NBA Betting Odds

Game 5 between the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers looked like a competitive game by the end of the first quarter, but it turned into a blowout victory for the Suns as they took a 3-2 lead in the first round best –of-seven series against the Trailblazers with a 107-88 win. The Phoenix Suns were the pre-match NBA odds favorite.

Amare Stoudemire had 19 points for the Suns and Steve Nash had 14 points and 10 assist, but this game belonged to the Phoenix Suns bench who they can thank for this victory. The Suns had great help off of the bench as Channing Frye picked a good time to have one of his best games ever as a Phoenix Sun, he scored 20 points off of the bench against his former team. Dudley also had a superb game off of the bench, scoring 19 points.

The Blazers had a quick start in the game by going up early 23-9 in the first quarter, Andre miller racking up 10 points along the way. By the time the first quarter was over though they only had a one point lead 28-27. It remained a game into the third quarter where the Blazers only trailed 65-58 at one point. Suddenly though, Phoenix outscored Portland 17-7 and held a 82-65 commanding lead as they routed the Blazers the rest of the way.

In order for the Blazers to win game 6 on Thursday and keep this series alive, they are going to have to slow the game down a bit. In game 5, the Trailblazers played right into the hands of the Suns hands as they let the Suns play the quick temp game that they prefer to play. Game 6 is Thursday night in Portland.

Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz lock horns (10:30 PM ET, Altitude Sports). Jazz and Nuggets Series Betting NBA Odds come at Jazz with +160 and Nuggets with -200.
The Denver Nuggets didn’t have a good finish to their season as per their liking. The lost against the Spurs made them into 4th seed. They do have the home court advantage but the toughest part is that they will be playing against one of the best teams in the league, Utah Jazz. With the entry of Carmelo Anthony things have certainly improved for the Nuggets. Getting rid of Allen Iverson was a good decision.
Denver remains pretty dominant on the boards with Nene Hilaro and Keynon Martin scored 25-per night, Chauncey Billups putting 20 a game and J.R. Smith just above 15. Martin’s injury was a big setback for the team. Denver does have few good players namely Chris “the Birdman” Anderson, Johan Petro, Aaron Affialo and Ty Lawson. The Nuggets have been performing well throughout the series with a couple of losses. The interesting part is Nuggets are 34-7 on their home court up against the strong Utah team.
With the introduction of Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams has definitely made Utah Basketball exciting and interesting. The biggest setback to Utah is the absence of Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko because of injuries so without them, “It’s a sad injury, bad injury, I wish him the best,” Jazz point guard Deron Williams said as he sat on near practice court at the Pepsi Center don’t expect the Utah team to give 100% both mentally and physically. They will also miss Memo for sure. “Memo’s a big part of our team. He stretches the defense. He’s a guy you really can’t replace just because his inside-outside game is really unmatched”, said Deron. Utah Jazz has played 19 games and has lost just two, one against the Lakers and the other from Nuggets.

The Oklahoma City Thunder is one of the surprising teams of the NBA regular season and The Los Angeles Lakers open up the defense of their title with them. People have been talking about the Thunder and how they were streaking up the charts, for the past month. Up until the last weekend of the NBA season, they were looking really good. Possibly the 82 game schedule caught up with them. The Lakers have been coasting to the finish line. After you have been coasting, it is a difficult thing to pick up and play again. For that reason, it is a possibility that the Thunder could beat the Lakers.

The matchups are interesting. The Thunder should probably be given the point guard battle. Westbrook has the athletic prowess and Fisher is getting older to take him on. The other guard position has Kobe going against Sefolosha. You just do not bet against Kobe therefore you have to give the Lakers this matchup. He has been the premier player for too long.

It could be tough for the Thunder to match up with the Lakers with the power of these players like Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom. Kevin Durant and Jeff Green inexperience in the playoffs will catch up with them even though it is true that Thunder have some good young players.

Some people will probably be surprised by thunder. The Lakers could be caught napping and win the first game in Los Angeles. However, the Lakers will catch fire from there and put the Thunder away in six games. About winning in the playoffs, The Oklahoma City Thunder just has too much to learn.