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A 1-1 record last night.
The NBA is weird, man. The Nuggets had a chance to hold on their spot atop the West and hold off the Warriors. We thought they were a good bet to do so as they have been the better team than Indiana this season and the game had some real meaning to them. Nope, they barely showed up. They never scored more than 23 points in any quarter and lost 124-88. This league really makes no sense sometimes.
Luckily, we had a team like the Rockets last night as well and they took care of business like we thought they would. This was a nice clean win for them as James Harden only needed 28 points to grab the win. Chris Paul finished with 10 points and 13 assists in this one.
Going for teams that need wins for playoff positioning has not really done well for us this week and I can’t really explain why. I think teams sometimes forget just how important home court advantage is in this league. Home teams win in the playoffs, just look at the Celtics last year who rode their depleted roster to the Eastern Conference Finals in large part thanks to that home court advantage.
There is a stupid buzz going on right now about the Bucks potentially losing in the first round. It’s dumb and reactive to a few bad games (they just destroyed the Heat who are their potential first round opponent), but home teams in the top seed have only lost the series five times in history.
A short slate today with just one game that we’re looking at.
Philadelphia 76ers vs. Orlando Magic Betting Tips:
Philly just had a six game winning streak snapped by the Atlanta Hawks of all teams and will be looking to get back to their winning ways here. While Orlando is holding on to their slim playoff hopes. They are a game behind the Heat right now in the playoffs and a win would do a lot for their playoff hopes.
The thing is, I don’t think that’s going to come. Philadelphia is absolutely stacked as a roster and while anything can happen in this league, the Sixers should not lose to this team if they are playing well.
Orlando is coming in hot as they are 5-2 over their past seven. This is more of a scheduling thing than anything when you look at who they’ve played. Dallas, Memphis twice, Washington, Cleveland, Atlanta, and New Orleans. Not a playoff team in the bunch and not really a team that benefits from winning games in there either. This is the Magic’s first real challenge since they beat the 76ers back on March 5th.
I think that loss plus the insane talent differetial will drive the Sixers here. Nikola Vucevic might match up well with Joel Embiid, but what about Ben Simmons and Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris? I don’t think the Magic have enough tricks up their sleeve to stop this team.
https://www.Bovada.lvBet Philadelphia 76ers -2
