NBA Handicapping Articles

NBA Odds: Tuesday, April 29, 2014 Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 4/28/2014

It should be quite the scene in Los Angeles on Tuesday night when the Clippers play their first home game since the Donald Sterling story broke. Sterling will not be in attendance, which is probably wise for his safety. Here's a look at all three playoff games Tuesday.

NBA Odds: Saturday, April 26, 2014 Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 4/25/2014

What more do the Atlanta Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies have to do? They both have 2-1 series leads over their heavily-favored opponents, and both the Hawks and Grizzlies won at home in Game 3. Yet both are dogs again for Game 4. Here is a look at all four NBA playoff games Saturday.

NBA Odds: Friday, April 25, 2014 Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 4/24/2014

While all of Thursday's Game 3s of the first-round NBA playoff series saw the road team favored, the sportsbooks favor the home clubs when the three Friday series shift to the lower-seeded teams' court for the first time. Here's a look at each matchup.

NBA Playoff Betting: Value Long Shots
by Darin Zank - 4/24/2014

One trend has become very apparent since the NBA expanded each round of its playoffs to best-of-seven game affairs; it's awfully tough for lower seeds – underdogs – to win a series, let alone a conference title. Best-of-seven series have greatly reduced the chances of upsets. First-round NBA series used to be best-of-three, then best-of-five, and underdogs had a much better chance of taking two out of three games or three out of five from a better team. But four out of seven? Not so much.

Sports Betting Insights: Betting on Early Trends in the NBA Playoffs
by Dave Schwab - 4/23/2014

We are 13 games into this season’s NBA playoffs, with five of the eight series playing its first two games of an opening round best-of-seven series. The final three series will play Game 2 on Wednesday night. There have already been some stunning straight up upsets, including No. 8 Atlanta’s shocking 101-93 win over No. 1 Indiana as an eight-point road underdog in Game 1 of that Eastern Conference clash this past weekend.

NBA Odds: Thursday, April 24, 2014 Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 4/23/2014

The three series on Thursday night are the first in these NBA playoffs to be played on the lower seed's home court. and each has to be feeling satisfied after splitting against the series favorites in the first two games in their gym. Here's a look at each matchup.

NBA Playoffs: Los Angeles Clippers vs. Golden State Warriors Odds Breakdown
by George Monroy - 4/23/2014

The Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors may be in for a long and contentious series. Golden State struck first by shocking Los Angeles with a four-point Game 1 victory before the Clippers rebounded with a dominant Game 2 performance that saw the team win by 40 points. The division rivals will now take their matchup upstate for two games inside the Oracle Arena on Thursday night and Sunday afternoon.

NBA Playoffs Betting: Taking a Closer Look at Games 3 and 4
by George Monroy - 4/22/2014

The NBA playoffs opened with a few surprising, and some not-so surprising, upsets during the first few days of action. The underdogs blitzed their way to a 7-3 ATS record over the first 10 games of action and left a few of the higher-seeded teams in some difficult positions. Both the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder will go on the road needing a victory to take back home-court advantage, while the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets all lost Game 1 on their own floor.

NBA Odds: Wednesday, April 23, 2014 Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 4/22/2014

Is Wednesday night the first time in these playoffs that the home team wins every game? It hasn't happened yet entering Tuesday's action, but I believe it will on Wednesday. Here's a look at each postseason game on the schedule.

NBA Odds: Tuesday, April 22, 2014 Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 4/21/2014

It's probably fair to call Tuesday's three Game 2s in the NBA playoffs all must wins for the home teams because each of them was upset in Game 1. And Game 1 winners take best-of-7 playoffs series more than 75 percent of the time as it is. Here's a look at each game on the schedule.

NBA Odds: Saturday, April 19, 2014 Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 4/17/2014

Why does it feel like this is a season where neither top seed reaches the NBA Finals? As it happens, a Pacers-Spurs Finals -- which would be a ratings disaster -- is only a 13/2 favorite at Bovada. Heat-Spurs is 3/1 and Heat-Thunder 4/1. Yet Miami also looks as vulnerable as it has in the LeBron James Era. Here is a look at Saturday's opening NBA playoff games.

