NBA Basketball
2011-02-01 - San Antonio Spurs at Portland
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Tuesday 1 February 2011 - Tip-Off 10pm ET
3am (British Standard Time)
Preview
The San Antonio Spurs (40-7) will not return home until after the All-Star break as they embark on a 9 game road trip over the next 17 days. They have a comfortable lead at the top of the Western Conference and have actually reached the 40 win mark in the fewest games in franchise history.
The Spurs have won 3 straight games coming into the road trip and have picked up the W in 11 of their last 12 games, looking like the real deal at every turn. I think it will be safe to say that this is the team to beat in the Western Conference up to this point and not the LA Lakers.
San Antonio will be looking for better efforts at the defensive side of the court during the next 9 games. They are allowing an average of 99.9 points on the road this season compared with 94.7 at home and they have allowed 100 points or more in the last 2 road wins, even if both ended in wins.
Now they have to begin with a trip to face the Portland Trail Blazers (25-22), a team that has won their last 4 home games against the Spurs and are 16-7 in the Rose Garden this season.
Portland really need to get something going on the Offensive side of the court if they want to win this game. They have been in a bit of slump in their last 2 games at home where they scored 81 points against the Sacramento Kings and a lowly 78 against Boston.
Now the Trail Blazers will look to prevent their first 3 game skid at home since 2008. Injuries continue to decimate the team and the latest to exit a game early was Nicolas Batum. The young player is averaging 11.8 points and 4.8 rebounds on the season but is listed as day-to-day even though a MRI Scan showed no damage to a bruised hip.
The team will look to the likes of LaMarcus Aldridge, who is having a career season, and Wesley Matthews to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Head to Head
As mentioned in the main section of the Preview, Portland have won 4 in a row against San Antonio here at the Rose Garden. They had also won 5 in a row in the series overall before falling to 95-78 loss in Texas earlier this season.
Portland are 5-0 against the spread in their recent home games in the series and the home team is 8-2 overall.
Portland are 12-11 against the spread at home this season, San Antonio are 13-6-1 on the road.
The Trail Blazers are 1-2 against the spread this season when having 3 or more days off between games, San Antonio are 5-5 when having 2 days rest.
Other Interesting Notes
Portland are 33-16 against the spread in their last 49 games when considered the underdog at home.
However, they are 2-6 agains the spread in their last 8 games at home.
San Antonio are 9-4 against the spread in their last 13 games on the road against a team with a winning home record.
The Spurs are 7-2-1 against the spread in their last 10 as the favourite.
They are 6-1 against the spread in their last 7 games against teams from the Western Conference.
Prediction
I have to favour the San Antonio Spurs to win and cover the spread in this game and reverse some recent history in the series. My reasons are as follows:
Firstly, Portland are a young team now the likes of Brandon Roy and Marcus Camby are not there to help them. The veteran Andre Miller is not the leader in the same manner as the other 2 players and their recent struggles shows that.
Secondly, the Trail Blazers are struggling on both ends of the court and San Antonio are wily enough to take advantage of that here.
Thirdly, teams with winning records have been winning at the Rose Garden in recent games with Miami, New York Knicks and Boston all recently coming away with a W.
Fourth, San Antonio are a group of players that seem to be looking for perfection in the team. They have been showing few weaknesses but want to get even stronger on the defensive side of the ball and could show that here.
All the recent trends of the team says to me that San Antonio will crack the Rose Garden riddle and come away with another win.
The Pick :
Portland Trail Blazers 86-95 San Antonio Spur
BEST BETTING TIP :
I'll take the San Antonio Spurs - 5 Points @ 1.95 (3 UNITS)Follow me on Twitter @DavindaAulak- direct link is below
