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Tonight is a big night in the NBA playoff race as the Portland Trailblazers and Denver Nuggets face off. There is roughly about ten games left for every team, but these two are currently tied with the same record for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Blazers have the better conference record and are currently up 2-1 on the season series against Denver. This is a must win game for the Nuggets if they hope to stay in this race. A loss tonight and their only hope will be finishing with the better record.
The East playoff race is also going to get a bit more clear tonight as the Hornets host the Bucks and the Heat visit the Pistons. The Bucks and Heat are currently in the playoffs, but the Pistons and Hornets desperately want to get there. The Pistons are currently 1.5 back of the Heat for the eighth seed so if they want to make noise in this race, they need to do something tonight. The same can be said for the Hornets who are two games out, but this game could be bigger for the Bucks who if they win would take over sole possession of the fifth seed in the East.
We’re about two weeks out from the playoffs starting and these games have the importance of the playoffs for some of these teams. It’s win or go home.
NBA Betting Tips:
Two teams that aren’t in the playoffs are the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets. These two teams are lottery bound with the Nets owing their pick to the Boston Celtics. They’ve been playing well as of late and have no reason to tank so I think they’ll be winning easily tonight. The Sixers are a mess of injuries and there is no reason the Nets -3 should lose this game.
The Milwaukee Bucks have been one of the best teams in the league since the All-Star Break. The return of Khris Middleton has been huge for them defensively and they are just a team that is clicking at the right time. They have more talent than the Hornets and they have been playing better defense. Charlotte is a well-coached team, but they just don’t have what it takes to make the playoffs this year. Bucks +4 should win this one outright.
If I had to pick one team to blow it all up this summer it would be the Detroit Pistons. Reggie Jackson isn’t what we thought he was, Andre Drummond doesn’t seem to have what it takes to be a low post threat and the ret of the roster is just a mishmash of players that don’t really fit together. You have to love the way the Heat -2.5 have played since the start of the season and tonight should help solidify their status as a playoff team.
The game of the night though should be the match-up between the Nuggets and Blazers. Both of these teams got off to rough starts and have really started to come around in the second half. The Nuggets figured this out by focusing their team on Nikola Jokic which should make them a threat in the West for years to come. A big part of the Blazers success has come from the Nuggets as the trade of Miles Plumlee to Denver for Jusuf Nurkic has really improved their team defense. Portland is probably one of the toughest teams to play on the road and Damian Lillard has been possessed as of late. As good of a story as the Nuggets have been this year, the Blazers -2 should roll tonight and lock up the playoff spot.
