Of the four series to make NBA playoffs picks on in the second round in the postseason, this one is it. The Los Angeles Lakers will take on the Dallas Mavericks, and many think that the winner of this series is going to be able to beat the NBA Finals odds and claim the 2010-11 NBA Championship.

NBA Series Prices
Los Angeles -375 vs. Dallas +275 @ Oddsmaker Sportsbook
Los Angeles -360 vs. Dallas +280 @ SportBet Sportsbook
Los Angeles -355 vs. Dallas +295 @ BetUS Sportsbook

Series Trends and History
The road team has been the one to dominate this series over the course of the last 15 clashes. The roadies, much to the surprise of NBA betting fans, is 10-4-1 in these last 15 meetings. Of course, the home team has still won six of the last nine meetings, and that’s the only stat that the Lakers truly care about right now. The last time Dallas won a game here at Staples Center was back in October 2009.

The first two meetings of the year were a split, but the third and decisive game that gave Los Angeles home court advantage in this series was a 110-82 ‘W’ in Tinseltown, the biggest win that this series has seen since January 2010 when LA won 131-96 at home.

Keys to the Series
Key 1: Dirk’s Drive to Be a Champ – Ric Flair had the greatest quote in the world about this series. In order to be the man, you’ve got to beat the man. My, how this will ring. Dirk Nowitzki has never been able to be the man, but at least this is a great chance to beat the man. The Lakers are the two time defending champs, and they have the head coach in Phil Jackson and the superstar in Kobe Bryant to have continued success. Nowitzki might have averaged over 27 points per game in the first round of the playoffs, but if he puts up 70 points per game and the Mavs lose, he is still going to end up with a heck of a problem in the Dallas media.

Key 2: Gasol, Bynum, and Odom Big in the Paint – The paint is typically an area that the Lakers dominate, and against a Portland team that is relatively undersized, this could be another big time advantage in this series. The Mavericks only averaged 41.4 boards per game this year, almost three rebounds per game fewer than what LA put up. Of course, we know that Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom are going to do their thing, as they all averaged at least six boards per game in the first round of the playoffs. They’re all double-double machines though, and we know that Gasol is going to end up being a heck of a lot better than he was against New Orleans (13.5 points, 6.8 rebounds per game).

Key 3: Point Guard Prowess – Both Jason Kidd and Derek Fisher have been around the block a few times in their NBA careers, and both picked a great time to come up big as scorers for their teams in the first round of the playoffs. Fisher, who often was held to just a bucket in a game, averaged 9.3 points per game and shot 55.6 percent from three point range. Kidd, a man who has about a zillion triple-doubles in the career, averaged 11.7 points, 6.5 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game in the series against Portland. The one of these two that ends up playing better is almost certainly going to have the team that ends up winning this series, so keep a very, very close eye on the play of the point guards even though neither one might be stuffing the stat sheet.

The Chicago Bulls never really had all that much of an issue getting into the second round of the playoffs, and they’re hoping that they can run just as easily into the Eastern Conference Finals as well. The Atlanta Hawks are standing in their way though, and this could make for a great series for NBA picks.

NBA Series Prices
Chicago -800 vs. Atlanta +550 @ Oddsmaker Sportsbook
Chicago -900 vs. Atlanta +600 @ SportBet Sportsbook
Chicago -900 vs. Atlanta +550 @ BetUS Sportsbook

Series Trends and History
The Hawks know that they have their work cut out for them in this series, but they do have some good news on their side. They really did play well in the first NBA betting battle of the year against the Bulls, winning 83-80 at home. However, these two teams met twice more in the month of March, and neither of those meetings went all that well, with Chicago winning 94-76 and 114-81. In both cases, the Bulls went on one massive push that was able to just destroy the spirit of the Hawks.

More good news for the Hawks: They’re 7-3 ATS over the course of the last 10 meetings in this series, and they have won seven of those 10 outright as well. The bad news is that Atlanta is just 0-7-1 ATS over the course of the last two times that they were in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Chicago is 6-1 ATS in its last seven against the Southeast Division, but it is just 1-7 ATS in its last eight games against teams with a losing road record.

Keys to the Series
Key 1: Health – Obviously, staying healthy is a big time key in any series, but both teams suffered what could be catastrophic losses in the close out games of their respective series at home last week. Kirk Hinrich was knocked out for the Hawks with a hamstring strain an injury which is likely to at least have him sidelined against one of his former teams for at least the first game in this series. On the other side, Carlos Boozer has a toe injury that he suffered after scoring just two points in Game 5 against the Indiana Pacers. He is listed as probable, but Head Coach Tom Thibodeau knows that Boozer might be limited in what he can do with this injury.

Key 2: The Early Lead – We know that in the NHL playoffs, the team that has scored the first goal has gone on to win a slew of games. No, we’re not saying that the team scoring the first basket ends up winning most of the NBA playoffs betting affairs, but we do know that NBA picks in this series will revolve around which team gets the early edge. For Atlanta, the trick is just going to be staying close. In games that it either stuck close or got out to the early lead against the Orlando Magic, it went 4-1 SU and 5-0 ATS. The one game that it did, it was absolutely blown to bits. The Bulls know that these Hawks are generally a lazy bunch that gives up after falling behind early. The hope that Chicago has is that it can step on Atlanta’s throat early and often in this series to take away all of its fight.

Key 3: Controlling the Paint – Atlanta absolutely cannot let this series turn into a knock down, drag out series, or it is going to be in a heck of a lot of trouble. The Hawks really showed nothing on the inside against Dwight Howard, as “Superman” had one heck of a series for the Magic. Carlos Boozer, even if he is injured, Luol Deng, and Joakim Noah have to absolutely be licking their chops about the prospects of going against Zaza Pachulia and the likes. Instead, Atlanta has to make this an outside, in series and not an inside, out one. Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson have to be knocking down shots from the outside to try to keep the pressure off of the bigs in the middle. If it doesn’t happen, this really could be an incredibly short series, as Chicago won’t make mistakes in a game based on the glass.