NBA Handicapping Articles
NBA Picks: Thunder at Mavericks Game 5 Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 5/24/2011
The Dallas Mavericks were the third-oldest team in the NBA this season and are easily the oldest club still playing in these playoffs. So you know they would love nothing more than to finish off the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games on Wednesday night back in Big D and then sit back and hope the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls keep pounding each other for seven games back East – the Mavs would open the NBA Finals at either Eastern team. The Finals are set to begin a week from Thursday (unless both series end in five games, then they start May 31) and the Mavs don’t want to have to go back to OKC and see this possibly stretched out to seven games.
NBA Picks: Heat at Bulls Game 4 Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 5/24/2011
When the Eastern Conference Finals opened, the Chicago Bulls would have been happy to let Chris Bosh be the leading Heat scorer in any game and take their chances. That worked out fine in Game 1. But in Sunday’s Game 3, a 96-85 Heat victory that gave Miami a 2-1 series lead, Bosh was arguably the best player on the floor with 34 points, including making 13 of his final 15 shots (and eight straight at one point). Bosh's performance allowed LeBron James to mostly be a facilitator, as he had 10 assists and 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting.
NBA Picks: Mavericks at Thunder Game 3 Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 5/20/2011
Well, for the first round of these NBA playoffs we won’t have one series finish in a sweep. The Oklahoma City Thunder assured that with a very impressive 106-100 Game 2 win in Dallas on Thursday night. That was the Mavericks’ first home playoff loss in seven games. And because the television networks rule what happens in the NBA, the Mavs and Thunder turn around and play 48 hours later. Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat played on Wednesday and not again until Sunday. It’s all about ratings, baby!
NBA Handicapping: Hedging NBA Series Odds
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 5/19/2011
Best-of-seven playoff series provide the perfect opportunity for bettors to hedge. NBA playoff series offer a two-week stock market of sporting action with updated playoff series odds each day. For those people not patient enough to hedge their NBA Finals futures with a game moneyline here or there or those not nimble enough to hedge game lines with halftime lines, series pricing offers the perfect compromise for hedgers.
NBA Picks: Heat at Bulls Game 2 Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 5/18/2011
Every book that I checked had the Miami Heat as the series favorites against the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals as well as the slight NBA title favorite before Game 1 vs. the Bulls on Sunday night. Yet what else does Chicago have to do to prove itself? The Bulls played perhaps the best half of basketball of any team so far this postseason in turning a 48-48 halftime lead into a 103-82 statement that improved the Bulls to 4-0 against Miami this season.
NBA Picks: Thunder at Mavericks Game 1 Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 5/17/2011
It will be the typical rest vs. rust debate when the NBA’s Western Conference Finals tip off tonight in Dallas as the Thunder visit the Mavericks for Game 1. Did you even remember that Dallas was still in the NBA playoffs? It will have been eight days off by the time the Mavs take the court on Tuesday since they swept away the two-time reigning champion Lakers so impressively.
Thunder vs. Mavericks Series Odds and NBA Predictions
by David Schwab - 5/16/2011
Before the NB playoffs started Sports Interaction had the Oklahoma City Thunder at +800 to win the Western Conference and the Dallas Mavericks at +700. The Los Angeles Lakers were the prohibitive favorite at -118 and the No.1 seed San Antonio Spurs were the second favorite at +200. However, a funny thing happened on the way to the conference finals.
NBA Picks: Thunder at Grizzlies Game 6 Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 5/13/2011
While the NBA might tout parity in its league (actually does it?), it’s pretty obvious that major market teams make things go. And I guess I am guilty of this as well as this will be my first preview of the Oklahoma City-Memphis series since it started. It features two of the smallest TV markets in the league, but, outside of Game 5, has been probably the most entertaining conference semifinal so far. The Thunder can end Memphis’ Cinderella run on Friday night.
NBA Picks: Celtics at Heat Game 5 Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 5/11/2011
It looks like a changing of the guard is definitely happening right before our eyes in the NBA. Of course, the aging Los Angeles Lakers, who were the two-time reigning champions and had reached the NBA Finals three seasons in a row, were unceremoniously swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the west semis. Now it appears the Boston Celtics, who have won one title and reached two Finals overall in the past three seasons, are going to fare only slightly better in their East semi against Miami as they must go back to South Florida down 3-1 in the series with Miami for Wednesday’s game.
NBA Picks: Hawks at Bulls Game 5 Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 5/10/2011
A series that many expected to be a sweep is now down to a best-of-three as the Chicago Bulls host the Atlanta Hawks for Game 5 on Tuesday night. It’s not that the Hawks don’t have talent, it’s just that they don’t focus that often. But they certainly have at times in this series.
Lakers at Mavericks Odds and Game 3 NBA Picks
by Alan Matthews - 5/6/2011
Wow! When the Los Angeles Lakers lost Game 1 to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night, most just chalked it up to a bit of a hiccup at the end of the game after Los Angeles had dominated for three-plus quarters. Now? The Laker bandwagon is emptying faster than a Charlie Sheen concert in Salt Lake City. Has a two-time champion ever been looked at so differently after just two games of a playoff series? Now everyone is calling the Lakers old, tired, unfocused, discouraged, selfish, full of “trust issues,” you name it.
