Mets de Guynabo – Leones de Ponce | Puerto Rico BSN – Oct. 18, 2021
It´s still early stages in Puerto Rican BSN playoffs with quarterfinal series taking place. In one of them Mets have gained the advantage over Leones with a crucial away win to take a 2-1 lead. Tonight at home they have an excellent opportunity to increase their lead before heading back to Ponce.
Mets entered the playoffs as the third-placed team of their conference and got drawn against second-placed Leones who were the favourites at the start of the series. They used their home-court advantage in the series opener taking a 1-0 lead but in that match Mets were severely undermanned. One of their best players and starting point guard David Stockton was injured as he barely made any impact and only played 20 minutes.
Rumours were circulating from before he was going to leave and sign with an NBA team. That´s exactly what happened couple of days ago as he signed a contract with Memphis Grizzlies and departed the team. Mets had to react quickly and bring in a replacement to save the season. Experienced American point guard Dwight Buycks was brought in as he turned out to be exactly what the Mets needed. With him in the lineup they completely turned this series around and took a 2-1 lead.
Leones had some issues just before the start of the playoffs. Couple of days before the end of the regular season they signed former NBA player Kenneth Faried but he decided to leave them after just a couple of games played joining CSKA Moscow. He came in as a replacement for injured Deon Thompson so once he left, Leones had to reactivate Thompson from the injury list despite him still not being at full fitness.
With Buycks replacing Stockton, Mets became a much more solid defensive team. Stockton was one of the best scorers in the league but his defense wasn´t at the same level. On the other hand, with their new point guard Mets managed to limit Leones to only 67 points in the last game. In addition, hosts added Renaldo Balkman to their roster when the playoffs started after he only managed to play in a couple of games during the regular season because of an injury.
Betting pick
Mets are slowly taking control of this series. They got a much needed away win so today at home they can extend their lead and put Leones into a must-win situation in the game after this one.
They have covered the loss of their star player and also have Balkman back which gives them a rebounding advantage. Leones have been their regular customers throughout this season. Their only loss against them came when they were missing their key player so Leones took advantage of that but that is not the case tonight.
Pick: Money Line – Mets de Guynabo
Odds: 1.76
Bookmaker: Bet365
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