The conference semifinal rounds of the NBA playoffs are televised by TNT and ABC/ESPN. Those networks paid billions of dollars each for the rights to the NBA. Thus, when the networks ask for certain things in terms of setting up the playoff schedule, the league basically does whatever they want.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

We mention this because there’s just one conference semifinal matchup on Wednesday night simply for TV reasons and it’s from the Western Conference: third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers at No. 2 Denver Nuggets. The hosts are 3.5-point favorites with a total of 218. Up 1-0, Denver is also a -240 series favorite with the Trail Blazers at +200.

One half of the storyline entering this series was that Portland clearly had the better backcourt with Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum – Lillard is going to be All-NBA again this season and was magnificent in the first-round domination of the Oklahoma City Thunder. He vastly outplayed point guard counterpart and former league MVP Russell Westbrook.