NBA Playoff Outlook

NBA Playoff Preview
Sunday, April 19th, 2009

Game 1 Utah at Los Angeles

The Utah Jazz will step up to the plate to give their best effort at taking down the huge favorites in the Los Angeles Lakers in game 1 this Sunday. The Lakers handled the Jazz fairly convincingly in their 125-112 victory in the last game of the regular season. Andrew Bynum scored 22 points in his biggest game back since the knee injury. The Lakers have been more than dominant all season against Western Conference Teams and it will be interesting to see if the trend continues. Utah has been anything but stellar down the stretch losing 7 of their last 9 games to carry them into the post season. The Jazz did beat the Lakers back in February and will attempt to find a way to get the job done again. Deron Williams has carried the team all season with 20 points per game while star Carlos Boozer has been unexpectedly inconsistent in recent weeks.

Betus.com betting line – Lakers -11.5

Pick – This could be a sweep series for the Lakers, but Utah should keep it closer than 11.5 in their first big attempt.

Game 2 Philadelphia at Orlando

The 76ers were in desperate need of a big victory when they took down Cleveland in the season finale 111-110. Philadelphia had lost 6 straight games before that victory in an extremely disappointing stretch of basketball to close out the season. The 76ers will go on the road to take on Orlando in their opening game of the playoffs. The Magic closed out the season by losing 4 of their last 6 games. At least for Orlando they had won 17 of their last 20 before the losing skid. The Magic have been among the best teams in the East all season, but have been inconsistent at times as well. The main aspect to look at it this series is that Orlando beat Philadelphia in all 3 meetings this season and many question if Philadelphia has what it takes to turn that completely around.

Betus.com betting line – Orlando -9.5

Game 3 Miami Heat at Atlanta Hawks

The Heat and Hawks showdown in the playoffs may very well be one of the best opening round series. Atlanta captured 3 out of 4 games over the Heat in the regular season including a tough 81-79 victory last Tuesday. The Hawks closed out the season winning 4 of their last 5 games and have seemed to gotten the best of the Heat this season. However, Dwayne Wade and company will likely come out swinging. Wade the NBA’s leading scorer this season (30ppg) sat out last Tuesday to rest up for the playoffs. Michael Beasley is developing into another Miami lethal threat as he continues to play good down the stretch. Atlanta Hawks shooting guard Joe Johnson scored 20 plus point in all meetings against the Heat outside of their previous meeting where he only played limited time for rest. These two teams have all the makings to be in store for a back and forth season and if Miami can get the first game win it should get interesting.

Betus.com betting line – Atlanta -5

Game 4 New Orleans at Denver

The Denver Nuggets have been one of the hottest teams in the West for the latter part of the regular season. Denver closed out the season winning 14 of their last 17 and there are plenty who believe it could come down to Denver and Los Angeles in the Conference. However, New Orleans will try to explode in the post season similar to how they came out of nowhere in the 2008 playoffs. The Hornets were expected to have a big year after their postseason performance last season, but that have simply been very inconsistent. Chris Paul and David West have been very solid averaging over 20 points per game this season, but they have really had limited help. New Orleans ranks in the bottom 5 teams in the NBA only averaging 95.8 points per game as a team. The Hornets will need to score more points against the heavily armed Nuggets offensive attack. Carmelo Anthony and J.R Smith have shared the spotlight over the last few weeks for Denver and if they can continue to play well they should be able to handle the Hornets in this series. Of course that is consider New Orleans does not put together any magic similar to last year.

Betus.com betting line – Denver -6