Do-or-die for three NBA teams
Is this the end for our heroes?
Well, assuming your heroes are the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns, Thursday could very well be the last night of action for all three. They face 3-2 deficits in their respective best-of-seven series in the first round of the NBA playoffs. But the three endangered clubs must overcome vastly different obstacles if they want to extend their seasons.
Phoenix is the only team in peril who has to play Game 6 on the road ? at Staples Center against the Los Angeles Lakers, who are pegged as 3 ?-point favorites in their matchup. That makes the Suns the biggest underdogs on Thursday?s slate. Yet the Suns are easily the smallest underdogs to make it to the second round at +200. The Pacers are priced at +600 to beat the New Jersey Nets, and the Bulls are a big +800 to turn the trick against the Miami Heat.
It?s not too often you can get a +200 price on a team as good as the Phoenix Suns to complete the task of winning two straight basketball games. But one of the big stories coming down the pike Wednesday was the one-game suspension handed to Suns guard Raja Bell for the clothesline he delivered to Kobe Bryant in the fourth quarter of Game 5. Although Bell was given a technical foul and ejected, Phoenix won the game 114-97 as a 7-point home chalk to stave off elimination.
Bell?s actions were, in part, retaliation for Bryant?s hard play during the first three quarters. However, it was Phoenix setting the tone for the night by coming out with a more physical style of play than usual, despite being the smaller team in the series. Perhaps more importantly, the offense ran through center Boris Diaw, who approached a triple double with 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Steve Nash, playing with a bad back, had just four assists on the night.
Diaw?s unique skills are difficult to contain. The NBA?s Most Improved Player is a converted swingman who is only playing center because of the injuries to Amare Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas. But with the Lakers making Phoenix look foolish on the way to a 3-1 series lead, the Suns needed to change up their offensive strategy. Putting their fate in Diaw?s quick hands proved to be a masterstroke.
However, it could be all for naught without Bell available for Game 6. He?s the designated Kobe stopper for the Suns; Bryant was ?contained? to 29 points on Tuesday and was not able to spark the same kind of team offense as earlier in the series. It?s scary to think what kind of game he might have Thursday without Bell draped over him. Phoenix?s only available response may be to resort to the 3-pointer. If so, Bell was their top marksman from beyond the arc at 44.2 percent on the regular season and 42.9 percent in the playoffs.
Thursday?s other games see the Pacers as 1-point home faves against the Nets, while the Bulls are 1 ?-point puppies at the United Center against the Heat. Injuries are telling much of the tale in both series. Peja Stojakovic may be out for the rest of the playoffs after missing Game 5 with a sore right knee. Stojakovic also missed Games 2 and 4, both of which Indiana lost. The difference between the Pacers with or without their starting shooting guard is clear. Handicappers are understandably scrambling to find some good information on Stojakovic?s status for Game 6. He was a last-minute scratch back in Game 2, and it may once again come down to a game-time decision Thursday.
The focus in the Heat-Bulls series is on Dwyane Wade?s hip. He needed X-rays after he hit the floor during the first half of Tuesday?s Game 5 in Miami, but came back in the third quarter and finished the night with 28 points in 33 minutes. Miami won 92-78 as an 8 ?-point favorite to finally cash in for the first time in the series. The Heat will probably be able to squeeze another star performance out of Wade in Game 6, but he?s being held together by painkillers and ice packs at this point. That dog won?t hunt much longer.
Chicago has taken advantage of Miami?s injury situation thus far. If only the Bulls didn?t have to worry about Tyson Chandler. The big man played just five minutes in Game 5 after spraining his right ankle during Game 4. Chandler had already lost his starting job to Michael Sweetney; however, having Chandler available for Game 6 (his status remains uncertain) would at least give Chicago another six fouls to commit against Shaquille O?Neal. Hack-a-Shaq is a tried and true formula. O?Neal is just 13-for-34 from the line in this series, and the more often the ball is in his hands rather than Wade?s, the closer the Bulls get to the pay window.
