NBA Home Teams Have To Turn Up Pressure
By Doug Upstone
Charlotte and Milwaukee are in 0-2 holes and will be looking for energy from the home patrons attempting to hold serve in what is a must win scenario. Oklahoma City got the first of two they needed in Game 3 and also have to come up with a another victory, fully understanding what a daunting task it would be to go to L.A. having to win down 3-1 in the series. The roundball adventure continues for home clubs needing to come up big.
Orlando at Charlotte 2:00E TNT
Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson have accounted for 51.2 percent of the Bobcats offense, which suggests that others have to tickle the twine since Charlotte's has two "L's" to begin the series.
Charlotte is not a good outside shooting team, depending more on slashing and driving to the rim and collecting fouls for free throw attempts. Their loss Wednesday night was perfect illustration off what has gone wrong.
The Bobcats could not solve Orlando's defensive schemes and committed 19 turnovers and had 17 fewer attempts from the charity stripe than the Magic (35-18).
"Our defense is keeping us in it, and our offense is keeping us out of the game," said center Tyson Chandler. "We can't come off what we do and just look for our jump shots. We're not a jump-shot team and not a 1-on-1 team." Charlotte is 9-18 ATS after not covering two of their last three against the spread this season.
The Bobcats have to rev up the offense and are 15-5 ATS after scoring 80 points or less and 16-5 ATS after totaling 35 points or less in the first half.
They are two-point underdogs to Orlando, with total of 184.5 and the Magic are 16-4 ATS off two exact home contests. Coach Stan Van Gundy will seek similar balance as the last contest with five double digit scorers and the top four averaging 10-12 shots each.
Orlando has won five of last six in downtown Charlotte, covering four times and the UNDER is 5-1.
Atlanta at Milwaukee 7:30E ESPN
The Bucks have had ample time to correct their inadequacies, last playing Tuesday night. Milwaukee has been within contact in both games with Atlanta, but the general sense was the Hawks have not been really threatened in the series.
Milwaukee has to improve dramatically in transition defense if they expect to come out a winner in Game 3.
"As athletic as they are, it's not like anybody's dunking in a crowd on us. They're wide open. The balls are going up, and they're finishing them," coach Scott Skiles explaining the 11 dunks and 19 layups his team allowed in the first two games. "All we're comparing ourselves to is ourselves. We normally don't give that stuff up. We need to not give that easy stuff up."
The Bucks were the best cover team in the NBA this season at 51-28-3 ATS, but have dropped the first two in postseason. They are 14-4 ATS at the Bradley Center after two games as a road underdog.
The Bucks fans will be cascading boo's down to Atlanta's Josh Smith, who evidently has had too much time off and wants a part-time Travel Channel gig.
Smith was asked about what he would with his free time in Milwaukee and if he would ever vacation there. "Would you go? Would you go? Would you go up there?" Smith responded. "Everybody knows there ain't nothing to do in Milwaukee, man. Everybody knows that." Hello boo-birds.
Atlanta is a one-point underdog at Sportbet.com and will be presented with a challenge, since Milwaukee is 19-6 and 14-10-1 ATS at home in 2010, however two of the spread losses have come from the Hawks. The Bucks are 13-4 ATS after three straight games forcing opponent to commit 14 or less turnovers and the Birds are 4-16 ATS as visitors in all playoff matchups.
L.A. Lakers at Oklahoma City 9:30E ESPN
The Lakers had been dismissing talk of uninspired play for over a month, saying when the playoffs arrived they would be like a warship ready for battle, with all hands on deck. In their first true challenge of the playoffs (a No. 1 seed winning at home over a No. 8 doesn't count), Los Angeles lacked the mental and physical capacity to succeed on the road, losing in the fourth quarter to Oklahoma City.
The Thunder outworked and showed greater desire in winning the crucial final 12 minutes 27-21, after holding one-point lead in the final stanza.
Oklahoma City is now 6-1 ATS against teams with a winning road record of late and can even this series if the Phil Jackson's lethargic club settles for long jumps shots (31 three-point attempts) and doesn't work the ball better into the paint. When Serge Ibaka and Nick Collison were paired together, they bottled up the Lakers big men in the lane and they offered little resistance in demanding the ball.
Though smaller in stature, OKC's big guys were superior in boxing out the taller L.A. bunch and destroyed them on the glass with effort and hustle 53-39.
Kobe Bryant and his teammates continue to be play without discipline and have the patience of a three year old. Kevin Durant had more free throws than the Lake Show (13-12) and Bryant returned to selfish ways of seeking his shot, which could be a function of the rest of the Lakers players not actively working to take quality shots. It's no wonder they are 13-24 ATS in second half of the season this season.
The Thunder are two-point favorites and are 13-3 ATS when the favored by 4.5 or less, with L.A. 2-8 ATS in reverse role of 4.5 or fewer points underdog. With the total at 193.5, the purple clad Lakers are 12-4 UNDER when the line is +3 to -3 this season, losing by 1.9 points a game.