NBA Handicapping Articles

Good Bet/Bad Bet: Taking a Closer Look at the Memphis Grizzlies
by George Monroy - 3/19/2013

The Memphis Grizzlies are in the middle of another fantastic, yet under-the-radar season. The team is from one of the smaller NBA markets and rarely gets the national attention it deserves from the sports media, fans, and bettors. The team is currently the fourth seed in the Western Conference and only trails the Los Angeles Clippers by half a game for the third spot. The Grizzlies play great down low and present a huge mismatch in the post with their two seven-footers in Marc Gasol and Zack Randolph. Memphis also has a reliable scorer in Mike Conley and a defensive stopper in Tony Allen.

NBA Betting Trends: Hot and Cold Teams Against the Point Spread
by Aaron Smith - 3/15/2013

There is about one month left in the NBA regular season. The Heat are on an epic win streak, and they’ll clearly be the top seed in the Eastern Conference. However, the top seed in the Western Conference is up for grabs. Similarly, in the Eastern Conference there is virtually no race for the eighth and final spot in the playoffs, but the race is hot and heavy in the Western Conference. The motivation levels for playoff-contending teams are definitely higher, but it’s important to remember that oddsmakers account for this in the numbers.

NBA Handicapping: Derrick Rose Could Return Any Day
by Trevor Whenham - 3/13/2013

Derrick Rose has been medically cleared to return to action for the Bulls after recovering from the knee injury that cost him last year’s playoffs and all of this season so far. He doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to return, but he theoretically could at any point. He’s a former MVP and among the best point guards in the sport, so when he does return bettors are going to take notice. That means that it is particularly important that we start to think about what impact he could have and what his return means for the Bulls from a NBA handicapping perspective:

NBA Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 3/11/2013

Do you remember the treatment that LeBron James received when he played his first game back in Cleveland as a member of the Miami Heat? Well, expect similar fan reaction in two games this week as the Lakers' Dwight Howard returns to Orlando on Tuesday night for the first time as does Carmelo Anthony in Denver on Wednesday.

When Will the Miami Heat’s Historic Win Streak End? Taking a Look at the Odds
by George Monroy - 3/11/2013

The Miami Heat look terrifying right about now. The team is in the middle of a historic run and simply refuses to lose. The Heat have won 18 straight games with a ‘by any means necessary’ attitude, and they are on the cusp of entering rarified air.

NBA Betting: Concepts to Think About Before Placing a Wager
by George Monroy - 3/8/2013

Sports bettors have a plethora of rituals and routines they use when deciding on what teams to bet. Some rituals are based on a hope and a prayer — throwing darts at a board or having your daughter choose. While others are much more analytical and involve complicated math and weather patterns in the Midwest. Most bettors will swear by their tried-and-true methods of picking games, but the best way to analyze a matchup prior to making a wager probably lies somewhere in between either extreme.

NBA Totals Betting: Handicapping Trends Report
by Aaron Smith - 3/6/2013

The stakes are getting higher and higher for many teams in the NBA. With less than 25 games left in the regular season for most teams, the push for the playoffs is beginning in earnest. At Doc’s Sports, we like to take a closer look inside the data to help find valuable betting trends. The bi-weekly NBA Hot and Cold Report helps keep bettors up to speed on hot and cold teams as far as covering the number. Totals are another popular way to bet on the NBA, so we are now tracking which teams are trending “over” and which teams are trending “under” versus the posted total.

Handicapping and Predictions for the NBA Western Conference Playoff Race
by Trevor Whenham - 3/6/2013

It didn’t look like it would happen for a long time, but we have a playoff race in the Western Conference of the NBA. The Lakers have finally got their act together and have now climbed to .500 through 60 games. That puts them just two games behind the Jazz for the eighth playoff spot. More significantly, they are now just 3.5 games behind the Warriors for sixth. The fourth team — Houston — sits a game behind Golden State and a half game ahead of Utah.

Good Bet/Bad Bet: Oklahoma City Thunder Handicapping
by George Monroy - 3/5/2013

The Oklahoma City Thunder were supposed to implode after their head-scratching trade that sent reigning Sixth Man of the Year James Harden to the Houston Rockets for Kevin Martin and some salary cap space. We were told that the team traded away their chance to compete for a title just to save a little money. We were told that they would no longer be the class of the ridiculously competitive Western Conference.

NBA Handicapping: Free Agent Situations that Could Distract
by Trevor Whenham - 3/5/2013

This year’s NBA free agent class isn’t going to be the most splashy we have ever seen, but it could be very interesting. Several teams have lots to spend, and there are some attractive players out there for bid. At this point in the season handicappers need to look at impending free agents to determine whether they could be a distraction for their teams the rest of the way and if that can create a betting opportunity. Here’s a look at eight of the highest-profile free agents and their situations.

