, had microfracture surgery on his left knee in February and might not even make it out of the chute for 2009-2010. Houston has slipped offensively without McGrady’s 16.6 points per 36 minutes, but that happens to be T-Mac’s lowest output since becoming a starter in 2000, and the Rockets have filled some of the hole on offense by promoting Aaron Brooks (16.1 points per 36) to starting point guard. The Houston bench has been deep enough to keep the team in the foreground of the playoff picture.
Portland also has an impressive crop of reserves, as the Blazers have been steadily accumulating talent in the three years since GM Kevin Pritchard joined the front office, first as an assistant under president Steve Patterson. This is a team with two legitimate sixth men, Travis Outlaw (15.0 PER) and Rudy Fernandez (15.2 PER). Portland also possesses the tremendous upside of Greg Oden (18.1 PER), who combines with Joel Przybilla (15.4 PER) to give the Blazers a pair of viable options against Yao Ming (22.7 PER). But Houston remains 2-1 SU and 1-2 ATS against the Blazers this year, with Portland’s lone win coming in overtime back in November.
No. 4 Atlanta Hawks (-145) vs. No. 5 Miami Heat (+125)
Game 1: Sunday, April 19, 8:00 p.m. (ET) in Atlanta (TNT)
As wonderful as Dwyane Wade (30.3 PER) has played this season, the Miami Heat (43-39 SU, 40-40-2 ATS) are not getting a lot of buzz in this matchup. There is a cavernous drop in talent between Wade (plus-18.1 Roland Rating) and Jermaine O’Neal (plus-0.7), the only other positive contributor on the team from a plus-minus perspective. On the other hand, Atlanta (47-35 SU, 43-38-1 ATS) features a fully capable starting five, and a bench that’s stronger than Miami’s even with Josh Childress defecting to Europe.
The Hawks have already taken three of four games from Miami this year at 2-2 ATS. The most recent result, however, has to be thrown out when handicapping this matchup. These clubs met on Tuesday in Game No. 81 with nothing at stake and emptied their benches accordingly. Atlanta won 81-79 as a 9.5-point home fave; the Hawks wound up finishing the season in a financial slump at 5-6 SU and 3-8 ATS, while Miami enjoyed a profitable April at 4-4 SU and 6-2 ATS.
Atlanta’s efficiency numbers as a team are stronger than Miami’s on both ends of the court. The Hawks rank a consistent No. 10 out of the 30 NBA teams on both offense and defense; the Heat are competitive defensively at No. 13, but even with Wade’s heroics (28.2 points per 36 minutes), Miami was No. 19 in the league in offensive efficiency, scoring 105.1 points per 100 possessions to 106.7 for the Hawks.
The season is about to end for either the Houston Rockets or Portland Trail Blazers as the two teams prepare to face off in the 4-5 box of the NBA's Western Conference Playoffs. The consensus is the winner of this series will merely serve as warm-up fodder for the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round. Brandon Roy and Portland welcome Yao Ming and Houston to the Rose Garden for Game 1 on Saturday.
It’s time to bid a fond farewell to the 2008-09 NBA regular season. We’ll miss the multiple betting opportunities provided by 30 teams over an 82-game campaign. But if you’re a true basketball fan, the playoffs are what it’s really all about. The quality of basketball we’re exposed to is about to increase tenfold. And with the betting public swarming over the marketplace like ants on a picnic, the betting odds are as vulnerable as ever.
The best value is arguably in the two conference matchups between the No. 4 seed and the No. 5 seed. There’s often very little real difference in talent from one team to another. That’s definitely the case in the Western Conference this year; the East might be another matter.
No. 4 Portland Trail Blazers (-140) vs. No. 5 Houston Rockets (+120)
Game 1: Saturday, Apr 18, 10:30 p.m. (ET) in Portland (ESPN)
The 4-5 battle out West looks a lot tighter. Only one game separates the combatants in the final standings, and each team went 20-21 on the road this year. It’s also a compelling clash of styles between the No. 2 offensive team in the NBA, the Trail Blazers (54-28 SU, 45-36 ATS), and the No. 4 defensive team, the Rockets (53-29 SU, 40-41-1 ATS). The main storyline difference is that Portland is a young team making its first playoff appearance since 2003, while Houston was eliminated in the first round four of the last five years.
At least they won’t have Tracy McGrady to kick around. McGrady, who famously has never made it into the second round of the playoffs, had microfracture surgery on his left knee in February and might not even make it out of the chute for 2009-2010. Houston has slipped offensively without McGrady’s 16.6 points per 36 minutes, but that happens to be T-Mac’s lowest output since becoming a starter in 2000, and the Rockets have filled some of the hole on offense by promoting Aaron Brooks (16.1 points per 36) to starting point guard. The Houston bench has been deep enough to keep the team in the foreground of the playoff picture.
Portland also has an impressive crop of reserves, as the Blazers have been steadily accumulating talent in the three years since GM Kevin Pritchard joined the front office, first as an assistant under president Steve Patterson. This is a team with two legitimate sixth men, Travis Outlaw (15.0 PER) and Rudy Fernandez (15.2 PER). Portland also possesses the tremendous upside of Greg Oden (18.1 PER), who combines with Joel Przybilla (15.4 PER) to give the Blazers a pair of viable options against Yao Ming (22.7 PER). But Houston remains 2-1 SU and 1-2 ATS against the Blazers this year, with Portland’s lone win coming in overtime back in November.
No. 4 Atlanta Hawks (-145) vs. No. 5 Miami Heat (+125)
Game 1: Sunday, April 19, 8:00 p.m. (ET) in Atlanta (TNT)
As wonderful as Dwyane Wade (30.3 PER) has played this season, the Miami Heat (43-39 SU, 40-40-2 ATS) are not getting a lot of buzz in this matchup. There is a cavernous drop in talent between Wade (plus-18.1 Roland Rating) and Jermaine O’Neal (plus-0.7), the only other positive contributor on the team from a plus-minus perspective. On the other hand, Atlanta (47-35 SU, 43-38-1 ATS) features a fully capable starting five, and a bench that’s stronger than Miami’s even with Josh Childress defecting to Europe.
The Hawks have already taken three of four games from Miami this year at 2-2 ATS. The most recent result, however, has to be thrown out when handicapping this matchup. These clubs met on Tuesday in Game No. 81 with nothing at stake and emptied their benches accordingly. Atlanta won 81-79 as a 9.5-point home fave; the Hawks wound up finishing the season in a financial slump at 5-6 SU and 3-8 ATS, while Miami enjoyed a profitable April at 4-4 SU and 6-2 ATS.
Atlanta’s efficiency numbers as a team are stronger than Miami’s on both ends of the court. The Hawks rank a consistent No. 10 out of the 30 NBA teams on both offense and defense; the Heat are competitive defensively at No. 13, but even with Wade’s heroics (28.2 points per 36 minutes), Miami was No. 19 in the league in offensive efficiency, scoring 105.1 points per 100 possessions to 106.7 for the Hawks.
