The New Orleans Pelicans took the upper hand in their first-round NBA playoffs series with a road upset of the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 1 on Saturday. Now, Portland faces increased urgency as it aims to avoid a two-game deficit, while New Orleans will look to take command of the series with a win in Game 2 on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET).
The Trail Blazers are six-point sportsbook favorites with the over-under for total points scored set at 214.
Before picking a side, listen to what SportsLine analyst Galin Dragiev has to say. The veteran NBA handicapper finished the season as SportsLine's No. 1 analyst, and he entered the NBA playoffs with a 16-6 run on spread picks.
He also has been locked in on these two teams, posting an identical 16-6 mark on his spread selections when the Pelicans or Blazers are involved. Now, he has released a confident play for Game 2 that you can only get at SportsLine.
As many basketball observers anticipated in Game 1, New Orleans took advantage of perhaps the biggest singular on-court mismatch in the first round: Anthony Davis had 35 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks in the 97-95 upset victory.
The versatile 6-foot-10 forward exploited the relatively undersized Blazers and regularly crafted high-percentage shots. Davis was 14 of 26 from the field and added a pair of assists in 41 minutes.
But perhaps the biggest story in Game 1 was the backcourt play of Pelicans guards Jrue Holiday and Rajon Rondo, who outperformed their more celebrated counterparts in Portland's Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
Holiday repeatedly made big plays down the stretch, including a blocked shot in the final seconds to stave off a Portland comeback from a 19-point deficit. The eight-year veteran finished with 21 points and seven assists.
The mercurial Rondo impacted the game with ball distribution, defense and rebounding. He had 17 assists and eight rebounds.
Lillard and McCollum were held to 37 points on 13-of-41 shooting. They averaged more than 48 points as a duo in the regular season.
The Pelicans have now covered four straight road games and six straight overall, while Portland is 7-2 ATS when coming off a spread loss. The favorite is 10-4 ATS in this series.
Will the Pelicans duplicate their Game 1 effort and pull another upset, or will the desperate Blazers tie the series with a dominant win and cover? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of Pelicans-Blazers you should support Tuesday, from an accomplished analyst who is 16-6 on picks involving these teams.
