San Antonio Spurs vs. Phoenix Suns
Free Pick: Phoenix Suns -4
Courtesy of Mike Rose (Handicapperspicks.com)
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Conference Semifinal action picks up in the desert on Monday night where the San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns will begin their battle for the right to play in the Western Conference Finals.

After dropping Game 1 in their quarterfinal series with the Dallas Mavericks, the Spurs rattled off three straight victories to steal home court and eventually won the series in six games.

Phoenix split its first four games with the Portland Trail Blazers before it punched its ticket to the Western Conference Semifinals by taking Games 5 & 6 with relative ease.

The trio of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker once again reigned supreme for the Spurs in their 1st round match-up with the in-state rival Mavericks.

The keys to success throughout their series with the Mavs was their ability to force turnovers and play stifling defense. They averaged just over six steals per game and held the Mavericks to 90 or less points in four of the six overall NBA playoff betting battles.

Phoenix got a stern test from one of the league’s best defensive teams in the first round of the playoffs. The Suns top ranked offense averaged 103.3 PPG in the series, which was almost seven-points fewer than their regular season average of 110.2 PPG.

When they surpassed the 100-point plateau, the Suns won all four games and went 3-1 ATS.

These Western Conference rivals met up three times throughout the 2009-10 regular season with the home team winning each game. Phoenix came out the pointspread victor though (3-0 ATS) after it covered the four-point spread at San Antonio falling 113-110.

This is going to be a very interesting series to take in for NBA bettors as the grizzled and experienced legs of the Spurs try to keep pace with the frenetic Suns offense. The Suns would love to play every one of their games well over the 200-point barrier, while SA would be ecstatic to keep every one of its opponents around 100-points.

Easier said than done; especially in this spot!

Phoenix let Game 1 get away from them in the quarterfinals against Portland. They ultimately lost 105-100 as lofty 8.5-point favorites allowing Andre Miller to have a monster game. Their shots wouldn’t fall evidenced by them shooting a pathetic 41.8 percent from the field.

San Antonio Spurs vs. New Jersey Nets
Free Pick: New Jersey +8 (March 29th 2010 – Big Al McMordie)
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At 7:30 pm, our complimentary selection is on the New Jersey Nets + the points over San Antonio. Last night, we cashed a big High Roller selection on the Spurs over Boston (we’re now 5-0 our last 5 High Rollers), but the Spurs were in one of their best roles on Sunday (they were on the road, playing with revenge); tonight, they’re in one of their worst. And that is to play AGAINST San Antonio if it is playing without rest, and is PK or Favored off back-to-back wins. Since 2005, the Spurs have been very poor in this situation. With San Antone off back-to-back BIG wins over Cleveland and Boston, look for the Spurs to stumble a bit vs. the league’s worst team, New Jersey. And, of course, it certainly wouldn’t hurt if Gregg Popovich decided later in the day to rest Timmy Duncan (this is one of only a few “back-to-backs” left on San Antonio’s schedule, which Coach Pop likes to utilize to rest Timmy). That would make our pointspread, here, look even more attractive. So, this is also a play where it makes sense to get down earlier, rather than later. Good luck, as always…Al McMordie.