NBA Betting – Portland vs Phoenix

NBA playoff betting action continues with a full slate of action on Tuesday night, and here at BetOnline Sportsbook, we’re focusing in on the duel in the Western Conference between the Phoenix Suns and the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Blazers were the only road team to swipe a victory in Game 1 of these conference quarterfinal duels, as they took out the Suns 105-100 thanks to a stellar fourth quarter in which they outscored Phoenix 35-28.

#6 Portland Trail Blazers (51-32, 45-36-2 ATS) vs. #3 Phoenix Suns (54-29, 48-34-1 ATS)

Game Date/Time: Tuesday, April 20th, 10:00 ET
Game Location: US Airway Center, Phoenix, AZ
TV/Radio Broadcast: NBA TV, Fox Sports Arizona, Sirius

NBA Playoff Odds
Portland Trail Blazers +8.5
Phoenix Suns -8.5
Game Total 204

G Brandon Roy might not have been available for the Trail Blazers, but a host of others really came to play and crushed the Suns with their accuracy.

G Andre Miller was the star of stars, shooting 10/17 from the floor and 10/10 from the charity stripe, totaling 31 points in all to go along with his eight assists and five boards.

The inside game was crucial as well, as both F LaMarcus Aldridge and C Marcus Camby stepped up huge. Aldridge was the scoring force with 22 points, while Camby pulled down 17 rebounds to lead the way in that department.

Portland, a team which normally doesn’t shoot that well from the field, shot 46.9 percent for the game.

The far more impressive stats came defensively, where so many of the Suns sharpshooters were kept in check. Phoenix only shot 38/91 from the field (41.8%) and just 11/32 from downtown (34.4%). Both numbers fell well below their regular season shooting percentages.

G Steve Nash was the only man that really had a strong night by his standards for the Suns. The Canadian scored 25 points on 10/18 shooting and dished out nine assists.

G Jason Richardson did have a double-double, scoring 14 points to go with 10 rebounds, but he only shot 4-of-12 from the floor.

F Amare Stoudemire, who may be in his last few games with the Suns, shot just 8/19 after shooting over 55 percent from the field in the regular season. He ended up with just 18 points in the face of the stout Portland ‘D’.

The Blazers did a great job of taking care of the basketball in spite of the up tempo game, committing just 10 blunders. That will need to keep up if they hope to pull the upset and knock Phoenix out of the playoffs.

NBA Playoff Insider Tip: Portland is 5-0-1 ATS in its L/6 NBA betting affairs against the Suns.

After watching Game 1 materialize as it did, it’s hard to see how the Suns are going to really just blow the Blazers out of the building. We think that Phoenix is going to be the winning team, but we tend to believe that sticking inside this number is once again a real possibility for the visitors.

Don’t expect an outright win, but back the Blazers in this Game 2 NBA playoff betting odds battle with the Suns.

My NBA Playoff Prediction: Phoenix by 3