NBA Playoffs multi tips for the Thursday, May 12 double-header
Miami Heat at Toronto Raptors, Thursday, May 12, 2016, 10am AEST, Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Watch on ESPN
Portland Trailblazers at Golden State Warriors, Thursday, May 12, 12.30pm AEST, Oracle Arena, Oakland, Watch on ESPN
Suggested multi:
– Toronto Raptors to win by 1-10 ($2.38 with Sportsbet.com.au)
– Golden State Warriors at the line -12.5 ($1.91 with Sportsbet.com.au)
Combined multi bet pays $4.54 with Sportsbet.com.au
AN NBA playoff double header awaits us on Thursday, with a tough tied series between the Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat and the Golden State Warriors looking to ascend to the Western Conference Final against the Portland Trailblazers.
The Heat and Raptors series heads back to Toronto after the two teams split games at home, the Heat victorious in a 94-87 over time result that tied things up.
The Raptors wet the bed in OT, scoring just four points to the Heat’s 11 as club legend Dwyane Wade went on a tear, dropping 30 points.
The Heat led for just 13 seconds of the entire fourth, but closing it out thanks to Wade’s game tying lay up and solid over time play.
Guards Goran Dragic and Joe Johnson backed up Wade’s stellar play with 15 points each and rookie Justise Winslow provided spark off the bench with nine.
But it was the Wade show and the Raps had no answers, despite bench hustle from Cory Joseph and Terence Ross – 14 points each off the pine – the starters could not get the job done, stars Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan shut down, shooting a combined six for 28 from the field.
Filling in for the injured Jonas Valanciunas, big man Bismack Biyombo might have played his best NBA game with 13 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks, but the Raptors will need more out of their stars if they are going to take this game at home.
This has been one of the most even series in the playoffs with the seven point margin on Tuesday the biggest of the four games.
We’re predicting this one will be close again, with the Raptors just getting over the line, thanks, more than anything, to home court advantage.
If you’re looking for further options, three of the four games have fallen under the 188.5 total points on offer at Sportsbet.com.au so the unders are the way to go for us at $1.91.
After a remarkable final quarter and over time period from Golden State superstar Stephen Curry, it appears the Warriors have broken the Trailblazers collective backs.
Curry, who was today named the NBA’s first ever unanimous Most Valuable Player, giving him his second straight Maurice Podoloff Trophy, was unbelievable, considering it was his first game in two weeks, due to a knee injury he suffered in the first round against the Houston Rockets.
Curry had been the favourite for the MVP the entire season, but his injury threatened to derail the Warriors’ bid for back to back titles.
But his record breaking over time period in game four saved the Warriors and gave them a 3-1 lead in the series.
The MVP was only meant to play 25 minutes off the bench, but he ended up playing plenty more after team mate Shaun Livingstone was ejected in the second quarter. At one point in the game he was zero for nine from the three point line and was having a stinker. But his 17 points in the over time term destroyed the Blazers, after the underdogs had worked so hard to keep themselves in the series.
The end result was a 132-125 victory, thanks largely to Curry’s remarkable 40 point game, to go with a near triple double, nine rebounds and eight assists. He had help from the other pair of the Warriors Big Three, in his Super Splash Brother Klay Thompson, who scored 23 points with five three pointers, and Draymond Green, who was one steal off a remarkable five by five, 21 points, nine rebounds, seven blocks, five assists, and four steals.
“I love this game and love playing and love competing and really, really missed being out there with my teammates,” Curry said after the game.
“To help our team get a win in that kind of fashion and what not, that was a good feeling in that moment to be back on the floor and be playing.”
The Blazers’ gun back court running mates Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum did their best to will their side home, but Lillard’s 36 points and 10 dimes, and McCollum’s 24 were not enough.
The Blazers did crash the boards hard, with Mason Plumlee reeling in 15 caroms and Al Farouq Aminu 13 to go with his 18 points.
This series is about to be as lopsided as it should be, with a bunch of young guys who by their own admission have overachieved, against the battle hardened reigning NBA champs.
They will want to close it out at home and we expect that to happen in front of a raucous Oracle Arena crowd.
Steph will probably be sitting on the bench resting that knee by the end of the third quarter as the Warriors head for a blow out.
Curry joins Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Steve Nash as the only guards to earn the MVP honour in consecutive seasons.
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