The Brooklyn Nets look to deal the Miami Heat another loss, this time in the Playoffs, when the two teams collide in the opening game of their second round series. Meanwhile, the Portland Trail Blazers troop to the San Antonio Spurs’ lair, hoping to get another Game 1 road win. How do you think the second round will go? Answer our survey here.
[sc:NBAArticles ]
Brooklyn Nets vs. Miami Heat (7:00 PM EST)
Line: Brooklyn Nets (+7) at Miami Heat (-7); total: 191.5 – view these lines
Betting on the Brooklyn Nets
Joe Johnson could still be smoldering after a terrific first round performance against the Toronto Raptors, in which he averaged a team-high 21.9 PPG. Among players with at least 110 field goal attempts in the postseason, Johnson is second in field goal percentage with a 52.3% clip.
Expected to carry the scoring load, too, in the series is Paul Pierce. The Truth was the Nets’ best scorer in the four meetings against the Miami Heat in the regular season with 21.3 PPG as discussed in our preview of this series.
The Nets meet Miami in the second round carrying a clean 4-0 SU record against the defending champions. The over is also 5-1 in their last six road games.
Betting on the Miami Heat
The Heat may have lost all four of their previous meetings with Brooklyn, but things could have gone different had Dwyane Wade played in all of those matchups.
Wade averaged 21.5 PPG in two games he played in against Brooklyn and seems to be in tiptop condition lately as evidenced by his 33 minutes played per game in the first round. During which, he averaged 17.5 PPG and 3.8 APG.
Still, all eyes are still going to be on LeBron James, who put up 27.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, and 6.9 APG in the first round.
The Heat are 3-1 ATS in its last four games.
Writer’s Prediction
Drawing from strong performances from Wade and James, the well-rested Heat will go up 1-0 in the series, while covering -7, too.
Portland Trail Blazers vs. San Antonio Spurs (8:30 PM EST)
Line: Portland Trail Blazers (+6.5) at San Antonio Spurs (-6.5 ); total: 205.5 – view these lines
Betting on the Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers are still going to spend their road games in Texas in the second round. The Trail Blazers are bringing their 6-1 SU and ATS records in their last seven road games to San Antonio for Game 1 of what should be another exhilarating series.
As was the case in the series against the Rockets, Portland will be banking on its 1-2 punch combo of Damian Lillard (25.5 PPG) and LaMarcus Aldridge (29.8 PPG).
Betting on the San Antonio Spurs
After dispatching the Dallas Mavericks, the Spurs will now face Portland, the highest scoring team in the playoffs. The Spurs, meanwhile are No. 6 in the NBA in allowed points (97.6 PPG) and will surely use its huge advantage in Playoffs experience to frustrate the young Trail Blazers’ offense.
Not to be outdone, the Spurs have shown in the first round that they could also hang around with high-scoring teams. They averaged 103.1 PPG against the Mavericks, lighting up the stat sheet in Game 7 of that series with 119 points.
The Spurs host Portland in Game 1. The total has gone over in all three of the Spurs’ last three home games.
Writer’s Prediction
The Trail Blazers will realize how huge the difference is in the defense of the Rockets from the Spurs. Portland will see its lowest point total thus far in the postseason, and the game will go under 205.5.
