The strange story that is the Indiana Pacers season and postseason has taken yet another twist. Just when it was safe to write off the Pacers, after a poor finish to regular season, a shaky first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks and a Game 1 loss at home to the Washington Wizards to start the second round, suddenly the Pacers are back again. And it’s no coincidence that their resurgence has run parallel with that of Roy Hibbert.
Now we move into the conference semifinals. All four series listed below begin either tonight or tomorrow. Here’s the NBA playoff betting odds for the second round matchups, with a brief comment on each one, along with a likely ill-conceived, soon-to-fail prediction. The betting numbers reflect the payout on wagers in $100 increments
Washington not only won this series, they won in every way imaginable. They beat Chicago at their own hard-nosed game, and the beat them playing a more aesthetically pleasing brand of basketball. The Wizards beat the Bulls up front and they beat them in the backcourt. Washington beat Chicago early and they beat them late. Above all, they beat them in the Windy City, sweeping all three games played in Chicago.
The NBA playoffs got started this weekend, and someone might want to let the Indiana Pacers and Blake Griffin know. The Pacers as a collective, and Griffin as an individual, where the biggest disappointments of a round of Game 1s that had more surprises than we generally see in the NBA. Here’s a look back at the opener of each series…
TheSportsNotebook has posted the Tale of the Tape for the playoff teams in both the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference of the NBA playoffs. Now, with tipoff of the postseason set for early Saturday afternoon, it’s time to dive into the first-round matchups. What follows are the series betting odds for each matchup, followed by some of my own thoughts and a misguided prediction.
The NBA playoffs get started on Saturday afternoon. To set the tone, TheSportsNotebook is running a Tale of the Tape of all 16 teams in the field. Or, to be more precise, we’re running a concise summation of each team’s tale of the tape, so you can read a summary of what they’re about and who they do it with, rather than wading through statistical data.
The NBA playoffs get started on Saturday afternoon. To set the tone, TheSportsNotebook is running a Tale of the Tape of all 16 teams in the field. Or, to be more precise, we’re running a concise summation of each team’s tale of the tape, so you can read a summary of what they’re about and who they do it with, rather than wading through statistical data.
It’s playoff time in the NBA, starting on Saturday, and if the NBA championship betting odds are to be believed, only five of the 16 teams have a serious chance to win the championship and three of those five stand above the class.
The NBA regular season is in the books, and it’s time to review how the NBA win futures turned out—how each team performed against its Over/Under win expectation in Las Vegas at the start of the season.
TheSportsNotebook has spent this week running a series of articles looking at the big picture and the strengths and weaknesses of the contenders. This post has all those articles consolidated into a single place for your convenience.
… this may very well be “the year” for the Clips—they’re 37-18 and sitting in the #4 spot in the Western Conference, a tightly packed race when ending up anywhere from #2 to #6 is well within reach. But there’s also some issues that can cause disappointment come playoff time again if not rectified.
The Portland Trail Blazers have been one of the big surprises in the NBA this season. A team that didn’t even make the playoffs in 2013, the Blazers have played well all year this time around and bring a 36-17 record into All-Star Weekend in New Orleans. It’s good enough to be tied for third in the Western Conference. Let’s take a look at how they’re doing it and whether it can sustain now that the season is about to get serious.