NBA Trends April 22

NBA SHORT SHEET
Tuesday, April 22nd

Western Conference
Opening Round
Game Two
New Orleans Leads, 1-0
Dallas at New Orleans, 7:05 ET

Dallas:
10-1 ATS on the road after 2 consecutive division games
40-20 ATS vs. division opponents

New Orleans:
9-24 ATS off a home win against a division foe
19-37 ATS off a win against a division rival

Eastern Conference
Opening Round
Game Two
Orlando Leads, 1-0
Toronto at Orlando, 7:35 ET

Toronto:
14-24 ATS 2nd half of season
32-20 Under off road loss

Orlando:
22-13 ATS second half of the season
9-1 ATS at home against Atlantic division

Western Conference
Opening Round
Game Two
San Antonio Leads, 1-0
Phoenix at San Antonio, 9:30 ET

Phoenix:
33-16 ATS when the line is +3 to -3
25-10 ATS revenging a same season loss

San Antonio:
4-12 ATS playing 2 consecutive games as a home favorite
8-20 ATS as a home favorite of 6 points or less

Dallas was up 12 at half in Game 1 at New Orleans, then Chris Paul went nuts, Jazz won by 12, holding Nowitzki to 9-21 from floor, prompting TNT guys to rip Dirk for being soft, so would expect better effort from Mavericks here. Dallas shot just 33% from floor in Game 1, forced only eight turnovers.

Orlando shot 53.2% from floor in Game 1, running out to 20-pt lead after first quarter; they made 13-29 from arc, while holding slumping Toronto to 37.6% from floor. Game was 60-47 at half, so not lot of defense played by Raptors. Toronto is now 8-18 in last 26 games; they'll need much better effort here.

Game 1 of Suns-Spurs was epic contest that Suns let slip away just like they let series vs Spurs last year get away- they need to keep Duncan from going off (had 40 in Game 1), while they also need to keep Stoudemire in game, and Shaq (11 pts, five reb in Game 1) has to do more. Suns were just 5-16 from arc; they've never been good team with that low a percentage.

NBA Trend Sheet

7:00 PM DALLAS vs. NEW ORLEANS
Dallas is 2-4-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against New Orleans
Dallas is 10-3 SU in its last 13 games when playing on the road against New Orleans
New Orleans is 17-8 ATS in its last 25 games
New Orleans is 13-5 SU in its last 18 games

7:30 PM TORONTO vs. ORLANDO
Toronto is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Orlando
Toronto is 8-15 SU in its last 23 games when playing on the road against Orlando
Orlando is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Orlando is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games

9:30 PM PHOENIX vs. SAN ANTONIO
Phoenix is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Phoenix is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing San Antonio
San Antonio is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Phoenix
San Antonio is 13-4 SU in its last 17 games when playing at home against Phoenix

Tips and Trends

Dallas Mavericks at New Orleans Hornets

Mavs: Despite playing this series as a #7 seed, Dallas is still facing some pressure since many experts picked an upset of New Orleans in the first round. The Mavs built a 12-point halftime lead only to see the Hornets outscore them by 16 in the third quarter en route a Game 1 victory. "It?s total disrespect for New Orleans," Dallas head coach Avery Johnson said. "That?s what it is. A lot of people nationally, they don?t know what they?re talking about, for the fact of the matter. Nobody has a crystal ball on who?s going to win, who?s going to lose. Nobody knows. We know this is going to be a long, grind-it-out series, and fortunately there is a Game 2."

Mavs are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games overall.
The OVER is 10-1 in Dallas' last 11 games as an underdog.

Key Injuries - NONE

PROJECTED SCORE: TBD

Hornets (-3.5, O/U 193): Much was made of Game 1 being New Orleans point guard Chris Paul's first career playoff game, but he stayed poised and turned the tables on Dallas veteran Jason Kidd in the second half, rallying his team back for the big win. Paul overcame nerves early on to finish with 35 points and 10 assists. "Chris has played over 200 games," Hornets head coach Byron Scott said. "That?s enough experience right there."

The Hornets are 20-6 ATS in their last 26 home games.

Key Injuries - NONE

PROJECTED SCORE: TBD

Toronto Raptors at Orlando Magic

Raptors: The Toronto coaching staff gambled on some new wrinkles in the offensive gameplan prior to Game 1, and the players simply failed to execute the plays, according to star Chris Bosh. ?We were trying to implement too many new plays - we weren?t doing the things that got us here,? Bosh aid. ?We were trying to run too many new sets, we anticipated them shutting down every play we had without running them. We added some tweaks to the offense and that kind of confused us a little bit." Insiders expect Toronto to run the offense much more smoothly in Game 2.

Raptors are 1-10 ATS in their last 11 road games.
Raptors are 8-3 ATS in the last 11 meetings.

Key Injuries - NONE

PROJECTED SCORE: TBD

Magic (-5.5, O/U 199): Orlando was successful offensively in Game 1 thanks to amazing 3-point shooting, especially in the first half. The Magic hit 9 3-pointers and totaled a franchise-record 43 points in the first quarter, setting the pace for the rest of the game. That hot shooting from the outside helped open things up for Dwight Howard on the inside, as he totaled a game-high 25 points and 22 rebounds. However, insiders wonder how Orlando will fare if the shots aren't falling from beyond the arc.

Magic are 12-4-2 ATS in their last 18 home games.
The UNDER is 8-2 in Orlando's last 10 games overall.

Key Injuries - NONE

PROJECTED SCORE: TBD

Phoenix Suns at San Antonio Spurs

Suns: You have to wonder about the psyche of Phoenix after blowing a 16-point lead in Game 1 of what was already a heated first-round matchup. The Suns played without Shaquille O'Neal for most of the first half due to foul trouble and then lost leading scorer Amare Stoudemire in overtime, so they didn't get to fully take advantage of the duo playing together for most of the game. ?It?s really disappointing because we had the game won a few times,? Phoenix point guard Steve Nash said. ?You can look at a litany of mistakes that we made. Take your pick.?

Suns are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 Tuesday games.
Suns are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games vs. Southwest Division.
The OVER is 7-1 in Phoenix's last 8 games as a road underdog.

Key Injuries - NONE

PROJECTED SCORE: TBD

Spurs (-2, O/U 192): San Antonio has now won 9 of the last 12 meetings with Phoenix in the playoffs after capturing Game 1. NBA Sixth Man of the Year Manu Ginobili made the game-winning shot on a 3-footer off the glass with 1.8 seconds left in the second overtime due to the fact that Boris Diaw was the biggest man on the floor for the Suns when it mattered the most because Stoudemire had fouled out and O'Neal had 5 fouls. Ginobili scored 8 of his 24 points in the second OT and admitted he was able to win the game because they were out.

Spurs are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games overall.

Key Injuries - NONE

PROJECTED SCORE: TBD