NBA Handicapping Articles

NBA Odds: Wednesday, October 28 2015 Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 10/27/2015

While there were just three games on Tuesday for the NBA's opening night, it's a hugely busy second night on Wednesday with 14 games -- the only two teams not playing are Atlanta and Golden State. They both opened at home Tuesday night and both happened to be top seeds in their respective conferences last season. Clearly the matchup of the night Wednesday is San Antonio at Oklahoma City, two top Western Conference contenders. That will have live betting at the sportsbooks with it televised by ESPN. So will Timberwolves at Lakers, the ESPN nightcap.

NBA Handicapping: Major Betting Story Lines to Keep an Eye On
by George Monroy - 10/27/2015

Now that the NBA season is finally here, bettors can begin to add basketball into their mix of weekly gambling. If you are one of those bettors that does not follow the NBA during the offseason or who got caught up in the NFL over the last two months, you might have a few things to catch up with before jumping right into lines and odds. A couple of things might be different in the basketball world for the upcoming 2015-16 NBA season, and bettors need to understand the landscape before assuming certain teams are still good or that others still live in lottery land. Let's take a look at biggest storylines heading into the year and figure out how they will impact bettors going forward.

NBA Odds: Tuesday, October 27 2015 Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 10/26/2015

Tuesday starts the best two-month or so stretch of the entire sports betting season in my opinion. That's because while college football, the NFL and NHL are still going strong, now we get the NBA season going. I've got my League Pass ready! I previewed the top NBA title contenders here at Doc's last week, but let's give one last update on futures odds at Bovada. The Cavaliers are +275 favorites to win the NBA championship; they also were favorites entering last season. San Antonio (+350), Golden State (+500) and Oklahoma City (+800) are the only other teams under +1000.

2015 Chicago Bulls Predictions and Futures Betting Odds
by Alan Matthews - 10/23/2015

Look, you shouldn't root for injuries to happen to any player regardless of sport (at least publicly). But if you are Bulls fan/backer, aren't you ready to see LeBron James finally suffer a major injury? It seems only fair with what Chicago has gone through over the past four years with its best player, former MVP Derrick Rose.

NBA Rookie of the Year Odds with Picks and Predictions
by George Monroy - 10/23/2015

The 2015-16 NBA rookie class looks to be one of the most talented in recent memory, and while that assessment is given out almost every single year, many of this season's crop of rookies are expected to be solid to good at the very least. It's almost impossible to predict which players will turn out to be superstars and which will turn out to be busts-only the pressure of playing in the NBA can decide that. But what we can do is predict which players have the potential to have an excellent year in 2016.

2015 Los Angeles Clippers Predictions and Futures Betting Odds
by Alan Matthews - 10/22/2015

Entering last season, the Los Angeles Clippers were my pick to come out of the Western Conference. And I really would have liked to have seen them get a chance at the top-seeded and eventual NBA champion Golden State Warriors in the playoffs, especially the way the Clips closed the regular season on fire.

2015 Oklahoma City Thunder Predictions and Futures Betting Odds
by Alan Matthews - 10/22/2015

I understand that the Golden State Warriors are looking to repeat as NBA champions this season. And that LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers are favorites to bring a title to a city that is dying to win a championship at something for the first time in several decades. It's probably the final season for future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, a Top-10 all-time player on any list and five-time champion. Can he go out on top with the Spurs?

2015 Atlanta Hawks Predictions and Futures Betting Odds
by Trevor Whenham - 10/22/2015

Last year the Hawks jumped out of the gate very strong and never looked back. They won 60 games to post the top record in the conference and then made the Eastern final. Sounds good on the surface, but in real and significant ways the season had to be considered a failure. They were lucky to get past the Wizards in the second round of the playoffs - John Wall had a broken wrist after the first game, yet the series was still close.

2015 Washington Wizards Predictions and Futures Betting Odds
by Trevor Whenham - 10/22/2015

It was the first round of the playoffs last year when we really saw how good this team could be. They faced a Toronto team that was talented and dangerous - even if they weren't playing their best ball at the time. Washington didn't just beat them - they crushed the life out of them. It was a complete and total massacre. It was almost unfair. They could very easily have beaten Atlanta in the next round, too, if John Wall hadn't broken his wrist in the opener. As good as they were in that first series, you can't help but believe that they are capable of being quite a bit better.

2015 Memphis Grizzlies Predictions and Futures Betting Odds
by Trevor Whenham - 10/22/2015

I'm not a Memphis Grizzlies fan. It's not that I don't like them or don't respect them. It's just that I really struggle to care about them. They get little national attention - especially considering their ongoing success. They have very good players but lack flashy superstars. From an offensive perspective they are as dull as dry toast to watch. They play in a flashy league, but they are the furthest thing from flashy. Watching the Grizzlies is like going out on the town with your dad - it's good to see him and all, but you have other things you would rather do on a Saturday night.

