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Atlanta / St. Louis Over
Atlanta / St. Louis Over
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Jeff Benton
Saturday's Action
60 Dime winner going out on the visitang Philadelphia 76ersas the undercdog at Boston in Game One of their Eastern Conferenne semifnal series. At the time I release this selection, the Sixers are listed as the 5 point underdog both here in Vegas and offshore.
ANALYSIS
No rest for the weary, as both Philadelphia and Boston put the wraps on their first round series' with home court nail-biter victaies on Thursday night. You can expect each team to be just a little flat when they hit the court on Saturday night, but I am a little more concerned with the aging Celtics bodies in this one, as Boston's core three - Allen, Garnett, and Pierce are no getting any younger, and the Celtics have been known to struggle when playing on short rest this season.
The 76ers are a team that thrives on defense first, and while I am not sold on backicng them when in the role of favorite, I do like taking the points with them when they are installed in the underdog role - such as tonight.
The teams met three times this season, Philly winning and covering in the two meetings in the City of Brotherly Love, but losing by a rather 103-79 margin in the last meeting on April 8th in Boston. A lot has changed for Philadelphia since that ugly loss, as the Sixers now have a belief that they can not only compete with Boston, but can actually win this series after disposnng of the #1 seed in the East (albeit an injured #1 seed in Chicago).
The matchups are not bad for Philly as evidenced by their 5-2 spread mark the last seven times these Atlantic Division rivals have faced one another.
With little time to prepare for either side, I believe grabbing the points is the way to go in Saturday's game on the parquet floor, and don't be surprised if the 76ers are able to steal home court advantage right off the bat.Comment
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