Spurs favored by seven tonight vs. Golden St.
Published on Tuesday, 5/14/13, at 8:34 a.m. Eastern.
By Brian Edwards
The 2013 NBA Playoffs had all four second-round series even at 1-1 going into Game 3’s for the first time in league history. After a pair of Game 4’s last night, Memphis and Miami now have 3-1 advantages over Oklahoma City and Chicago, respectively.
The Heat cruised to an 88-65 win over the Bulls as an eight-point road favorite, while the 153 combined points stayed way ‘under’ the 185-point total. Chicago’s gas tank was clearly on empty and Nate Robinson played the worst game of his career (zero points, 0-12 FGs).
Things weren’t so easy for the Grizzlies, who trailed by as many as 17 points in the second quarter. However, Lionel Hollins’s squad was able to slice the deficit to eight by halftime.
When the game went to overtime, bettors backing Memphis -4.5 had a chance to pick up a fortunate cover. That’s exactly what happened when the Grizzlies outscored the Thunder 9-3 in the extra session en route to a 103-97 victory.
The ‘over’ was a winner before the end of regulation as the 188 combined points slipped ‘over’ the 185-point tally.
In tonight’s lid-lifter on TNT at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, Indiana will host New York as a five-point home favorite in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series. The Pacers, who are 4-0 both straight up and against the spread at home in the playoffs to date, took a 2-1 advantage with Sunday’s 82-71 victory. The total is 179.5 at most spots, while the Knicks are +180 on the money line.
We probably won’t see a more entertaining series than San Antonio-Golden St. in the entire postseason. Both teams now own improbable comeback victories. The series has seen three overtimes and is knotted at 2-2 as we go back to the Alamo City tonight.
Most books are listing the Spurs as seven-point favorites with a total of 195. This is the lowest total of the series following the appearance of three straight ‘unders.’ The Warriors are at around +250 to +270 on the money line.
The adjusted series price has San Antonio at -300, while Golden St. is +250 on the comeback (risk $100 to win $250).
Sportsbook.ag has its NBA futures updated and they look like this:
Heat -350
Grizzlies +800
Spurs +800
Pacers 18/1
Warriors 25/1
Knicks 30/1
Thunder 80/1
Bulls 500/1
Please forgive the shameless self-promo, but my NBA picks are sizzling hot right now. Following a 2-0 last night (granted, very fortunate w/ the Grizzlies winner), my record for the season improved to 118-80 (60%, +31.14 units). That’s good for #1 among VegasInsider.com handicappers in winning percentage and #3 in overall money. Since April 25, I’ve cashed tickets at a 29-11 clip (73%). Click here for tonight’s action or go ahead and get signed up for the rest of the playoffs.
