NBA Playoffs Day 2! We opened strong going 3 and 1 and we're looking to go 4-0 today! Check out our #BucketLine picks for today's games, along with our game notes / analysis for your reference. We've got 4 more picks for you today as noted below... Let's beat the bookie and get #InTheMoney!!
*Milwaukee Bucks -12; Bucks/Magic under 225.5
*Houston Rockets +1.5
*Los Angeles Lakers -5.5
Milwaukee Bucks -12; Bucks/Magic under 225.5
10:30 AM Pacific
The Milwaukee Buck come into the playoffs as the NBA’s best team (76.7 winning percentage), the best defensive team in the league (top ten in opponents PPG) and have the reigning MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis has the best real plus-minus in The Association and many say he will repeat as MVP along with possibly winning defensive player of the year. The Bucks boast an outstanding 37-30 record when they are favored this year. Couple that with the Magic being in the bottom third in scoring and holding a record of 16-21-2 ATS as an underdog, we see this one being a blowout and will be leaning towards the Bucks to cover the -12 spread.
Continuing with this game we are also looking at this over/under of 225.5. We already know the Bucks as solid defensively, but did you know the Magic are top 5 in opponents PPG? Did you also know both these teams are top ten in Defensive efficiency? We see a slow-paced game as both teams give maximum effort on the defensive end of the floor and make their opponents work for every bucket. Finally, we found this stat to be the most intriguing of them, *NBA Playoff game 1 with double-digit spread are 72% to the under! We will be looking to bet UNDER 225.5 in the first game of the day
Houston Rockets +1.5
3:30 PM Pacific
The Houston Rockets take on an all too familiar foe in Round 1 in the Oklahoma City Thunder. These two division rivals play each other four times a year in the regular season and they meet in a best of seven series now. Russell Westbrook might be out, but that does not mean Houston is out of this game at all as a small dog. Houston is 8-5 as an underdog ATS this season. They are also 58.3% ATS with two or more days rest which they will be coming off three days here. After returning from the birth of his son, Dennis Schroder played one game and is listed as out for this pivotal game one. The Thunder will have a tough time replacing their best player off the bench and his career 20.5 ppg against Houston. Finally, James Harden is in the running for the MVP once again with his real plus-minus ranking him third! It is not often you get Houston with plus points, so we will be on that side for sure with the Rockets +1.5.
Los Angeles Lakers -5.5
6:00 PM Pacific
One of the greatest players of all time, the NBA restart MVP and division rivals have the Los Angeles Lakers taking on the Portland Trailblazers in the nightcap of this four-game set. Portland had to play an extra game just to make it to this game in the first-ever play in tournament in NBA history. To top it off, they had to survive two days before even get into that game. With that said, the Blazers only cover the spread 43.8% of the time after a win. The Lakers on the other hand are coming off 3 days rest where they bring a 9-5 record ATS in this situation and are 9-7 when they have more rest than their opponents. The Lakers may be known as Showtime, but this year they rank 3rd in defensive team efficiency which does not bode well for the high scoring Blazers. Arguably the best tandem in basketball, Lebron (second in real plus-minus), and AD both rank in the top ten of player efficiency this season and will be a real test for the Blazers in this game. Last time these two teams faced each other the Lakers were the favorite and lost outright. *Teams with revenge on their mind due to a loss as a favorite last game against an opponent, and are favored again against the same team, are 72% ATS. We will be looking for the Lakers to cover the -5.5 against the Blazers here in game one.
*Source: Ralph Michaels (@CalSportsLV on Twitter)
Hit us up @TTSportsLines and let us what you think!
-TSL
/ As always, please forgive any typos and grammatical errors
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