What time is it? It’s playoffs time!

What time is it? It’s playoffs time!

After dominating their NBA playoffs openers, Golden State, Houston and Washington return to action this Thursday to thrill live betting once more. Portland, Atlanta and Oklahoma will look to get a crucial win on the road and sway betting odds in their favour; but they won’t have their hopes up with most betting tips still backing the higher seeded teams to come out on top.

Portland Trail Blazers @ Golden State Warriors (April 20, 10:30 GMT+8)

Following his team’s abysmal showing at the Oracle Arena, Damian Lillard might have to adjust his “Blazers in six” prediction. After all, he can’t take down the Warriors alone. Golden State didn’t even play their best yet in the first game, with Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry failing to get hot from three. But if the Blazers continue to give the Warriors a lot of open shots, it won’t take long before they experience what the death lineup can do.

Not to mention that the do-it-all Draymond Green is continuously proving how strong the Dubs can be with him. The absence of Jusuf Nurkic cripples the Blazers defence and their performance in the painted area; and with the Bosnian centre still unavailable, I expect the Warriors to dominate Game 2 again and breeze through an Asian Handicap -14.00 that pays at 2.04.

Oklahoma City Thunder @ Houston Rockets (April 20, 08:00 GMT+8)

Now, who’s the real MVP? Is it Russell Westbrook who had a forgettable performance the last time out? Or James Harden who almost recorded a triple-double? Sure enough, one game won’t decide who the better player is, but the Game 1 of the Rockets-Thunder series certainly prove which team is better and more complete.

Oklahoma cannot continue relying solely on Westbrook if they want to make this playoff matchup a competitive one, though I don’t think the Rockets would want to falter after establishing their dominance. With that in mind, another Houston victory on -7.50 @ 1.85 sounds like a steal.

Atlanta Hawks @ Washington Wizards (April 20, 07:00 GMT+8)>

As Paul Millsap said it after their Game 1 loss, the Wizards “were playing MMA.” However, that only shows Washington’s physicality which Atlanta failed to match. Defence is the key area that the Hawks need to improve in this series – which is confusing for a team that boasted a top-10 defence during the regular season. Nonetheless, you know there’s something wrong with how you’re playing when most of the opponents’ starters average above 50 percent from the field.

The Wizards still lack depth beyond their starting unit as what we have seen in the first game, so Atlanta should prioritise neutralising the scorers – particularly John Wall and Bradley Beal – in this one. If they can do so, they should be solid choices on +5.00 @ 2.00.

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