The first round of NBA games is finally tied up. The LA Lakers who are the first seed in the West beat out the Portland Trail Blazers in five games. Damian Lillard put up two thirty-point games from four due to not playing the final game with injuries. The Lakers will face off against the Houston Rockets. The Denver Nuggets beat out the Utah Jazz in game 7. The Clippers beat out the Mavericks as well. So far in the West, the top four seeds have made it through to the second round.
The East followed a remarkably similar pattern. The Bucks beat out Orlando while the Miami Heat swept the Pacers. The Miami Heat are the fifth seed in the East and the lowest seed remaining in the playoffs. The Raptors and Celtics are in the other Semi-Final game sitting at the second and third seed, respectively.
Denver Nuggets @ Los Angeles Clippers, Game 1, 3rd September, 9 p.m.
The Nuggets are coming up against a dangerous combination of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Kawhi is currently the reigning finals MVP and will certainly be looking to make it back. The Clippers finished as second seed after the regular season. The Clippers are -9 point favorites for Game 1.
The Denver Nuggets came back from 3-1 in their series against the Utah Jazz to win in Game 7. Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell put up some good performances for the Jazz but could not see out the final game. The Nuggets will look to Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic to outshine the Clippers George and Leonard combination.
The Nuggets put up some resilient performances to come back and beat the Jazz, but they are taking on a better team here. If the Clippers take a 3-1 lead there will be no redemption for the Nuggets. Take the Clippers -9 for this game at (-113) here at Canplay.
Miami Heat @ Milwaukee Bucks, Game 3, 4th September, 5.40 p.m.
Probably the biggest upset so far in the series. Miami leads the series 2-0 so far in an unexpected turn of events. The second game of the series came down to two free throws while there was no time on the clock. Jimmy Butler helped Miami take the first game with ease after scoring a whopping 40 points. Goran Dragic played well in both games to help Miami take the series lead. Duncan Robinson was kept pretty quiet in the opening games and is expected to show more quality in the remaining games in the series.
The Bucks will be looking to regular-season MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to step up his game after being overshadowed in the first two games. Even though the Bucks got off to a slow start they are going to step up their game or they will go 3-0 down in the series. It is time now for players like Khris Middleton and Giannis to show their value to the franchise. Back the Milwaukee Bucks -5 at (-114) here at Canplay.
