Tag: NBA tips

San Antonio Spurs Threaten to Usurp Warriors After Durant Injury

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

With less than six weeks until the playoffs, an injury to star player Kevin Durant has threatened to derail the chances of NBA Championships favourites the Golden State Warriors. Without him, the Warriors have lost twice in a row and the supremely consistent San Antonio Spurs are now hot on their heels in the race to emerge as the top seed in the Western Conference. The Warriors are now no longer a sure thing in the west, and that has blown the race to the Finals wide open, making the season more exciting than ever.

Western Conference

Durant sprained his knee in a freak accident that occurred when teammate Zaza Pachulia backed into him while fighting for a rebound. The team initially feared he would miss the rest of the season, but the prognosis now looks a little more positive as he might make it back in time for the playoffs. But by that time, Golden State could have been overtaken by San Antonio as the number one seed in the west. After losing Durant they suffered back-to-back defeats to the Wizards and Bulls, the first time in 146 games they had lost twice in a row – an NBA record. They missed his ability to stretch the court, and the Golden State offence has looked out of sync as opposing teams have crowded Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

Meanwhile, the Spurs are 9-1 in their last 10, the best record in the league, and are on a seven-game winning streak. They are now just three wins behind Golden State and are driven by the constantly improving offensive prowess of Kawhi Leonard. This has pushed Golden State out to 2/5 with Betfred for the west, while San Antonio is now 9/2 with William Hill, which looks a very interesting bet. Even if Durant makes it back in time for the playoffs he could be carrying an injury still, and suddenly the Warriors do not look quite as invincible.

Eastern Conference

The Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards have been putting pressure on the Cleveland Cavaliers for top seed in the Eastern Conference for some time and that has continued. At 7-3 in their last 10, the Wizards have the best recent form in the east, which makes the 12/1 888Sport is offering on them to win it look an intriguing option. But the Cavs look back in business now that LeBron James is strapped up and ready for the home straight and the team has been bolstered by Deron Williams and Andrew Bogut and most of the action is likely to go on Cleveland, who are 4/11 with Sky Bet, William Hill and Boyle Sports.

MVP Race

Despite topping most player power rankings since Christmas, James Harden has failed to pull away from Russell Westbrook in the betting for regular season MVP. With just six weeks to go, Harden is evens with William Hill, while Westbrook is 6/4 with Bet Victor. What counts against Westbrook, however, is that the Thunder are not a great team and a lot of his hard work goes unnoticed. Harden’s Rockets are a genuine threat to Golden State and San Antonio in the west and he has emerged as the best point guard in the league this season with the stats to back it up, so even money at William Hill looks great right now.

Upcoming Games

A huge game that could help decide the ultimate Western Conference table sees Harden’s Rockets travel to San Antonio to face the Spurs. It should be close, but recent form points to a San Antonio win and the 3/5 at Bet365 looks good. On Wednesday the in-form Wizards are at the Phoenix Suns and should cover a heavy spread against a team committing 15.1 turnovers per game. On Thursday, Celtics v Warriors looks too close to call, but a treble of the Spurs to beat the Kings, the Wizards to beat the Nuggets and the Atlanta Hawks to beat the Brooklyn Nets looks great.

NBA betting: Philadelphia 76ers and Houston Rockets killing the spreads

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are once again leading their respective NBA conference tables by some distance, but when it comes to spread betting they are way down the list. The all-conquering Warriors are sitting pretty on 49-9, but they are a mere 28-26-2 against the spread, so if you backed them to cover the spread every week you would be down overall. The Cavs are 40-17 atop the Eastern Conference, but have fared even worse against the spread: LeBron James and co are 26-27-2. So which teams have made their backers the most money, and which have fared the worst?

Top Teams for Spread Betting

An unlikely champion has emerged when it comes to defying the spread so far his season. The Philadelphia 76ers are 22-36 this season and 13th out of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference, with virtually no chance of reaching the playoffs. But they are faring far better than they did last season when they slumped to a dismal 10-76. Having already doubled last season’s win total with a promising young team led by Rookie of the Year favourite Joel Embiid, the 76ers have consistently defied bookmakers’ expectations. They are 35-21-1 against the spread this season, so if you had been backing them throughout you would have made a nice profit. In the Western Conference, the Houston Rockets are the best team against the spread, with a record of 33-25. That is not a huge margin, which shows just how canny the oddsmakers are when setting spreads.

Worst Teams

If you have been regularly backing the Portland Trail Blazers or the Milwaukee Bucks to cover the spread this season, you will be cursing your decisions. Both teams have covered the spread just 22 times, the worst records in the league. Backing the Cavs and Warriors on the road would have hurt you too as Cleveland is 11-15 on the road, while Golden State is 13-15-1.