NBA Playoff Picks: First-Round Series Odds and Predictions
by George Monroy - 4/17/2014

The first-round of the NBA Playoffs are finally set to start on Saturday after a grueling 82-game season left many teams tired and broken through the last month of the year. Every Game 1 will be played this weekend, while the entire first-round is expected to conclude by May 4 if a seventh game is need in any series. The opening round will be filled with a few exciting matchups that could feature an upset or two. Let’s have a look at the series prices for each matchup and Game 1 lines with predictions and analysis. All odds and lines come from BetOnline.

NBA Playoffs Predictions: Championship and Conference Finals Futures Odds
by George Monroy - 4/17/2014

Once the NBA season ends and the playoff matchups are set, one of the first things a savvy bettor will do is take a look at the futures odds available and try to figure out which teams might have the best value to wager on. This postseason may be one of the most competitive in recent memory as there was no dominant favorite throughout the season.

NBA Playoff Statistics: Taking a Closer Look at the Seeding Matchups
by George Monroy - 4/16/2014

The NBA Playoffs are set to begin on Saturday after another thrilling, yet sometimes ugly and monotonous, regular season. The storylines and rivalries heading into the postseason, however, remain as intriguing, as entertaining and as high stakes as ever. LeBron James and the Miami Heat look to continue their assault on the record books by looking to become only the third team in NBA history to win three straight titles. The San Antonio Spurs continue to chase true dynasty status by looking to add a fifth title 16 years after their first, while Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder try to cap off one of the greatest offensive seasons in NBA history with a title.

NBA Odds: Wednesday, April 16, 2014 Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 4/15/2014

It seems just yesterday that the 2013-14 NBA season tipped off with Chicago visiting Miami on Tuesday, Oct. 29, in Derrick Rose's long-awaited (and short-lived) return from injury. Now the regular season comes to a close Wednesday with every team in action but not much drama remaining. The playoffs should be another story. Here's a look at all of Wednesday's action (as expected many TBAs because of the possibility of so many players being held out).

NBA Odds: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 4/14/2014

This game frankly doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things. New York was eliminated from the playoff chase over the weekend, and big changes will be coming to that franchise. Mike Woodson? Goner. Carmelo Anthony? Maybe gone too, at least if he cares about winning more than money.

NBA Odds: Friday, April 11, 2014 Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 4/10/2014

Pacers at Heat on Friday will probably be for the top seed in the Eastern Conference, so might we actually see all the regulars play in a late-season game? It hasn't been happening much around the league. Here's a look at every game on Friday's schedule, with Pacers-Heat and Warriors-Lakers on national TV (NBATV).

NBA Odds: Thursday, April 10, 2014 Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 4/9/2014

It's the final Thursday of the regular season with just two games on the schedule, both on national TV (TNT) and thus up for live betting at the sportsbooks. Here's a look at both matchups, and each is vital for the home side.

NBA Handicapping for the San Antonio Spurs and their Road to the NBA Title
by George Monroy - 4/9/2014

The San Antonio Spurs have all but locked up another top seed in the Western Conference and continue to chug along like a well-oiled machine through Year 17 of the Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan era. The Spurs just hit the 60-win mark yet again and have reached that number twice in the last four years. It would probably take an entire book to explain all the reasons why San Antonio has been the model of consistency over the last two decades—the organization has missed the playoffs only once since 1990.

NBA Handicapping: Sorting Out the Eastern Conference Playoff Picture
by Trevor Whenham - 4/9/2014

A month or two ago things seemed so clear in the Eastern Conference of the NBA. The Heat and Pacers were the only two good teams, and they were headed for an obvious and highly-anticipated showdown in the Eastern Conference finals. It was even reasonably easy to make the argument that the Pacers were the better all-around team.