Following up yesterday’s basketball betting picks for the Eastern Conference, here comes the wild, wild West, where the eighth seed would be fourth in the East.

No.1 Los Angeles vs No.8 Utah

The Jazz only have a shot because they’re a great team at home, but even still, the Lakers should be able to steal one in Utah. Andrew Bynum + Pau Gasol + no Utah interior defense = bye bye Jazz. (basketball betting pick: Lakers in five)

No.2 Denver vs No.7 New Orleans

The Hornets have to be the most dangerous seventh seed in recent memory, but the Nuggets have a lot of depth, and Chauncey Billups has changed the culture of the team. Billups vs Chris Paul is a matchup any aspiring point guard should watch. (basketball betting pick: Nuggets in six)

No.3 San Antonio vs No.6 Dallas

The Spurs had injuries to their Big Three, and still won 54 games. The Mavericks rallied late to jump into the picture, but the Spurs have a big edge on defense and coaching, which is essentially what gets you through this time of year. (basketball betting pick: Spurs in six)

No.4 Portland vs No.5 Houston

Neither team will win on the road, so it’s good that the Blazers have homecourt. They also have one of the NBA’s best fourth-quarter players iin Brandon Roy. The Rockets are a solid team, but another first-round exit (with no crying Tracy McGrady, this time) awaits them. (basketball betting pick: Trailblazers in seven)

Alright, here are my NBA betting picks for the rest of the major NBA individual awards to be handed out before the playoff action starts.

Coach of the Year

Gregg Popovich has done a superb job at guiding the Spurs to 50+ wins for the 10th straight year, despite injuries to Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker throughout the season. Some take the Spurs for granted, but this may have been Pop’s best coaching job. I mean, Matt Bonner starts for them and they’re still an NBA betting threat.

Sixth Man

Jason Terry wins this going away, and the only reason he’s not a starter is because Dallas needs bench scoring in the worst way. If the Mavericks want to have any sort of basketball betting chance in these playoffs, he’ll need to be even better.

Most Improved Player of the Year

This award boils down to Devin Harris and Danny Granger, and Granger gets it by the slimmest of margins. Both were All-Stars for garbage teams, but Granger had less help.  This is probably the close NBA betting call of all the awards, but Granger takes it.