May 24th Recap

May 24th Record: 1-1, -0.65u

*NBA Best Bet Loser(-1.65u): Heat/Bucks UNDER 222.5

--The Bucks erupted early and often and held a 46-20 lead after Halftime. Even with that unfavorable start, we came surprisingly close to cashing this ticket. Considering that the Heat seemed to have the game plan to stop Milwaukee offensively(dating back to last year’s playoffs), I was surprised to see them blow up defensively like they did tonight. I don’t like fading success from Milwaukee, but Miami’s strong defensive output throughout the season and Erik Spoelstra’s reputation ultimately tipped me to trust them tonight. In reality, the Bucks -4.5 was the best look tonight and their 34 point victory backs that up. Miami blew their best chance at a road win in this series when they lost in OT on Saturday, and I’m not surprised they struggled to break 100 tonight. The Bucks seem to have this series in the bag, and I’m not sure there is much value in looking any other way than Milwaukee in their upcoming Game 3 matchup. 

*NBA Winner(+1u): Blazers/Nuggets OVER 226.5

--While the Nuggets shot over 50% from the floor in their Game 1 loss on Saturday, they didn’t play their brand of basketball. Michael Porter Jr shot just 1/10 from beyond the arc, and Nikola Jokic recorded just 1 assist. Portland’s defense offers little resistance, so I was expecting a strong bounce back performance from Denver tonight. Luckily, we got it. Of course, with Overs, you need two to tango. Although the Blazers’ 109 output is low for their standards, it was more than enough for us to cash this ticket tonight. As long as Damian Lilliard is on the floor, I think the Blazers can hang with anybody. We’ll see if the oddsmakers adjust to the 2 straight Overs when they set the line for Game 3 of this series. For what it’s worth, I think this series is going to go 7 games, so I’m not likely to try to pick a side in this series until we get to Game 7. Not a great night for me, but we live to fight another day.