NBA Playoffs Who’s Hot and Who’s Not – April 17
2 min read
By Dave Schwab
Game 1 of all eight opening-round NBA playoff series is in the books and the underdogs have come away with the early 5-3 edge against the spread. The total has slightly favored the OVER with five of the eight games going OVER BetAnySports’ closing line. Action resumes with two games on Monday night’s slate followed by a trio of matchups on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
There were three straight-up upsets over the weekend starting with Milwaukee’s 97-83 victory against Toronto on Saturday as a 7.5-point road underdog in a game that stayed UNDER BetAnySports’ closing 197.5-point total line. In another Eastern Conference matchup, the Chicago Bulls stunned the top seeded Boston Celtics 106-102 on Sunday as 6.5-point underdogs on the road. The total stayed UNDER in that game as well with a closing line of 206.5.
The lone upset in Game 1 of the four Western Conference matchups was Utah’s last-second 97-95 victory against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night as a 5.5-point road underdog. The total stayed UNDER the 198.5-point line. The other two ATS wins for underdogs went to Indiana in a tight 109-108 loss to Cleveland as a nine-point road underdog and to Portland for covering a 15-point spread in Sunday’s 121-109 loss to Golden State. The total went OVER in both of those games.
Monday’s action starts with Game 2 between the Pacers and the Cavaliers at 7 p.m. (ET) on TNT. BetAnySports has Cleveland listed as a 7.5-point favorite at home with the total line set at 210. Later that night, Memphis will try and avoid a 2-0 deficit against San Antonio as a heavy 11-point road underdog. The Grizzlies lost the opener 111-82 as 9.5-point underdogs. The total for Monday’s night’s matchup on TNT at 9:30 p.m. has been set at 189 after going OVER the closing 190.5-point line in Game 1.
Both Boston and Los Angeles will try and avenge that Game 1 loss on Tuesday night. The Celtics are 7.5-point home favorites against Chicago in an 8 p.m. tip on TNT with the total line set at 205. The spread between the Clippers and the Jazz has been raised to eight points with Los Angeles favored at home and the total has been lowered to 195.5 points for this 10:30 p.m. start on TNT.
Wednesday’s top matchup pits Oklahoma City against Houston in an 8 p.m. start on TNT. The Rockets won Game 1 by the score of 118-87 as 7.5-point home favorites. The total stayed UNDER BetAnySports’ closing 228-point line.
