A 1-1 night: Portland loses, and Sacramento covers. I’m down $10 overall. The game I felt more confident about winning, I lost. Portland, having reeled off six in a row on the road (including a win in Miami), not far removed from a 93-69 blasting of the Bobcan’ts in Portland, and allegedly bringing a stung and motivated ex-Charlotte star into the arena (Gerald Wallace), couldn’t stop Stephen Jackson from taking the game away from them in the fourth quarter, enabling the Bobs to snap a five-game losing streak. Portland remains the better team, but the lesson may be that Friday nights at home with a single reliable player may be enough for mediocre teams in these contests. As impressive as Portland has been lately, it’s still a team that essentially wins 4 of 7 squaring off against a team that wins 3 of every 7 contests; which is to say both teams lose with some frequency, and this may be the kind of game a team like Portland is inclined to lose, road streak or no road streak.
Can’t see any bets at the moment for tomorrow, though it’s tempting to think the Clips will cover, and so might the Grizzlies and Pistons. As it stands, I’m waiting for next week’s games.
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