The San Antonio Spurs landed the first blow in their series against the Phoenix Suns and will try and take a commanding lead tonight in Phoenix. The big collision that occurred in game #1 was Tony Parker and Steve Nash butting heads with Nash getting the worst of it and suffering a cut that required six stitches to close. It also caused Nash to miss key moments in the final few minutes because the cut was bleeding so badly. Early betting at SBG Global has more money on the Spurs but more wagers on the Suns.

Nash was unable to rescue the Suns in the final minute and the Spurs came away with a 111-106 victory Sunday in the opener of the Western Conference semifinal. Parker ended the day with 32 points and eight assists while Nash had 31 points and eight assists.

The Spurs shot 50 percent and outrebounded the Suns 49-35. They also know they were somewhat fortunate with Nash missing key moments of the game. "The last time I checked he was the MVP of the league," Popovich said. "Of course that makes a difference. If we took Tim out at the end like that we'd feel the effect too."

The Phoenix Suns are a 5 point favorite with a total of 205 at SBG Global.

Phoenix trainer Aaron Nelson bandaged Nash's nose and he hit a three to tie the game with just over two minutes left. Duncan followed by making a great 12-foot jump hook that everyone raved about then Parker hit a 21-foot shot to put the Spurs up four. Nash then got a layup to cut it to tow but Phoenix had to spend a timeout because Nash was bleeding again. With Nash on the bench Leandro Barbosa missed a 3-pointer and that was basically the game. "There wasn't a lot of time left so we didn't think we would have time to stitch it up," Nash said. "So we tried to manage it. It was too long and too deep and it just kept bleeding."

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It seems the NBA Western Conference is experiencing a changing of the guard during these Conference Playoffs series. Gone are the Dallas Mavericks, every ones darlings of the regular season; sent packing by eighth seed  Golden State led by guards Baron Davis and Derek Fisher. Houston we have a problem. Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, members of the A-list of recognizable NBA names and members of the Houston Rockets are no longer around thanks to a young bunch of upstarts called the Utah Jazz whose names, Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur, most people can’t pronounce. 

Now that the Western Conference has rid itself of the pretenders, Dallas and Houston, the new contenders, Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors will feed on each other when their best of seven conference semi-final series begins tonight in Salt Lake City. 

It will be hard to predict a winner in this series but we will do our best to break it down so you can make a decision on who owns the advantage. The teams split the four game regular season schedule with each team winning straight up (SU) on its own home court. Golden State was the most profitable to its backers according to the betting board covering 3-of-4 games against the spread. Of the four games played between Golden State and Utah, the total went under in 3-of-4 games.

The New Jersey Nets will try and close out the Toronto Raptors tonight in the Meadowlands in Game #6 of their best of seven series. New Jersey leads the series three games to two. The Nets almost ended the series in Game #5 but the Raptors held on for a close win. The problem for Toronto is that not only are they on the road tonight, but they have to deal with injuries to both of their point guards. SBG Global reports that early betting has the public all over the Nets laying the points at home.

Starting point guard T.J. Ford and backup Jose Calderon are both injured and their status for the game is uncertain. Neither player has practiced but both may play. "We've got some contingencies," Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said. "We're not going to be out there with our pants completely down. We've got some things that we're going to do if neither one of them can play."

"Whoever is healthy, that's who's going to play," Mitchell said. "There's no use worrying about it. If they can, they'll play. If they can't, we'll go on and move forward."

The New Jersey Nets are 7 point favorites with a total of 188 at SBG Global.

Toronto has not played well on the road in this series. They lost games three and four at the Meadowlands and neither game was close. The Nets won 102-89 win in Game 3 and 102-81 in Game 4. The Raptors have lost eight straight on the road in playoff action. The Raptors are trying to break the hex and are not staying in the same hotel this time. They are going to Manhattan where they stayed for the regular season games against the Nets and Knicks.

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I want you to go figure something out because for the life of me I can’t. The Golden State Warriors have won 12 of their last 15 games straight up and have covered the spread in 11 of them. This season, including this series, the Warriors have played the Mavericks eight times, winning six of them. Of the six wins, four were played at Oracle Arena where the Warriors won them all. In game five of this series the Mavericks were lucky to come away with a win being down by nine points in the fourth period and were fortunate to go on a 15-0 run to stave off Golden State and force a game six. Had Dallas folded its tent we wouldn’t be having this conversation because Golden State would have been stepping up to the next round. What I am having a difficult time figuring out is why Golden State is a +2 ½ point dog on its home court. Well, the truth of the matter is, oddsmakers expect the Mavericks to wake up at any moment and return to the same championship form they have shown throughout the regular season.