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etroit at Philadelphia (+4, 180)
Which Pistons team will show up in Philadelphia tonight? The one that loafed around court in Game 1 and let a halftime lead turn into a home loss? Or the one that responded in Game 2 and showed aggressive, unflagging defense, dominant rebounding and crisp scoring to get blowout win?
With the amount of experience and veteran savvy on this team, it’s more likely that they’ll come out strong tonight. Game 1 was the Pistons’ wake-up call and it’s a good sign for them that Rasheed Wallace was such a huge factor in Game 2 because the team generally goes the way that Wallace goes. It won’t be easy to cover as road favorites, but you can expect Detroit to show up and take care of business.
Pick: Pistons
New Orleans at Dallas (-5, 196)
In these playoffs, we’ve only seen one road team go into hostile territory and take a straight up win. Only three teams have managed to cover in a road game.
That trend should have and asterisk beside it because the higher seeds have played the majority of home games so far, but with the Hornets heading to Big D, you might want to chew that one over for a while. As good as they are, New Orleans wasn’t able to win or cover in two trips to Dallas this season and Dallas always plays much better in their own gym.
This is a talented, experienced Mavericks team with its back against the wall against a young, inexperienced opponent. If any team can parlay home-court advantage into a win in this situation, it should be the Mavs.
Pick: Mavericks
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