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Free NBA Picks: Bulls at Cavaliers Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 11/29/2013

The Chicago Bulls lucked into winning the 2008 NBA Draft Lottery and took point guard Derrick Rose first overall. The Cleveland Cavaliers lucked into winning the 2011 NBA Draft Lottery and took point guard Kyrie Irving first overall. Sounds like a great potential individual rivalry with the teams in the same division, doesn't it? Yet, because of a myriad of injuries, mostly to Rose, the two have faced off just once in their careers. And with Rose done the rest of this season, that number won't increase until sometime in 2014.

Free NBA Picks: Spurs at Thunder Odds
by Aaron Smith - 11/26/2013

Two years ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder took down the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. It was assumed by many experts at the time to be the end of the Spurs run. Oklahoma City was a team on the rise, and they had jumped a big hurdle. The Thunder went on to get stomped by the Heat in the NBA Finals that year.

Free NBA Picks: Nets at Raptors Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 11/25/2013

The Atlanta Hawks have to be doing jumping jacks right now. Remember that trade of Joe Johnson to Brooklyn in July 2012? Not only did the Hawks rid themselves of the horrendous Johnson contract in that deal, they acquired the right to swap first-round picks in the 2014 draft with the Nets. So if you are a Boston Celtics fan, you should not only be rooting against Brooklyn but also Atlanta.

Free NBA Picks: Knicks at Trail Blazers Odds
by Dave Schwab - 11/25/2013

The New York Knicks will try and snap a five-game skid this Monday night when they head west to the Moda Center to square off against the white-hot Portland Trail Blazers, who are riding a 10-game winning streak of their own. Tipoff for this inter-conference clash is set for 10 p.m. (ET), and the game will be available on NBA League Pass.

Free NBA Picks: Knicks at Wizards Odds
by Alan Matthews - 11/22/2013

Recently, Bovada unveiled a first NBA coach to be fired prop, and the favorite was Washington's Randy Wittman. Right behind him was New York's Mike Woodson. Both teams had playoff expectations this season, but the Knicks' were obviously a bit more grandiose. For some reason, owner James Dolan thinks his team can win a championship. Perhaps he hasn't seen the roster.

Free NBA Picks: Spurs at Grizzlies Odds
by Aaron Smith - 11/21/2013

It’s a rematch of the Western Conference Finals from last year. The San Antonio Spurs will travel to Memphis to take on the Memphis Grizzlies in a game that could once again be a playoff preview. San Antonio swept the Grizzlies in four straight games in the Western Conference Finals, though it is important to point out that two of those games went into overtime. The Grizzlies seemed to just run out of gas in that series, but you can bet that the Grizzlies have had this game circled for a while.

Free NBA Picks: Bulls at Nuggets Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 11/20/2013

Sometimes no matter how good two teams are, even if one is championship-caliber and the other lousy, it can be hard for the better team to win in a city. For example, it was always tough to win in Miami even before LeBron James and Chris Bosh arrived because the opposing players generally liked to enjoy South Beach until the wee hours of the morning. The Knicks request Sunday afternoon games because they believe they have an advantage that is New York City on a Saturday night for visiting players.

Free NBA Picks: Suns at Kings Odds
by Alan Matthews - 11/18/2013

I'm sure those living in the Sacramento area are happy just to have an NBA team as it appeared the Kings were as good as in Seattle early last offseason before a last-ditch effort by Sacramento mayor and former all-star Kevin Johnson found a new owner and got a new arena bill passed. Still, Kings fans have to be about fed up with product on the court. The only thing keeping the Kings, who haven't finished with a winning record since 2005-06, out of last place in the Western Conference is a terrible Utah club.

Free NBA Picks: Nets at Clippers Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 11/15/2013

Since I won't get much of a chance to find an interesting game involving the Philadelphia 76ers or New Orleans Pelicans this year, I was leaning toward previewing Saturday's matchup between those two teams. It's the first meeting since the clubs had a big trade in this year's draft, with Philly sending Jrue Holiday to New Orleans for Nerlens Noel and the Pels' first-round pick this season -- that trade is looking like a tremendous one for the Sixers even though Noel hasn't played this season and probably won't.

Free NBA Picks: Timberwolves at Nuggets Odds
by Aaron Smith - 11/14/2013

Minnesota and Denver will be in the national television spotlight Friday night. ESPN will cover this Western Conference matchup between two teams who are looking to break out of the middle-of-the-pack in the Western Conference.

