The series lines for Round 1 of the NBA playoffs came out yesterday. The lines will vary depending on your book of course, but here are the first lines I saw Thursday afternoon:
EAST
1 Boston -6000 (some books just have this O.T.B.)
8 Atlanta +4000
2 Detroit -1100
7 Philadelphia +900
3 Orlando -300
6 Toronto +270
4 Cleveland -125
5 Washington +115
WEST
1 L.A. Lakers -600
8 Denver +400
2 New Orleans -161
7 Dallas +151
3 San Antonio -160
6 Phoenix +140
4 Utah -200
5 Houston +180
Gut Reactions
- Houston gets home-court advantage even they are the lower seed (Jazz won their division but have a worse record). As the Jazz are not a strong road team (17-24 SU and ATS), the Rockets' one-game edge in the regular season standings could prove significant, if they can overcome Alston's injury in the first couple of games.
- Spurs players seem confident that they can just "turn it on" for the playoffs after appearing to sleepwalk through parts of the season, but I'm not 100% convinced. Suns have revenge on their minds and could be the play here.
- Nuggets can't beat the Lakers in the series, but with their considerable scoring ability, they may able to stay within any inflated numbers on a game-by-game basis (FYI, Lakers -8.5 in Game 1).
- Mavericks are an interesting underdog. No question, the Hornets have played better this year, but Dallas has a significant advantage in the experience department, which counts in the playoffs.
- The trendy upset pick looks like it's going to be the Washington Wizards. I was hoping to play them myself at +140 or more. With the line opening at +115, and I'm seeing it now +100 at a lot of places, I'm not sure there's a ton of value in that play anymore.
Back tomorrow with any series or individual game bets we're playing.
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