NBA Handicapping Articles

NBA Handicapping: Surprising Results from Bulls Lately
by Trevor Whenham - 1/16/2014

The storyline is supposed to be obvious. After losing former MVP Derrick Rose for another year and then seeing Luol Deng traded away for nothing but payroll relief, this should be a team that is in the gutter. Their will should be crushed, and they should be just going through the motions. That’s what would make sense, but it is not what is happening.

NBA Basketball Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 1/14/2014

Perhaps the only team more upset than New Orleans about the news that Pelicans power forward Ryan Anderson will miss at least two more months this season would be the Philadelphia 76ers. You see, New Orleans looked moderately like a playoff team when healthy. Since Anderson went down with a herniated disc in his back, which may or may not need surgery after two months of rest, the Pelicans have lost six straight games, failing to score in triple-digits in five of them.

NBA Handicapping: How to Bet the Lakers
by Trevor Whenham - 1/14/2014

The Lakers. Just saying their name, depending on your long-term view of the team, either makes you break down in tears or cackle with boundless glee. They are a total circus. A mess. A disaster. A farce. You could call it a tragedy and feel sorry for them if their fate wasn’t entirely of their own doing. The fat cats have exploded. So, is this dip into patheticness just something temporary that they can shake off in the coming weeks? Or is it going to endure through the rest of the season and beyond? And what does that mean for bettors?

Free NBA Picks: Lakers at Clippers Odds
by Aaron Smith - 1/9/2014

The Lakers and Clippers will square off at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Friday night, but the teams won’t look all that familiar. Both teams are dealing with major injuries. Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul will both be in street clothes for this one. That takes away some of the luster from this game, but this is always a spirited battle. ESPN will televise this game nationally on Friday night.

NBA Handicapping: Bad Teams that have been Good for Bettors
by Trevor Whenham - 1/8/2014

There are a lot of bad teams in the NBA right now, and the gap between the good teams and the bad ones is very large. For the general public it can be very easy to ignore these bad teams. They aren’t watchable and they get little media attention, so they easily fade from the public mind. While the public is probably smart to ignore bad teams, bettors shouldn’t automatically cast them aside.

NBA Handicapping: Injured Superstars
by Trevor Whenham - 1/8/2014

The Clippers get to endure an experience they would be completely fine with missing out on for the next six weeks or so — playing without their best player. Chris Paul is out with a shoulder injury, and he’ll be gone for a while. They are far from the only team that has had to endure such a setback — the Bulls have made an art of it the last couple of years. When it does happen that the clear driving force of a team is lost for a while, though, it presents and interesting puzzle for handicappers.

NBA Handicapping: Toronto Raptors One of NBA’s Hottest Teams
by Trevor Whenham - 1/8/2014

The Toronto Raptors have been one of the biggest surprises in the last month of the NBA season. They are 7-3, and though they have lost two straight, those have come at Miami and Indiana, so they are hardly cause for concern. Even more impressive for bettors, the Raptors covered the spreads in both of those losses and are a stellar 9-1 ATS in their last 10. It’s not hard to make money betting on a team like that.

NBA Basketball Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 1/7/2014

I'm officially on the Golden State Warriors' bandwagon and believe they not only are legitimate Western Conference contenders but now will win the Pacific Division title. The Warriors enter Tuesday's game at Milwaukee, which should be a lock win unless Golden State overlooks the wretched Bucks, on a NBA-high nine-game winning streak.

NBA Handicapping: What to Make of Horrible Eastern Conference
by Trevor Whenham - 12/18/2013

One of the biggest themes of the NBA season so far has been just how impossibly bad the Eastern Conference has been. The stats are almost too amazing to believe. There are only three teams out of 15 above .500 — compared to nine in the West. The ninth-place team in the West — Golden State — is sitting outside of the playoffs at this moment, but the Warriors would be third in the East. That means that only two Eastern Conference squads would be in the playoffs if they were in the West. It’s just plain ugly.