NBA Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 3/4/2013

As much as I hate to do it, I feel obligated to talk about the Los Angeles Lakers again today. I do this because, for the first time since late December, the Lakers have finally gotten back to .500. It took some heroics from Kobe Bryant on Sunday to beat the Hawks, 99-98, and a loss would have been crushing for Los Angeles. Kobe hit a tough layup over Josh Smith with nine seconds left for the winning points and finished with 34. Hard to believe, but it was the first potential go-ahead shot Bryant had hit this season in the final minute of regulation or overtime.

NBA Betting Trends: Hot and Cold Teams Against the Point Spread
by Aaron Smith - 3/1/2013

The all-star break is out of the way, and now it is time for the real contenders to separate themselves from the pretenders. It’s easy for teams to be a nice little surprise early in the season, but you have to have staying power to contend for a playoff spot in the NBA. It’s a long and tough season, and only the best teams can survive. The good news for bettors is that all teams go through plenty of hot and cold streaks throughout the course of the long year, and those can create great opportunities for NBA betting.

NBA Handicapping: Bucks Losing Bettors Major Cash
by Trevor Whenham - 3/1/2013

If I had written an article about the Milwaukee Bucks a month ago, it would have been a very different article than it is now. On Jan. 29 the Bucks were 24-19 and were unquestionably one of the pleasant surprises of the season. They have gone just 4-9 since then, though, and they have flushed much of that early promise away in a river of tears. They lost eight of 10 before winning their last two. The low point of the month of February was unquestionably the back-to-back home losses to Detroit and Washington. At this point it’s hard to believe that any team could lose to those two teams in the same month — never mind in three days and at home. Ugly.

NBA Handicapping: Good Bet-Bad Bet for the Indiana Pacers
by George Monroy - 2/27/2013

The Indiana Pacers are one of those ATS teams that might be flying under a sports bettor’s radar. They do not have any superstar players or a high-profile coach, and they simply get overlooked because they play in a small market. The general public may not have noticed yet, but the Pacers have one of the best ATS records in the league and are covering around 58 percent of their spreads. The team in currently second in the east by a full game, and, because they are locked in a tight playoff race, they should continue to cover spreads for the remainder of the season.

Chicago Bulls Betting Futures: Will Derrick Rose Play this Season?
by George Monroy - 2/26/2013

The Derrick Rose saga has begun to heat up over the last few weeks. A few Las Vegas sportsbooks have lowered their Chicago Bulls Championship odds in anticipation that he will in fact return this season. Rose has been playing in full-contact five-on-five games and is reportedly already dunking. Many experts are speculating that he will definitely play this season, while others believe Rose will take the year off and not risk further injury.

NBA Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 2/25/2013

It’s time for the Chicago Bulls to go to Derrick Rose and find out once and for all if the former MVP is going to return this season or not because it appears that Rose’s situation is starting to wear on the rest of his teammates.

NBA Handicapping: Back-to-Back ATS Records
by George Monroy - 2/22/2013

The NBA schedule can be grueling at times. The nightly travel, the road trips, the back-to-backs, the four games in five nights; can all take their toll on a team during the course of a season. The sheer amount of games alone must impact a team’s performance on a nightly basis.

NBA Handicapping: Teams that Could Look Different After Break
by Trevor Whenham - 2/22/2013

Now that we are past the all-star break and the Trade Deadline in the NBA, bettors have a big job at hand — determining which teams are really as they have appeared up to this point and which ones are likely to look different the rest of the way than they have so far. Teams that excel down the stretch and those that start to struggle can be useful for astute bettors who can adjust to the changes faster than the general public does.

NBA Handicapping: Best and Worst Teams to Bet in Each ATS Category
by George Monroy - 2/20/2013

Most NBA teams are more than 50 games into the season and are preparing to make a final playoff push before the postseason begins. And now that the basketball year is more than 60 percent complete, gamblers have a much clearer picture of which teams are covering spreads and which teams are not. Knowing and understanding ATS stats can give a solid edge to sports bettors looking to make the most of their wagers.

NBA Futures Betting: Los Angeles Lakers Season Outcome Odds
by George Monroy - 2/19/2013

Describing the Los Angeles Lakers first half of the season as tumultuous would be an extreme understatement. Even describing it as a complete and utter mess would probably still be an understatement. The Lakers have been so bad that, to be honest, it is quite shocking. The team has gone through three head coaches — they fired one of them five games into the season and failed to gel with the other after 40-something games.