ANNIHILATOR
I'm playing on Portland and Golden State to finish UNDER the total. The reason that we have such a high over/under line here is because the Warriors score the second most points (most at home) in the league and because they also give up the most. That was on display in the Warriors' last game, as they combined with the Knicks to score a whopping 271 points. However, the Knicks are a team cut from the same mold as the Warriors, as they like to run up and down the floor and don't care much for playing defense. Note that even with that result, the UNDER remains a profitable 7-3 the last 10 Golden State games. Unlike the Knicks, the Blazers are a team which is capable of playing excellent defense. Heading into last night's game, the were allowing 95.2 points per game. Therefore, it was no surprise that they limited Oklahoma City to only 92. The 96.8 points per game which they allow on the road is the third best mark in the Western Conference, seventh best in the league. Looking back at Portland's last 20 games and we find that only two of them produced greater than 217 combined points. While both earlier meetings finished above the total, the UNDER remains a highly profitable 13-5 the last 18 meetings in this series. Note that NONE of those 20 meetings had an over/under line as high as tonight's number. The highest over/under line of those 20 games was one of 214.5 in 2007. This year's earlier two games had totals of 205.5 and 209 points. Tonight's number is significantly higher, which gives us plenty of room to work with. Note that the Blazers have seen the UNDER go 5-2 the last seven times that they played a game with an over/under line of 210 or great, including a 4-1 mark in five road games. Look for them to do their best to slow down their hosts and for the final combined score to find its way beneath the generous number. *Annihilator