NBA Handicapping: First Quarter Betting Review
by Trevor Whenham - 12/18/2013

We’re now just past a quarter of the way into the NBA season. It’s a good time to look at what has happened so far from a betting perspective, and to hand out some awards — and some healthy criticism — based on what we have seen so far:

NBA Handicapping: Studs and Duds Against the Betting Line
by Trevor Whenham - 11/21/2013

We are very early in the NBA season, but we have seen enough games by now to have a sense of which teams are the emerging betting stars and which ones are determined to burn your money. Here’s a look at the ATS studs and duds of this young NBA season:

NBA Handicapping: Best Teams to Bet On
by George Monroy - 11/8/2013

The NBA season is still young, and there is no need to start overreacting and making overarching assumptions after only a couple of weeks of basketball. Yes, there have been a few surprises—Michael Carter-Williams is the first name that comes to mind. But six games into the season, the NBA has already presented bettors with a few valuable lessons on how to wager on professional basketball.

NBA Handicapping: Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics
by Trevor Whenham - 11/7/2013

I haven’t been as excited about anything in the NBA for a long time as I was when the Boston Celtics hired Brad Stevens as their new head coach. I am not a particular fan of the Celtics or of Butler, so it wasn’t a personal thing. It is incredibly obvious, though, that Stevens is a special coach, so it is going to be endlessly fascinating to see what he can do on the basketball world’s biggest stage.

NBA Handicapping: Philadelphia 76ers Surprising Start
by Trevor Whenham - 11/4/2013

Break up the 76ers! Philadelphia was widely expected to be a serious contender for the most balls in next year’s draft lottery. Through three games, though, they are one of just a handful of unbeaten teams in the NBA. More significantly, both the Heat and the Bulls — the best team in the league and a major East contender, respectively — have fallen victim to the Sixers’ buzzsaw. So, is this a better Philadelphia team than people expected?

NBA Odds and Predictions: Scoring, Assists and Rebounding Leaders
by Alan Matthews - 10/25/2013

I don't know about you, but I'm incredibly excited for the start of the NBA season on Tuesday night. The story lines are plenty. Miami going for a threepeat in perhaps LeBron James' final season in South Florida. There's Derrick Rose's return and to a lesser extent Kobe Bryant's and Russell Westbrook's at some point too. How bad will the Lakers be? How good will the Clippers be under Doc Rivers? How about the Timberwolves with a healthy Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love?

2014 NBA Rookie of the Year Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 10/14/2013

I am not afraid to admit when I am wrong -- even embarrassingly so. To be honest, if I was right on these prop predictions stories all the time, I wouldn't be writing for this site -- as much as I enjoy it -- but be on some beach in the Caribbean spending my millions of winnings on the Swedish women's dance troupe. I suppose there is always hope of hitting the Powerball one of these days.

NBA Odds for Division Winners with Betting Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 10/8/2013

The NBA season tips off in three weeks with a highly-anticipated matchup between the Chicago Bulls (with Derrick Rose!) and the Miami Heat leading the opening-night schedule, which means the books are starting to roll out the props in a big way. I'll hit on some player props in the coming few weeks, but let's start with an overview of each division. All odds are courtesy of Bovada.

Top Props of the Week: 2014 NBA Finals Matchup Odds
by Dave Schwab - 9/18/2013

The start of another NBA season is well over a month away, but Sportsbook.ag has already released its odds for potential matchups in this year’s NBA Finals. The following is a look at the odds for a couple of the matchups that offer the most value.

NBA Handicapping: Aftermath of Dwight Howard Move to Houston
by Trevor Whenham - 7/19/2013

Now that the dust has settled and we know what Dwight Howard’s new address is going to be, it’s time to take a look at what it all might mean in the early days of the season from a betting perspective. Part of what makes this whole saga so sickeningly compelling is the amount of wreckage left in the wake of this deal. The Magic are a shell of their former selves without their superstar, though ironically they may ultimately be the best off of anyone.

NBA Free Agency: Grading the Winners and Losers
by George Monroy - 7/18/2013

The NBA free agency process has shot off more fireworks than a July 4 party at Gilbert Arenas’ house — if you didn’t hear, he was arrested for possession of illegal fireworks a few weeks back. Dwight Howard decided to sign with the Houston Rockets after waffling back-and-forth until the final minute.