Trail Blazers vs Suns Picks – Roy-Less Blazers Will Falter
Online betting fans know that injuries have affected the Trail Blazers more than most teams in the NBA. They lost Greg Oden for the year and now they’ll be without leading scorer Brandon Roy for at least their first round playoff series. The Blazers simply can’t content without their best player.
The Story
First it was Greg Oden. Then Rudy Fenandez missed time. Then Joel Przbylla was lost for the year. And now finally Roy has succumbed to injury. The Blazers have simply had bad injury luck this year. Now they have to face one of the deepest teams in the league after their depth has been shortened.
Meanwhile, the Suns are a contender again as head coach Alvin Gentry has made them 10-deep. It didn’t make sense earlier when they were using so much of their bench yet still struggling, but now it makes sense as the depth has been developed. The Suns stormed to the No. 3 seed in the West and it was a surprising ascent. At home in this series, they shouldn’t have many problems.
Trail Blazers vs Suns: Better Starters?
The edge here has to go to the Suns, especially since the Blazers are without two starters. Roy and Oden will be out, which hurts the Blazers but Marcus Camby at least replaced Oden.
But where will the fire power come from in the Blazers back court? Roy is too valuable to lose as he is their best scorer, their crunch time scorer and their superstar that opens up opportunities for others.
Meanwhile, the Suns are healthy and rock solid in their starting five. Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire are still studs while Jason Richardson and Grant Hill are fitting in fine. NBA betting fans have a tough time arguing that they don’t have the edge in the starting lineup.
Edge: SunsTrail Blazers vs Suns: Better Bench?
As mentioned, the Blazers are short. Without Roy, Oden and Przbyilla, they have been forced to dip into the backups to start. They have some versatile players off the bench but they have the short end of the stick. Meanwhile, the Suns have Leandro Barbosa, Channing Frye and a number of other contributors who stepped up as the season progressed.
Without question, the Suns have the edge here as well.
Edge: SunsTrail Blazers vs Suns: X-Factor?
Sportsbook odds makers will have a tough time making a case for Portland, but one area is their defense. The Suns don’t play a lot of defense and if the Blazers can slow the game down and make this a dog fight, they’ll have a small chance to win it.
But Phoenix knows this and since they have home court, they are going to dictate the pace for at least the games they have at home. Pace will be the key and Phoenix should have the edge throughout this series.
Who’s Gonna Win?
The Blazers are just in a tough spot. With home court and with Roy, they would be favored to win this series. Without him and without that extra game at home, they are backed into a corner.
They will have a tough time winning games in this series and it could be a quick one.
