Utah +1 over Houston

Im a little surprised this line is still in favor of Houston. Ill pretty much copy what I wrote before, with the addition that after watching the first game, I dont think Utah played nearly as well as they are capable of, and Battier played terrific offensively and they still couldnt come close.

Utah isnt too good on the road, but I definitely think they will win the game. Rafer Alston isnt playing, and I dont think Bobby Jackson can play 30-35 productive minutes. Im not sold on Brooks as a backup from what I have seen from him. Look for Deron Williams to have a HUGE game.

Washington (+110) ML seems like a decent wager tonight too, although Im more confident in the Utah game. Cleveland's supporting cast is awful, and I think Arenas will be more of a factor in the 2nd half then he was this weekend. If they get back to covering LeBron with Butler, and then send a swing man to harass him, I think they contain him enough to allow Jamison, Butler, and Arenas to score enough to win the game. If the game is tied or within one possession in the last minute, Cleveland probably wins, but I see this series going 6 or 7 games and I dont see Cleveland winning tonight.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I'm going to give Houston a play tonight. Utah hasn't been a consistent road team this season, and although they have matched up well vs. Houston in the past, I think they got what they came for on Saturday with the Game 1 road win, and McGrady has to have a 30+ point night along with some 3's from this teammates. I don't think Houston can shut down the Jazz because they don't have an answer for Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer (so maybe this is a horrible selection), but I do think we're going to get a close Houston win, played in the 90's.

Rockets 97
Jazz 93

Houston just couldnt buy a basket. They played very hard and you cant fault their effort, just sometimes the ball doesnt go in. Tough break, not sure I see this series coming back to Houston.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Yeah, they had their shot, and couldn't come through. This series will probably end in Utah, 5 games max. Once again, Tracy McGrady can't get out Round 1 (though that team around him is pretty brutal).

I wouldn't blame McGrady. I would start with Rick Adelman. What a pud. First thing he does in his post game press conference is talk about his team missing free throws. Yes they did, but it chaps my ass when coaches blame their players for losses. They had several possessions in the fourth quarter that were very mismanaged. And you would think he would have figured out some way to stop Deron Williams' penetration. Hey Rick, how about your poor coaching? At crunch time, your team didn't get it done on either end of the floor. Doesn't that go right on your back? Yet there is Adelman blaming his players. Adelman isn't exactly a hall of famer with a mediocre 70-70 record in the playoffs. Yes, Houston may be missing a few players, but I'm not very impressed with their "blame the players" coach either.

Completely agree on the point about Adelman. I thought he did a nice job during the regular season adjusting his style to his personell, but hes an underachieving coach as far as the postseason is concerned.

I was impressed with T-Mac today. While he didnt score in the 4th, he grabbed a few boards, made some very nice setup passes that led to missed FT's. He hit Jackson with 40 seconds left for an open 3 to tie it that was negated by Scola's offensive foul. Scola has progressed very nicely this year but he had a bad 4h quarter.

It doesnt bode well for Houston that it got very solid play out of Jackson and Brooks and still couldnt get it done. I dont know how much Alston improves the production from the point guard spot from tonight's performance.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Suns +2 over San Antonio

The first game was thrilling, and I expect the 2nd game to be the same. I think Shaq stays on the court more, and the Suns find a way to get a win tonight. This series is going 7 games, and I dont see the Suns dropping a 2nd game in a row to start the series. They are going to need to make some adjustments in the post because starting midway through the third Duncan just ate them alive. D'Antoni has shown before his ability to adjust in a seven game series, and I think he makes enough of them to win this game. Grant Hill is going to need to show up much more than he did last game. They need his offense and his defense on Tony Parker, who dribbled circles around Nash in Game 1.

Orlando -6 over Toronto

Jamario Moon didnt play hardly at all on Sunday, and he's being replaced tonight with Bargnani at SF. I realize the Moon-Hedo matchup isnt ideal for Toronto, but this move seems very desperate and I highly doubt Andrea will fair any better at defending Turkoglu. If Dwight Howard defends the post as well as he did last game, I think they get enough offense from everyone else to win this one again by double digits. Chris Bosh is going to have to break the double team quicker than before, and I dont know if they have enough help around him to do that.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Utah -9 over Houston
OVER 184

At least now the line is a little bit more where it should be, but I think Utah, for all intents and purposes, ends this series tonight. They play extremely well offensively at home, and routinely put up 110+. I usually dont know which way to go on O/U bets, but I think 184 is just too low. I see the Jazz firing on all cylinders, with the return of Alston not providing enough to keep it close going into the 4th.

Jazz 114
Houston 93

Orlando +4 over Toronto

I got this matchup wrong last time, and its a must win game for the Raptors if they want to stay in this series, I just dont think they have enough to beat Orlando. Dwight Howard has been an absolute beast in this series, going over 20/20 both games. I see that continuing tonight. Chris Bosh played fantastic last game and it wasnt enough. I dont know if he has that type of game in him again tonight.

Orlando 102
Toronto 94

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Detroit -5
Detroit/Philadelphia over 180
New Orleans +6.5
San Antonio +7

_________________
Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way