NBA Basketball
2012-04-23 - Portland T-Blazers at San Antonio Spurs
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Monday 23 April 2012 - Tip Off 8:30pm ET
1:30am (British Standard Time)
Preview
The San Antonio Spurs (47-16) can wrap up the Number 1 seed in the Western Conference for a second season in succession if they can knock of the Portland Trail Blazers (28-36) in the second of their final back to back games of the regular season. San Antonio will also move level with the Chicago Bulls for the overall best record in the NBA and a chance to win home court advantage if they progress to the NBA Finals.
Gregg Popovich has made it clear for some time that he intends to rest some of his players to ensure the veteran group are as fresh as possible when the Play Offs begin at the end of the month. What that has shown the rest of the NBA is that the Spurs are actually a very deep squad as their younger players have filled in admirably and they have a real shot of representing the West this year.
The Spurs are unconcerned about winning the Number 1 seed in the West, especially considering they were beaten in the First Round last year in that exact spot, but now the opportunity is there, they want to wrap it up as early as possible.
San Antonio blew out the Cleveland Cavaliers at home yesterday despite resting Tim Duncan completely, while the 10 players that represented them all got no more than 18 minutes apiece.
There will be added motivation for the Spurs to put in a big performance today as they complete their regular season at home, while they should feel confident they can handle the Portland Trail Blazers who look like they will be short-handed again.
Portland are just 1-7 in their last 8 games, losing 5 in a row coming into this one, and they will be missing the likes of LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum, while Raymond Felton and Joel Przybilla are both doubtful having missed the Saturday night loss at Memphis.
Head to Head
These two teams have split the two season meetings so far, both winning at home straight up and against the spread.
San Antonio had won 11 in a row at home against Portland until April 2009 and they have since gone just 2-3 here against the Trail Blazers.
San Antonio are 23-8-1 against the spread at home this season, Portland are 13-18 on the road.
San Antonio are 33-15-3 against the spread as the favourite, Portland are 10-16 as the underdog.
Other Interesting Trends
San Antonio have won their last 11 home games as the favourite of 11 points or more.
They are 9-1-1 against the spread in their last 11 games against a team that has won less than 40% of their road games.
Portland are 7-17 against the spread in their last 24 games against a team with a winning record at home.
Prediction
I am going to back the San Antonio Spurs to win this game in dominating fashion for the following reasons:
First, San Antonio were embarrassed with a 40 point LOSS in their last game against Portland and should be fully focused on this one. They are 13-9 against the spread in revenge spots this season.
Second, the Spurs continue racking up comfortable wins against teams with losing records, going 6-1 against the spread in the second half of the season.
Third, the Spurs have been comfortable in this spot as a big favourite. They have won all 3 games against the spread as the home favourite of 12.5 points and should be focused with the Number 1 seed on the line tonight.
The Pick :
San Antonio Spurs 114-98 Portland T-Blazers
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back the San Antonio Spurs - 13.5 Points @ 1.95
