 Friday's NBA Picks
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Boston at Cleveland (-3, 179)
Like many great superstars, you knew it wasn’t a question of whether Kevin Garnett would bust out again, but rather when he’d get back to form. It didn’t take long.
After three subpar outings – by KG’s standards anway – Garnett dropped 26 points, grabbed 16 boards, dished out four assists, and added three blocks for good measure in Boston’s Game 5 win over Cleveland. Even more encouraging for Celtics bettors was that Paul Pierce chipped in with 29 points and Rajon Rondo added 20.
That said, it’s obviously been all about home teams in these playoffs and the Cavaliers aren’t backing down a bit. LeBron James had a big night with 35 points in the club’s latest loss, but didn’t get much help from the rest of Cleveland’s cast and still managed to keep Game 5 close.
The Cavs will bounce back with a better effort tonight.
Pick:Cleveland
L.A. Lakers at Utah (-4, 212)
It’s great to see Deron Williams stepping up for the Jazz - the silky smooth point guard has racked up 56 points and 24 assists over the last two games. Now if only he could get a little help, especially from Carlos Boozer inside.
Boozer basically won Game 3 for the Jazz and has been solid on the glass, but he hasn’t cracked 20 points in any other game in the series and was just 6-for-16 from the floor in Game 5. It wouldn’t hurt if Andrei Kirilenko did something either. AK-47 hasn’t done better than 15 points against the Lakers while being shy in the paint, too. Then again, those seem like the numbers we can expect from the big Russian at this point.
One of those guys has to match Pau Gasol’s output as the series shifts back to Utah.
Pick: Lakers
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