Game Preview Article: Oklahoma City Thunder @ Utah Jazz
Oklahoma City will face Miami at home next Thursday and considering the importance of that game for them (revenge from NBA Finals + their loss at Miami earlier on this season), they aren't in a great "mindset" spot tonight. Anyway, the Thunder are currently playing at an incredible level in both ends of the floor. They are hitting their outside shots on offense with 40.6% 3pts on their last 10 games and 44.6% 3pts on their last 5 games, while they are also shooting 73% FG at the rim on their last 10 games, with their transition game also demolishing their opponents, as they have scored 24, 25, 20, 30 and 20 fast break points in five of their last six games. Russell Westbrook has won NBA Player of the Week award without playing in the fourth quarter in every single game last week - this says it all about OKC's recent level of play.
Utah has been very inconsistent lately. They are missing Mo Williams and especially Gordon Hayward badly, who is their best playmaker coming off the bench. Of course Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap have big games here and there, but without a consistent outside shooting, the Jazz's offense is simply too one-dimensional. Only Randy Foye has been consistent and he really has to put some great offensive numbers because defensively his lack of speed is a huge problem for the team. Utah really didn't have any chance on their last game at Sacramento, as they were tired and Sacramento ran them out of the gym. Now they had 2 days off to rest for this game, so we can expect them to be super aggressive tonight.
This will be the fifth time this season that Utah is a home underdog in a game. This is also the biggest line they have had as a home underdog this season. Guess what? They are 4-0 ATS this season on this spot. They lost 104-105 against the Clippers as +2 underdog, they defeated San Antonio by 99-96 as a +4 underdog, they lost to the Clippers by 114-116 as a +3 underdog and they defeated Miami by 104-97 as a +3 underdog as well.
Game Preview Article: Denver Nuggets @ Toronto Raptors
Boston paid the price yesterday of a brutal but exciting game last Sunday against Denver. The Nuggets aren't in such a terrible spot for today, as they are a younger team than the Celtics, with more depth and they also had 1 day to rest. Denver managed to make a nice late comeback at Boston by sending the game to overtime. As expected, the Nuggets had a great edge on transitions with 22 fast break points scored and grabbed 56% of the rebounds, however Boston forced 21 turnovers, so the Nuggets have turned the ball over more than 20 times in each of their last two games! George Karl's rotations have been solid and Denver's second unit has been playing at a high level, as all their starters ended the game with negative +/- team points, while the four backups had all positive net numbers!
This new look Raptors team is yet to show great chemistry, but they are learning how to play with each other fast. Toronto with Rudy Gay has been competitive in every game so far, excluding their game against Miami, where they had Kyle Lowry and Amir Johnson in foul trouble for the whole second half. If we exclude that game, the Raptors were always competitive and against some decent teams such as the Clippers, Boston, Indiana and on their last game against New Orleans. The loss of Jose Calderon and the arrival of Rudy Gay turned the Raptors into an explosive team on the wings with Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Rudy Gay. They are now a more athletic team and today's game against the Nuggets will be interesting because of that, as we will watch a battle between two very explosive teams on the wings! I don't know if it's because of this new style, but it's also important to note that Toronto has been dominating completely on the rebounds by grabbing 53.64%, 55.78%, 54.66%, 54.53% and 56.29% of the rebounds on their last five games! With the Raptors being explosive and a good rebounding team, they are suddenly a team that can hang around with the potent Nuggets on these areas! So, no wonder the books made the Nuggets just a 2 points favorite for this contest!
Game Preview Article: Portland Trailblazers @ Miami Heat
Lebron James is playing at an incredible level right now and when that happens, it's very hard to beat Miami especially at home. On their last game, the Lakers actually played really well, with Kobe Bryant making the right decisions quite often with sharp passes and nice shots on isolation plays when he had a favorable matchup especially against Ray Allen. Earl Clark was great in both ends of the floor and the Lakers's offense were aggressive by attempting 26 free throws! The key factor for them throughout the game was their ability in not committing turnovers and limit Miami's transition game in that way. However, the Lakers's offense went missing in action in the fourth quarter. Kobe Bryant's isolation plays over Ray Allen caused the Lakers's offense to lose its flow and Miami adjusted on defense by double teaming Kobe at the right time, causing the Lakers to start turning the ball over, allowing Miami to finally start pounding the Lakers on transitions. With the Heat crushing on the boards and finally causing turnovers, they comfortably secured their win. For today, the Heat will face the Blazers at home, but their final game of the first half of the season for them will be at Oklahoma City next Thursday. So, will they be motivated tonight?
Portland is coming from a loss in Orlando where they didn't have legs to compete. They are completely without gas right now, their road trip continues tonight and with their starters always having to play heavy minutes, as they don't have any depth on their roster, the Blazers aren't being able to handle that anymore. That was clearly on the boards battle against the Magic, as Orlando grabbed 60% of the rebounds, while outrebounding the Blazers by 17-5 in the offensive glass! At the same time, Portland's interior defense was a complete disaster, with the Magic scoring 60 points in the paint, while shooting 27-39 (69%) FG at the rim! All frontcourt players from Orlando had a nice game: Nikola Vucevic 8-12 FG, 17 points and 19 rebounds, Andrew Nicholson 5-9 FG and 5 rebounds and Gustavo Ayon 8-14 FG, 16 points and 11 rebounds! The Blazers's backcourt defense also couldn't handle the Magic's ball handlers, as Orlando shot 9-15 FG and had 1.27 PPP on cuts! Even though this defensive disaster, the Blazers managed to be competitive in the game thanks to a good offensive game with 50.6% FG, 10-27 3pts and 31 assists! That's remarkable considering Damian Lillard had a terrible game with 1-16 FG! If we don't count Lillard, the remaining of the Blazers's team shot 42-67 (63%) FG! This also shows that Orlando is having no effort on defense right now. The Blazers will now play at Miami and this will be the first time this season that they are double digits underdog in a game!
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