BetAnySports’ NBA Playoffs Pick of the Week
Portland Trail Blazers vs. San Antonio Spurs- Tuesday, May 6
BetAnySports’ Line: San Antonio -6 1/2 and the Total is 207
The final matchup in this year’s NBA Conference Semifinals gets underway this Tuesday night when the No. 5 Portland Trail Blazers go on the road to face the No. 1 San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of this best-of-seven series. The game is set to get underway at 9:30 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on TNT.
This will be the second series that Portland starts as an underdog after its stunning 4-2 victory over Houston in the opening round. The Trail Blazers started fast and hot against the favored Rockets by winning three of the first four games straight-up (2-1-1 against the spread) before closing things out with a 99-98 Game 6 thriller as four-point home favorites. They did fail to cover in those final two games and the total stayed UNDER in both.
To get out of the gate quick against the West’s top seed, Portland will need another strong effort from LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard. Aldridge led the team in scoring (29.8 points) and he pulled down a team-high 11.2 rebounds over the six games against Houston. Lillard was second in points with 25.5 and he led the team in assists with 6.7 a game. The Trail Blazers shot 45.4 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from 3-point range while pulling down 42.7 rebounds a game.
The Spurs needed all seven games to get by Southwest Division foe Dallas to advance to this round including a lopsided 119-96 victory in this past Sunday?s Game 7 as seven-point home favorites. It was the only game that San Antonio covered the spread in this series and it was favored in all seven outings. The total went OVER the 197.5-point closing line on BetAnySports and overall it has gone OVER in five of the seven games.
The veteran leadership on this team stepped up its game when it had to against the Mavericks so look to the likes of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili to try and gain the edge in this series with a win on Tuesday night. Parker dealt with a sore ankle down the stretch but still led the team with 19.9 points per game. Ginobili came off the bench to average 17.7 PPG and Duncan added 17.3 points and 8.4 rebounds in the winning effort. The Spurs averaged 103.1 points against Dallas while shooting 49.7 percent from the field.
Portland comes into this matchup as a six-point road underdog on BetAnySports’ NBA betting line and the total has been set at 206. I think the road team has a decent shot at covering on Tuesday night, but my top pick in this one is the OVER on the total line.