---Perry
BetWWTS.com
Is this the end for our heroes?
Well, assuming your heroes are the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns, Thursday could very well be the last night of action for all three. They face 3-2 deficits in their respective best-of-seven series in the first round of the NBA playoffs. But the three endangered clubs must overcome vastly different obstacles if they want to extend their seasons.
Phoenix is the only team in peril who has to play Game 6 on the road ? at Staples Center against the Los Angeles Lakers, who are pegged as 3 ?-point favorites in their matchup. That makes the Suns the biggest underdogs on Thursday?s slate. Yet the Suns are easily the smallest underdogs to make it to the second round at +200. The Pacers are priced at +600 to beat the New Jersey Nets, and the Bulls are a big +800 to turn the trick against the Miami Heat.
It?s not too often you can get a +200 price on a team as good as the Phoenix Suns to complete the task of winning two straight basketball games. But one of the big stories coming down the pike Wednesday was the one-game suspension handed to Suns guard Raja Bell for the clothesline he delivered to Kobe Bryant in the fourth quarter of Game 5. Although Bell was given a technical foul and ejected, Phoenix won the game 114-97 as a 7-point home chalk to stave off elimination.
Bell?s actions were, in part, retaliation for Bryant?s hard play during the first three quarters. However, it was Phoenix setting the tone for the night by coming out with a more physical style of play than usual, despite being the smaller team in the series. Perhaps more importantly, the offense ran through center Boris Diaw, who approached a triple double with 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Steve Nash, playing with a bad back, had just four assists on the night.
Diaw?s unique skills are difficult to contain. The NBA?s Most Improved Player is a converted swingman who is only playing center because of the injuries to Amare Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas. But with the Lakers making Phoenix look foolish on the way to a 3-1 series lead, the Suns needed to change up their offensive strategy. Putting their fate in Diaw?s quick hands proved to be a masterstroke.
However, it could be all for naught without Bell available for Game 6. He?s the designated Kobe stopper for the Suns; Bryant was ?contained? to 29 points on Tuesday and was not able to spark the same kind of team offense as earlier in the series. It?s scary to think what kind of game he might have Thursday without Bell draped over him. Phoenix?s only available response may be to resort to the 3-pointer. If so, Bell was their top marksman from beyond the arc at 44.2 percent on the regular season and 42.9 percent in the playoffs.
Thursday?s other games see the Pacers as 1-point home faves against the Nets, while the Bulls are 1 ?-point puppies at the United Center against the Heat. Injuries are telling much of the tale in both series. Peja Stojakovic may be out for the rest of the playoffs after missing Game 5 with a sore right knee. Stojakovic also missed Games 2 and 4, both of which Indiana lost. The difference between the Pacers with or without their starting shooting guard is clear. Handicappers are understandably scrambling to find some good information on Stojakovic?s status for Game 6. He was a last-minute scratch back in Game 2, and it may once again come down to a game-time decision Thursday.
The focus in the Heat-Bulls series is on Dwyane Wade?s hip. He needed X-rays after he hit the floor during the first half of Tuesday?s Game 5 in Miami, but came back in the third quarter and finished the night with 28 points in 33 minutes. Miami won 92-78 as an 8 ?-point favorite to finally cash in for the first time in the series. The Heat will probably be able to squeeze another star performance out of Wade in Game 6, but he?s being held together by painkillers and ice packs at this point. That dog won?t hunt much longer.
Chicago has taken advantage of Miami?s injury situation thus far. If only the Bulls didn?t have to worry about Tyson Chandler. The big man played just five minutes in Game 5 after spraining his right ankle during Game 4. Chandler had already lost his starting job to Michael Sweetney; however, having Chandler available for Game 6 (his status remains uncertain) would at least give Chicago another six fouls to commit against Shaquille O?Neal. Hack-a-Shaq is a tried and true formula. O?Neal is just 13-for-34 from the line in this series, and the more often the ball is in his hands rather than Wade?s, the closer the Bulls get to the pay window.
---Perry
BetWWTS.com