Free NBA Picks: Thunder at Warriors Odds
by Alan Matthews - 11/13/2013

If you like watching the Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls or Memphis Grizzlies, that's great. However, I believe basketball is meant to be an offensively-flowing game and not a physical, defensive grind. And for my mind, you won't find two teams more fun to watch as they fire away at will than the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors, who face off in Thursday night's TNT nightcap.

Free NBA Picks: Thunder at Clippers Odds
by Aaron Smith - 11/12/2013

The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Clippers will do battle Wednesday night in Los Angeles, and ESPN will carry this game nationally. The Thunder are once again at full strength, while the Clippers have a new-and-improved look this year. These are two of the favorites to come out of the Western Conference. This could be a preview of a playoff series that means a lot in the spring!

Free NBA Picks: Bucks at Heat Odds
by Alan Matthews - 11/11/2013

Has any team had worse luck injury-wise this early NBA season than the Milwaukee Bucks? True, none of the players they have lost are superstars, but they are some of the best players on the team. Let's start with small forward Carlos Delfino, an expected key guy off the bench.

Free NBA Picks: Magic at Hawks Betting Odds
by Alan Matthews - 11/8/2013

You might be asking why I am picking the Orlando-Atlanta matchup as my recommendation among Saturday's NBA games. Well, there is one main reason: I don't simply pick games that have the most national appeal, but I pick the ones that I feel strongest about from a betting perspective.

Free NBA Picks: Warriors at Spurs Odds
by Aaron Smith - 11/7/2013

Remember the Warriors vs. Spurs playoff series last year? The young Warriors gave the veteran Spurs everything they could handle before finally bowing out to the eventual NBA runner-up. Golden State nearly took a 2-0 lead by winning both road games to start that series, but the Spurs stormed back late in Game 2 to even up the series at 1-1. It seemed like the Warriors wore down a bit late in the series, but you had to come away from that series impressed with Golden State.

Free NBA Picks: Lakers at Rockets Odds
by Alan Matthews - 11/6/2013

The Houston Rockets have entered the Los Angeles portion of their schedule. They played at Staples Center against the Clippers on Monday -- getting thrashed, 137-118 -- in Dwight Howard's return to L.A. Even though you won't catch any true Laker fan saying he or she roots for the Clippers or likely at a Clipper game, Howard was booed heavily in his first game back in L.A. In Thursday night's TNT nightcap, Howard gets his first game against his former Laker teammates.

Free NBA Picks: Mavericks at Thunder Odds
by Aaron Smith - 11/5/2013

The Dallas Mavericks were at the top of the NBA after winning the NBA Finals in 2011. Where were they at the end of 2013? Dallas was sitting at home watching the playoffs after finishing the season at 41-41. It was the first time in 12 years that Dallas wasn’t a part of the playoffs.

Free NBA Picks: Spurs at Nuggets Odds
by Alan Matthews - 11/4/2013

I fully expected the Denver Nuggets to take a step back this season after losing Andre Iguodala and Coach George Karl in the offseason as well as starting the year without an injured Danilo Gallinari. And it's still early, but right now Denver looks like one of the worst teams in the Western Conference heading into Tuesday's home game with San Antonio. In fact, if the Nuggets should lose Tuesday night (they should) and Thursday against Atlanta, they would match their home losses for all of the 2012-13 regular season.

Free NBA Picks: Cavaliers at Pacers Odds
by Alan Matthews - 11/1/2013

I won't pretend that winning a division title means a whole lot in the NBA, other than for playoff seeding, but the Central Division might be the most interesting to watch all season. Obviously the Bulls and Pacers are NBA title contenders. The Pistons look much improved with the additions of Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings. The Cavaliers are going to be a major force if Andrew Bynum actually can play significant minutes. The Bucks? Well, someone has to finish last.

Free NBA Picks: Knicks at Bulls Odds Thursday TNT
by Alan Matthews - 10/30/2013

Already you can see some Chicago Bulls fans emptying the bandwagon after the Bulls looked very sloppy and were pretty much manhandled by the Miami Heat in the season opener on Tuesday night, 107-95 (I recommended giving the points). But I caution you not to read anything into these early-season games.