The NBA Western Conference playoffs get underway this weekend and one of the featured matchups pits the No. 6 seed Portland Trail Blazers against the No.3 seed Dallas Mavericks in a first round best-of-seven series.
Portland won five of its last seven games to finish the regular season 48-34 straight-up and 43-36-2 against the spread. It was 30-11 SU at home, but just 18-23 SU on the road. The total stayed ?under? in five of its last seven games and in 43 of 82 games overall.
Much of the team?s success this season can be attributed to the play of LaMarcus Aldridge. He led the team with 21.8 points and 8.8 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field. The Trail Blazers averaged 96.3 points a game, while giving up an average of 94.8. They were ranked 27th in the league in rebounds with 39.3 a game.
Dallas finished the season on a wild ride with a five and four game winning streak wrapped around a four game losing streak to finish 57-25 SU and 44-36-2 ATS. Its 28-13 SU record on the road was the best in the Western Conference. The total went 5-4-1 in its last 10 games and 46-35-1 overall.
It will be up to Dirk Nowitzki, Tyson Chandler, and Jason Kidd to keep this team from making another early exit from the playoffs. The Mavericks have been eliminated in the first round three of the past four seasons, but are counting on their veteran leadership to get them over the hump this time around. Nowitzki led the team in scoring with 23 points. Chandler averaged 9.4 rebounds and Kidd had a team-high 8.2 assists to lead the way.
These two teams split the season series two games apiece, but Portland won the last two at home both SU and ATS including a 104-96 win as a five-point favorite on April 3. The total went ?over? in three of the four games. This series sets up as another first round trap for the Mavericks, but this time around they find a way to advance in a seven-game thriller.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.