NBA Betting
A Prelude to the NBA Finals
The playoff picture is slowly coming into focus. Two teams that are guaranteed a spot in the race for the NBA title meet on April 4 in Miami. The Oklahoma City Thunder visit the Miami Heat in what could be a prelude to a NBA finals matchup in June.
The Thunder comes in the matchup with the league’s second best regular season record at 40-13 and has locked up a playoff spot as they lead the Western Conference by two games over the San Antonio Spurs. On the road this season, the Thunder is 17-8 SU and against Eastern Conference opponents, the team is 11-3 SU.
Miami is 37-14 on the season for the third best record in the league and is 21-2 at home and 9-6 SU against Western Conference opponents. The Heat is three games behind Chicago for first place in the playoff race in the East.
Head to head the teams are deadlocked. Each time is 5-5 SU in the last 10 games the two have played against one another. The total has been OVER 7 times and UNDER 3 times in those same 10 games. The teams met in late March this season and the Thunder
easily handled the Heat 103-87 at home. The Thunder covered a 1 ½-point favorite spread in the win. The total in that game was 201 and the teams only combined for 190.
Oklahoma City is 4-1 SU in their last five games and that includes victories against Chicago, the Los Angeles Lakers and this same Miami Heat team. Miami is 2-2 SU in their last four games. The teams are strong in the backcourt and two of the three top scorers in the league will feature in this game.
Take the Thunder to cover the spread on the road and the total to end OVER.
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Wizards vs. Pacers Free Pick
The NBA season is winding down with teams looking to make the playoffs and teams looking to next season. The matchup between the Washington Wizards and Indiana Pacers pits two teams headed in two different directions. The Wizards are 11-38 and own the second worst record in the league. The Pacers on the other hand, have a record of 29-19 and are headed to the playoffs.
Indiana is currently in fifth place in the playoff race in the East. They are trailing fourth place Philadelphia by just two games. They have won six of their last 10 games. Washington has lost four straight games and 8 of their last 10. They are 14 games behind in the playoff race and just four games better than the league’s worst team Charlotte.
Indiana does not have any players listed as injured. Washington however, has three players out with injuries. Andray Blatche and Rashard Lewis are out indefinitely, while Trevor Booker is day to day with a foot injury.
In head to head competition, the Pacers hold a huge edge over Washington. Indiana is 8-2 SU and 6-3-1 ATS over the last ten games the two teams have played against one another. This will be just the second matchup between the two teams this season. Just a week ago, the two met in Washington and the Pacers edged the Wizards 85-83. However, the Pacers did not cover the 7-point favorite spread in that game. The total score of 168 paid out to UNDER bettors as the line was set at 200.
Washington is 1-4 SU over their last five games, while the Pacers are 3-1 SU over their last four games. Indiana beat Miami Monday night and will be looking to move up in the playoff race in order to get home court advantage in at least the first round of the playoffs. The Pacers playing on their home court will dominate this game. Take the Pacers less the points and the total to end UNDER.
NBA Sunday Boston at Detroit
Rondo
The Boston Celtics travel to Detroit to take on the Detroit Pistons February 19. Both teams have struggled this season. Boston is 15-14 and currently second in the Atlantic division but has struggled with consistency. The Pistons are a dismal 10-22 and find themselves in last place in their division 15 games behind.
Boston is a team of veterans and guard Paul Pierce leads the team in scoring with an average of 17.3 points per game. Kevin Garnett is the leading rebounder for the team with 7.8 per game and Ranjo Rando is dishing out 9.5 assists per game to lead the Celts in that category.
Detroit is led in scoring and rebounding by Greg Monroe. Monroe scores 16.2 per game and hauls down an average of 9.7 rebounds per game. Rodney Stuckey leads the Pistons in assists with an average of 4.1 per game.
Head to head Boston is 6-4 SU and 5-5 ATS in the last ten games between the two. The total has been OVER 7 of the last 10 times the two have played against one another. Boston had been on a hot streak earlier in the season winning five straight but is currently headed in the opposite direction. The Celtics are 1-4 SU in their last five games. The only win coming against a tough Chicago team. However, they lost to Chicago in the rematch this past Thursday.
Detroit has struggled to win all year, however in their last five games they are 3-2 SU. One of those three wins included a victory over the same Boston Celtics they will face February 19. The defense for Boston is much stronger than that of Detroit. That should help the Celtics playing on the road. Boston should come out victorious SU and the total this time around should be UNDER.
