Sport
NBA Point Margin Preview & Syndicate
Jack Wright is turning his hand to basketball as he looks to take on this weekend’s NBA Point Margin Pick 5 pool! He’s playing for a share of the £25,000 jackpot, and you can join him here.
Utah Jazz @ Dallas Mavericks
These two teams met four times in the regular season and couldn’t be split winning two apiece, with all four games going by way of home court advantage.
The hosts for Game 1 have been rocked by a calf injury to star man Luka Doncic, with the Slovenian expected to miss Saturday evening’s opener at the American Airlines Center which is obviously a huge miss for Dallas, who is run almost entirely through the six-foot, 7-inch Guard. The Mavs will at least hope he will be fine for Game 2 but In his absence here, Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie will presumably take over almost all of the playmaking duties.
Utah will certainly look to capitalise on Doncic’s absence as they don’t have an adequate matchup for a player who dominated them in those previous match-ups. With Dallas playing small in this series can the Jazz figure out a way to beat a team doing this to them over seven games as has been well documented not to have been the case in the past?
I’m taking the home team to win again, even without Doncic and but possibly by a smaller margin than the most recent 114-100 victory.
Dallas Mavericks 5-8, 9-12
Minnesota Timberwolves @ Memphis Grizzlies
Another four-meeting split, with two wins apiece, again all home sides coming out on top however, the Grizzlies did need some overtime for one of theirs while Minnesota enjoyed a 138-95 rout in November which actually signposted a turn-around in Memphis’ season as they went on to record 48-18 after suffering that blow out.
The Timberwolves will be hoping for better from Karl-Anthony Towns who found himself in foul trouble early in the 109-104 win over the Clippers this week, but luckily, Jarred Vanderbilt and Naz Reid pitched in to get them over the line. Towns should be able to turn things around in the series against the Grizzlies, as he posted excellent numbers in all four games against them this season but I do think Memphis will prove too strong – especially at their FedExForum home.
I’m expecting Ja Morant to be too hot to handle for the Wolves D and help his side to a tightly fought opening game of the series win.
Memphis Grizzlies 1-4, 5,8
Toronto Raptors @ Philadelphia 76ers
Are the Raptors Philly’s hoodoo team? Maybe, just maybe, with the 119-114 win for Toronto completing a 3-1 season series victory just over a week ago and people now sitting up and really taking notice of the Nick Nurse’s outfit.
James Harden (hamstring) and Joel Embiid (knee) were both sidelined for the final regular-season season game with the Pistons but the Sixers will hope to have the pair back available for this one and will make use of Matisse Thybulle as he is unable to play in Toronto.
Embiid appears to be the difference maker here and if the Raptors can limit the damage he causes that will go a long way to determining a positive outcome for them.
Incredibly three of the four regular season games were won by a five point margin with the other by six, so in a game a genuinely feel can go either way, lets follow the trend – one team to win by between five and eight points!
Toronto Raptors 5-8, Philadelphia 76ers 5-8
Brooklyn Nets @ Boston Celtics
This match up features a serious sprinkling of magic dust with four star players, who all have the power within them to win a game almost single handedly, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown of Boston and Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving of the Nets – as perfectly illustrated by their play-in performances against the Cavs.
The Celtics by fortune or design grabbed 2nd seed ahead of the Bucks and in doing so eliminated the risk of being unable to field its unvaccinated players in Canada – this match up seemed the better option.
Boston won the last three regular season match ups between these two by 6, 23 & 35 points so will feel confident ahead of this series – with Brooklyn’s sole win coming early in the season with James Harden still on the roster, although Irving didn’t feature that day.
When you have two players that can regularly put up 30 points plus it gives you a chance against anybody – but for me this should be a cracker to watch but will end in a narrow win for the Celtics.
Boston Celtics 5-8, 9-12
Chicago Bulls @ Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks swept the Bulls in regular season, completing a 4-0 whitewash with two wide margin victories (21 & 28 points) after the first two match ups were closely fought with just four and six points separating the sides.
That was pretty symptomatic of Chicago’s season – starting off pretty well, before tailing off alarmingly – winning seven of their last 22 games – really struggling without Lonzo Ball who has been ruled out until next season and as a result I can’t see this series going deep in to the seven games.
The defending champions look strong and of course have the formidable Giannis Antetokounmpo who I can’t see the Bulls being able to contain – as far as this match-up is concerned in my opinion these two teams are only close when it comes to geography.
Milwaukee Bucks 21-24, 25+
