Nets, Bulls, Blazers all enjoy home court advantage in NBA playoffs

Brooklyn Nets will look to even their first round playoff series with Atlanta, when they face the Hawks in Game 4 on Monday as 4.5-point underdogs in Coral’s NBA betting.

The No. 8 Nets cut Atlanta’s series lead to 2-1 with a convincing 91-83 win in Game 2, claiming the upset win on the strength of a second-half 18-0 run that erased the Hawks’ only lead of the game, and sealed the win for Brooklyn as 3.5-point betting underdogs.

That loss further compounded No. 1 Atlanta’s recent struggles on the road. Heading into Monday night’s Game 4 matchup at Barclay’s Center, the Hawks are 3-7 SU in their last 10 road contests, 2-6-1 ATS, and have averaged just 89 points per game in their last three on the road.

Conversely, the Nets are now a solid 9-3 SU in their last 12 on home court, 7-3-2 ATS, and have seen the point total consistently play UNDER in recent outings, 7-1-1 in their last 10.

However, Brooklyn still have their work cut out for them against the Hawks, who had posted SU wins in each of seven games against the Nets prior to Game 3, and have lost back-to-back games just three times since early December.

Milwaukee Bucks @ Chicago Bulls (-8.5)
The Bulls will try once again to end their series with the Bucks when they welcome them to United Center for Game 5 on Monday as 8.5-point favourites.

Milwaukee fended off the series sweep by No. 3 seeds Chicago, as Jerryd Bayless beat the buzzer with a game-winning layup to give the Bucks a 92-90 victory in Game 4 on Saturday, and their opponents’ series lead to 3-1.

This SU win marked the No. 6 Bucks’ second victory over the Bulls in their last three on home court. But, Milwaukee have struggled mightily in recent visits to the Windy City, losing five straight, SU and ATS, and are a meagre 4-17 SU in their last 21 on the road versus the Bulls, 9-11-1 ATS.

Not surprisingly, Chicago are heavy 1/5 favourites to win this series and end the Milwaukee’s season on Monday night, setting the stage for a second round playoffs showdown with No. 2 seeds Cleveland Cavaliers, who completed a sweep of upstarts Boston Celtics on Sunday.