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NBA Game Preview and Pick: Lakers vs. Hawks
Lakers at Home
As always Kobe Bryant who just passed ex-teammate Shaquille O’Neal in all time scoring, leads the Lakers. Bryant is averaging a team high 29.3 points and 5 assists per game. Andrew Bynum continues to control the boards for the Lakers by averaging 12.5 per game. Power forward Pau Gasol is averaging 16.7 points and 10.5 rebounds per game helping the Lakers score an average of over 92 points per game.
The Hawks rely on veteran Joe Johnson and a host of other players. Johnson leads the team in scoring with 18.2 points per game. Josh Smith is averaging 15.2 points and 9.2 rebounds each game to help the team’s offense. The Hawks have five players averaging double figures and are scoring over 95 points per game.
Head to head the Lakers are 7-3 SU over the last ten games the two have met. The Lakers are also 6-4 ATS in those same ten games between the two teams. The total has been OVER 5 times and UNDER 5 times over the last ten games the two have played head to head.
As noted before, the Lakers are coming off a long road trip where they were 2-3 SU. That trip included losses to Atlantic leading Philadelphia and two other teams in the division, the Celtics and Knicks. Atlanta has not fared any better, as they are just 2-3 SU over their last five games.
They lost a tough game Sunday night at home to Miami as they were blown out by 20 points. Other losses in their last five games were to Phoenix and Philadelphia. The Lakers should prevail both SU and ATS. Opening line is Lakers -5.
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NBA Pick : Atlanta vs. Miami
Bosh
A Southeast division showdown early in the season will take place February 12 when the Miami Heat visits the Atlanta Hawks. The Heat is currently in first place in the division with a 20-7 records while the Hawks are in second place with an 18-9 record.
One of the NBA’s best all around players LeBron James leads Miami. James leads the team in scoring with 28.1 points per game average and is leading the team in assists with an average of 7 per game. Udonis Haslem leads the Heat rebounders with an 8.3 average per game.
Veteran Joe Johnson who is averaging 18.4 points per game leads Atlanta. Josh Smith hauls down 9.3 rebounds a game for the Hawks, while Jeff Teague leads the team in both assists and steals.
Miami has played well of late and are 9-2 SU in their last 11 games. However, Miami is only 4-8 ATS over its last 12 games. In head-to-head games the Heat are 7-2 SU in their last nine contests against the Hawks. While on the road, Miami is 4-1 SU over the last five games in Atlanta versus the Hawks.
Miami has won four of its last five games with the only loss coming against a strong Orlando team. The Hawks on the other hand are just 2-3 SU in their last five games and have fallen out of first place in the division. If Miami plays on all eight cylinders with stars James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh they are hard to beat.
Wade is coming off an injury that kept him sidelined for a number of games but he is finally rounding back into form. The Heat should win SU in a game where the score should be low. The total should be UNDER for this game because of the fine defense played by both clubs. The spread is out right now at Miami -4.5
Philadelphia 76ers at Atlanta Hawks NBA Betting Preview
76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers and the Atlanta Hawks meet in NBA action on Saturday night at the Philips Arena (7 pm ET, Comcast, SportSouth).
Check out NBA betting at Legends sportsbook for the latest odds for this matchup closer to game time.
Philadelphia is 16-6 SU and ATS while Atlanta is 16-7 straight up and 12-10-1 against the spread.
Injured players include 76ers’ center Spencer Hawes, who is out indefinitely (strained achilles) and center Nikola Vucevic, who is day-to-day (sore knee), For the Hawks, forward Jason Collins is day-to-day (elbow injury) and forward Al Horford is out indefinitely (torn pectoral.
Philadelphia 4-0-1 SU in its last five games overall, and is 4-9 SU in its last 13 games on the road. The total has gone over in four of Philadelphia’s last six games on the road.
Atlanta is 9-3 SU in its last 12 games overall and is 6-1 SU in its last seven games at home. The total has gone under in four of Atlanta’s last five games overall
Head-to-head, Philadelphia is 6-4 SU and 7-3 ATS in the past 10 meetings. The teams have squared off once already this season. The 76ers beat the Hawks 90-76 on Jan. 20 and covered the spread as a 7-point home favorite. The score was under the total of 183.5. The total has gone over in five of the last seven meetings.
Philadelphia is the toughest team to score on in the league, allowing just 85.9 points per game, and is second-best in the league in field goal percentage against allowing 41.5 per cent.