NBA Picks: Hawks at Bulls Game 2 Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 5/4/2011
Few would have given the Atlanta Hawks much of a chance in their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Chicago Bulls regardless, but when Hawks guard Kirk Hinrich, the former Bull, was likely ruled out for the series this sure looked like a sweep waiting to happen. Hinrich is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and a guy that Bulls star Derrick Rose has said gives him as much defensive trouble as anyone. After all, they did practice against each other for two years.
NBA Picks: Celtics at Heat Game 2 Odds and Predictions
by Darin Zank - 5/3/2011
This Eastern Conference semifinals series didn't take long to get intense, as Miami's Game 1 victory Sunday over Boston got mean at times and resulted in Paul Pierce getting ejected. So the Celtics will be trying to avoid falling down 0-2 when the teams meet Tuesday night again at American Airlines Arena in Miami (7 p.m. EST, TNT).
NBA Picks: Celtics vs. Heat Series Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 4/30/2011
It might not be hyperbole to call the Boston Celtics-Miami Heat Eastern Conference semifinal matchup the best second-round playoff pairing in years. When these two played on Opening Night it was easily the most-hyped opener ever (and a betting bonanza at sportsbooks). This is a series that everyone has been pointing toward pretty much since then – makes you wonder if the Celtics now regret tanking those final few games at the end of the regular season, which gave home court in this series to Miami (although it turned out it wouldn’t have mattered).
NBA Picks: Grizzlies at Spurs Game 5 Odds and Predictions
by Darin Zank - 4/27/2011
The NBA playoffs, in their current format, are not particularly conducive to surprises. The top seeds usually win series, and the best teams usually meet in the league finals. That's probably because over the course of a seven-game series the better teams can overcome one- or two-game spurts by the upstarts. Since the league has gone to the seven-game format for the first round of the playoffs only one eight seed has beaten a one seed. That was the Golden State Warriors of 2007, who upset the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks.
NBA Picks: Hawks at Magic Odds and Predictions
by Darin Zank - 4/26/2011
Last spring the Orlando Magic knocked the Atlanta Hawks out of the playoffs in record-breaking fashion, sweeping the four games of an Eastern Conference semifinals series by an average of 25 points. This spring, it looks like Atlanta has revenge on its mind, because the Hawks have won three of the first four games of this opening-round series. Tuesday night the Hawks go for the kill when they take on the Magic in a Game 5 in Orlando (7:30 p.m. EST, NBATV).
NBA Picks: Bulls at Pacers Game 3 Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 4/21/2011
In many ways the Chicago Bulls were the chic pick to win the NBA title when the playoffs began even though they were only the third-favorites behind the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat. All those TV talking heads started jumping on the Bulls’ bandwagon when they finished the regular season with nine consecutive wins and the NBA’s best overall record. It’s funny how that bandwagon emptied quickly despite Chicago being up 2-0 on eighth-seeded Indiana.
Free NBA Playoff Predictions: Grizzlies at Spurs Game 2 Odds
by Alan Matthews - 4/20/2011
The Memphis Grizzlies essentially tanked their final few games of the regular season because they wanted a first-round playoff matchup with the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs (although Coach Lionel Hollins denies it). Of course, the Spurs had a “be careful what you wish for” attitude when learning this, but right now Memphis is looking rather smart for that decision after a shocking Game 1 victory in the Alamo City. Now Game 2 is pretty much a must win for the Spurs.
NBA Picks: Hornets vs. Lakers Odds and Betting Predictions
by Darin Zank - 4/20/2011
We've had a couple of real shockers already in these NBA playoffs, and none was bigger than the New Orleans Hornets' 109-100 victory Sunday over the two-time defending NBA champion LA Lakers at Staples Center. That win gives New Orleans, the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, an early 1-0 lead in this first-round playoff series. So it will be the Lakers trying to avoid falling to 0-2 when the teams meet for Game 2 of their series Wednesday night in Los Angeles (10:30 p.m. EST, TNT).
NBA Picks: Knicks at Celtics Odds and Betting Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 4/19/2011
The New York Knicks know they let one get away in Game 1 on Sunday against the Boston Celtics, and they now face a potential 2-0 hole on Tuesday night because New York appears likely to be without point guard Chauncey Billups.
<< Prev | 1 ...83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 ... 99 | Next >>
Daily Free Picks Menu
Free NFL Picks
Free College Football Picks
Free NBA Picks
Free College Basketball Picks
Free MLB Picks
Free NHL Picks
Free KBO Picks
Free UFC Picks
Free Golf Picks
Free NASCAR Picks
Free WNBA Picks
Free Soccer Picks
Free CFL Picks
Free Tennis Picks
Free Email Picks
All Free Sports Picks