The Portland Trail Blazers were not projected to finish with the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference when the season began, but here they sit heading into the playoffs. Damian Lillard has taken a big step toward superstardom and he has gotten some help from a solid supporting cast.
Portland has put together a nice season and doesn’t want to end on a sour note. The Blazers will face off against the No. 6 seed New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the playoffs. New Orleans lost DeMarcus Cousins early in the year but Anthony Davis has been incredible.
He should give the Pelicans a fighting chance in this series in NBA basketball gambling.
Game 1 of this NBA Playoff Series is on Saturday, April 14, 2018 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for every game of the 2018 NBA Playoffs.
Odds Analysis
The Trail Blazers have the home court advantage in this series and are listed as -205 favorite to move on to the Western Conference semifinals. Those odds are much lower than the top two seeds in the conference, but that’s no surprise considering powerhouses Houston and Golden State man those spots. The Pelicans are +172 underdogs to pull off the series upset.
Portland is a 5.5-point favorite to take care of business in the first game of this series. The Blazers are getting only 38.5 percent of the action as most of the betting public believes the Pelicans will cover that spread. The Pelicans are listed at +195 on the moneyline while the Trail Blazers are the -235 favorites. The scoring total is listed at 217 points, with the “over” getting more than 71 percent of the action.
The Blazers are listed as +5700 underdogs to claim the NBA title. The Pelicans are +27500 to win the championship. Both would pay off handsomely but the chance of them winning it all seems microscopic.
Previous Meetings
The Trail Blazers and the Pelicans split the four victories in the regular season, which each squad taking two. The most recent matchup, on March 27th, went to New Orleans.
Behind 41 points from Damian Lillard, the Trail Blazers defeated the Pelicans 107-103 on the road. They also won the first matchup between the teams back in October. The Pelicans won the two meetings in between, defeating Portland 123-116 on December 2nd and 119-113 on January 12th.
These teams look fairly evenly matched, and it played out that way in the regular season. Lillard should have a big series in this one as the Pelicans don’t have anyone that can consistently slow him down.
Player To Watch
Anthony Davis -- While the Pelicans are the underdogs, the reason to believe in their ability to win this series lies with their star big man. Davis is averaging 28.1 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game on the season.
Many people believed the Pelicans were going to finish in the lottery once again when Cousins went down, but Davis put up obscene numbers the rest of the way. If he dominates this one down low for the entirety of the series, Portland’s impressive regular season could go down the drain.
Free NBA ATS Picks
The Blazers have the home court advantage, which could be a big deal because these teams seem pretty evenly matched. The Pelicans may not have quite a coin flip’s chance at winning this series, but the odds are stacked against them too much.
New Orleans is the intelligent play to move on to the Western Conferences second round by upsetting the Blazers. Take the Pelicans in seven games. New Orleans will get it started right by knocking off the Blazers in Game 1. The Pelicans will pay off nicely by surprising the Trail Blazers in NBA basketball betting.
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