Futures Update

The Eastern Conference looks like turning into a three-way fight between the Cavs, the Washington Wizards and the Boston Celtics. They are the top three teams in the conference and are heading towards securing the top three seeded places as they are in the best form right now: the Cavs and Wizards are 8-2 in their last 10, while the Celtics are 7-3. The bookmakers expect the Cavs to cruise to another conference win and William Hill has made Cleveland the 4/11 favourite. The odds have been pushed out, however, thanks to the form of the Celtics, the Wizards and the Toronto Raptors. The Celtics are 7/1 second favourites, but Boston’s refusal to dip into its war chest before the trade deadline could hurt it, while two straight defeats do not inspire confidence. The Raptors are 10/1 with William Hill, Bet Victor and Ladbrokes, but a better bet could be the Wizards at 12/1 with Boyle Sports. After the Warriors, they have the league’s best record in 2017 and bolstered their bench with Bojan Bogdanovic.

Covering the Cavs at 4/11 and Wizards at 12/1 could pay dividends. The Warriors are likely to run away with the Western Conference once again and are just 3/10 with Sky Bet. The Spurs have been in excellent form and the Rockets are on a roll, but the Warriors just look too strong now. Still, the Warriors’ James Harden should be named regular season MVP (10/11 with Paddy Power), which would be a good consolation prize for The Beard.

Upcoming Games

The 76ers are in action on Tuesday, when they host the Warriors in Philly. They are 9/1 underdogs with Betfred and Paddy Power, while Stephen Curry and co are just 1/20. But spread betting is where it really gets interesting. At Paddy Power, you can get 10/11 on the 76ers +13.5 and – given that Philadelphia is the best at covering spreads this season and Golden State is poor at doing so on the road – that looks a good bet. Two in-form teams meet in Boston on the same day when the Hawks play the Celtics, and Boston should win that at 20/37 with Bet365.

Jazz, Spurs and Hawks offer value in divisional betting

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The past week has seen the Golden State Warriors embark on a three-game winning streak to leave their win record at .850 and strengthen their grip on the Pacific Division. They are just 1/100 to win it, while the Cleveland Cavaliers are also 1/100 to win the Central Division. Both are looking nailed on, but there is plenty of value in predicting who will finish first in the other four divisions, which are all very much up for grabs.

Northwest Division

This looks like a two-horsed race between the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder. The Jazz has recorded their best record at the midway point of a season since 2010-11 and hold a slender lead over the Thunder. But Oklahoma City is hot on their heels and have a real superstar in Russell Wilson, so it should prove a close fought battle. Still, the Jazz is better defensively and will take confidence from beating the Cavaliers last Tuesday, so they should just sneak it in and the 8/11 Paddy Power is offering looks good.

Southwest Division

Another intense battle here is developing between the San Antonio Spurs and the Houston Rockets. In James Harden, Houston has a player vying with Wilson to be named MVP, and he recently inspired them to an eight-game winning streak. But two straight defeats saw Houston fall to 31-11, leaving them narrowly behind the Spurs, who are 31-9. Alongside Golden State, the Spurs are the NBA’s form team at present. They have the league’s best offence, and over the last month they have had the best defence, so they are topping power rankings lists and should finish just ahead of Houston, making the 1/3 Bet365 is offering look good for an accumulator.

Atlantic Division

The Toronto Raptors lead this division ahead of the Boston Celtics, but the Raptors are an inconsistent team, losing to the Bulls and the Rockets this past week, before recording hugely impressive victories over the Celtics and the Jazz. That defeat will have hurt the Celtics, who are 8-2 in their last 10, compared to 5-5 for the Raptors, and will harbour hopes of overhauling them over the course of the season. The Raptors are 10/19 with Bet365, but the 7/4 Coral is offering on the Celtics looks interesting as Isaiah Thomas and Larry Bird are in sensational form.

Southeast Division

Arguably the poorest division, this could be taken by any one of three teams: the Atlanta Hawks (13/10 with Coral), Charlotte Hornets (9/4 with William Hill) or Washington Wizards (13/4 with 888Sport). None of them ranks in the top 10 teams this season for win percentage. The Hornets looked in the driving seat a couple of weeks ago, but four straight defeats for them coincided with seven wins in a row for Atlanta, leaving the Hawks ahead of them. The 13/10 looks a good bet on Atlanta and could make a nice treble with the Jazz and the Spurs.

Upcoming Games

Tuesday sees the Jazz travel to the struggling Phoenix Suns. Utah really should be winning this game and the odds of 4/9 reflect that, but you can get 10/11 with Paddy Power on the Jazz -4.5, which looks a good bet. On the same day, an out of sorts Thunder travels to the LA Clippers, who are on a six-game winning streak and should win it at 4/9 with Sky Bet. One game to look out for is in-form Atlanta at the Detroit Pistons on Thursday. The Pistons are 8-17 against teams with a win percentage better than .500, and Atlanta should beat them and cover a decent spread.