2015 Miami Heat Predictions and Futures Betting Odds
by Trevor Whenham - 10/22/2015

LeBron James isn't coming back to Miami - probably. Not for a while, anyway. Last year this team tried to move past the James era gracefully, but it didn't go well. Here's all you really need to know about the team - the likely starting five of Goran Dragic, Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, Chris Bosh, and Hassan Whiteside were all with the team last year, yet they didn't play a single minute as a group during the season. Injuries - to Bosh and, as always, to Wade - forced all sorts of changes and compromises last year, and the result was a 37-win season.

2015 Toronto Raptors Predictions and Futures Betting Odds
by Trevor Whenham - 10/22/2015

It's not often that a team wins 49 games to set a franchise record when they weren't expected to, cruises to an easy division win, and yet had an overall season that was a disappointment for fans. They leapt out of the gate like they were on fire and stayed that way for much longer than people assumed possible. As the season drew to a close, though, they looked a bit like they were playing in mud. They weren't bad; they just weren't particularly good.

2015 Houston Rockets Predictions and Futures Betting Odds
by Alan Matthews - 10/21/2015

Trust me, I never thought I would include a Kardashian in any story I ever would write for Doc's. Alas, might Khloe Kardashian ruin Houston's 2015-16 season? I ask because she and Rockets superstar James Harden had been an item since this summer. But now Khloe has put that relationship "on hold" as she tends to her estranged husband, ex-NBA player Lamar Odom, as he recovers from a drug overdose that nearly killed him and undergoes months of physical therapy. I'm assuming Harden still will be plenty focused on the coming season ... but some women do have power over men at times. Trust me, I know.

2015 Los Angeles Lakers Predictions and Futures Betting Odds
by Trevor Whenham - 10/21/2015

Remember when the Lakers used to be good? Like really, really good - the best. Well, those days are long gone. Last year they hit what they surely hope was the rock bottom - just 21 wins. It was a year in which nothing went right. Star rookie Julius Randle broke his leg in the very first game he played and was lost for the year. Kobe Bryant was selfish in his effort to pass Michael Jordan and become the league's third highest all-time scorer - and the highest-scoring Phil Jackson star - early in the year, and then he was hurt and gone with his third straight season-ending injury.

2015 Boston Celtics Predictions and Futures Betting Odds
by Trevor Whenham - 10/21/2015

Brad Stevens is a very good coach. One of the very best in the league already. And he's young and just building the team that he wants. A few years from now it sure wouldn't be a shock if he were the best in the league. Really, it would kind of be a shock if he weren't. All you need to know about how good he has been so far is that he got the team that he had last year into the playoffs - as a seventh seed - and they didn't embarrass themselves too much despite being swept by Cleveland. This is a team on the rise and one that had a solid offseason.

2015 Philadelphia 76ers Predictions and Futures Betting Odds
by Trevor Whenham - 10/21/2015

People get personally offended by the obvious tanking of the 76ers. I just don't get that. They certainly aren't trying to win, and even season ticket holders have to buy a program at each game to figure out who is on the team at the moment, but at least they have a plan - one they are obsessively devoted to. That's more than you can say about far too many teams in this league.

2015 Dallas Mavericks Predictions and Futures Betting Odds
by Trevor Whenham - 10/21/2015

Dallas made a massive mistake last year - albeit a somewhat understandable one. Their offense was working very well, and they had major playoff aspirations. By the middle of December they felt that their biggest weakness was at point guard - Jameer Nelson, J.J. Barea and Devon Harris aren't exactly a power trio, and Raymond Felton seemed to be permanently injured. The reasoning was sound. Unfortunately, the execution was badly lacking. They traded for Rajon Rondo - arguably the most overrated player in the entire league at the time. He did not mesh with the offense, and he was oil in water with head coach Rick Carlisle.

2015 San Antonio Spurs Predictions and Futures Betting Odds
by Alan Matthews - 10/20/2015

I'm not a fan of the San Antonio Spurs or Los Angeles Clippers, but I love great offensive NBA basketball. And the first-round playoff series between those two teams this past spring had to go down as one of the best non-Finals playoffs series in league history. And the irony is, we wouldn't see that matchup this season if everything was the same.

NBA Division Title Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions for Long Shot Value
by George Monroy - 10/20/2015

NBA division titles do not carry as much meaning and playoff importance as they do in other sports, and most times each division is already decided before a single game has even been played. The NBA can be that transparent at times. However, injuries, accidents and other random occurrences can throw a wrench into any team's season plans and drop a title contender into the eighth seed or even out of the playoffs at a moment's notice-just ask Oklahoma City about last year. Let's take a look at the 2015-16 NBA Division odds and figure out which underdogs have the best shot at making a surprise run during the season.

NBA Championship Odds with Predictions: Over- and Under-Rated Teams
by George Monroy - 10/20/2015

Let's face it, the NBA is not a league with much parity. The simple truth is that only four or five teams can actually win a title during any given year, and lower-seeded squads that squeak into the postseason rarely make a Cinderella-type run. One player can be the difference between winning or losing and a superstar talent can impact the final outcome of a game or series in a way that cannot be matched by any other sport.