Deaf Pick of the Day: Playoff Seeding on the Line – Indiana Pacers vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Playoff Seeding on the Line: Portland Trail Blazers @ Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers will host the Portland Trail Blazers in the Fieldhouse, and both are in “EVERY GAME MATTERS” mentality for playoff seeding. To start, the Pacers are 3-7 in their last 10 games and currently hold the 6th seed spot in the Eastern Conference. The 4th (Miami), 5th (Philly), and 6th seeds are within two games. The Boston Celtics have caught fire and started to separate into the 2nd/3rd seed conversation. With that being said, Indiana looks to hold serve (sorry, I’m a tennis guy) at home and beat the Dame Lillard-less Trail Blazers.
CJ McCollum can only do so much. That man is hurting without Dame Dolla. Coming off a Celtics loss, they are starting to feel the anxiety of being on the outside of the bubble sitting at the 9th seed. First of all, Portland is 4-6 in their last 10 games. They are 2.5 games back from the 8th seed (Memphis) and 10 games back from the Mavericks at the 7th. So, in reality, with less than 25 games to go, Portland is pretty much only within reach of the Grizzlies and needs to close the gap. However, the Blazers struggle on the road, with a 10-20 record. Moreover, they are running into the Pacers coming off a BLOW OUT 39-point win against the Hornets on Tuesday night.
The Pacers are led by All-Star Domantas Sabonis, who had a +/- +39 points (FYI, it means the time he was on the court the Pacers scored 39 more points than the opponent), scoring 21 points, 15 rebounds, and 9 assists. I think Sabonis and Myles Turner are slightly superior to Hassan Whiteside and the aging Carmelo Anthony. Vegas has the spread Pacers -9.5 with no Damian Lillard for the Blazers. I think with or without Oladipo they win and cover this game. Malcolm Brogdon is a fantastic perimeter defender to throw at McCollum with mixtures from T.J. Warren, Oladipo, and Holiday.
T.J. Warren will be a match-up PROBLEM for the Blazers. The weakest position on the Blazers' starting roster is at the SF, filled in by old veteran Trevor Ariza. Warren will certainly be the X-factor in this game if he can exploit that match-up. Also, he'll need to watch out for Sabonis to get Melo in foul trouble going at him in the post.
Deaf Pick of the Day: Indiana -9.5; They Will Win by 15-20.
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