Posted Friday, February 25, 2011 10:42 AMWe might need to round up some programs to keep track of all the player movement that went down this week around the NBA. And many of those deals just make things more interesting as the league heads into the home stretch of this regular season.
Friday's NBA betting slate at BetJamaica.com features a mess of good games. In a matchup between playoff hopefuls the 31-27 Utah Jazz visit the 26-30 Indiana Pacers (7 pm Eastern). The 29-26 New York Knicks, with their new stars in tow, are in Cleveland to play the 10-47 Cavaliers (7:30 pm Eastern). In an intriguing interconference battle the 36-20 Oklahoma City Thunder visit the 36-22 Orlando Magic (8 pm Eastern, ESPN). Deron Williams is expected to make his debut with 17-40 New Jersey as the Nets visit the 47-10 San Antonio Spurs (8:30 pm Eastern). Out in SoCal it's the battle of Los Angeles as the 21-37 Clippers and the 40-19 Lakers meet at Staples Center (10:30 pm Eastern). The 34-25 Denver Nuggets, who revamped their roster earlier this week, and the 32-25 Portland Trail Blazers, who just traded to get Gerald Wallace, tangle at the Rose Garden (10:30 pm Eastern, ESPN).
And, as part of their seven-game trip through parts of the Western Conference, the 34-23 Atlanta Hawks visit the 26-30 Golden State Warriors (10:30 pm Eastern).
Utah just traded Williams to Jersey, getting Devin Harris, Derrick Favors and draft choices - which is a needed shake-up for a team that's lost five games in a row and 14 of its last 18 to fall into the nine spot in the West. Indiana, meanwhile, has won nine of its last 12 to move into the eight spot in the East.
Oklahoma City, which just dealt a couple of players for Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson, is 34-22 on the BetJamaica.com game totals this season. The Magic, who made their moves back in December, lost at home to Sacramento on Wednesday as 14-point favorites.
Denver is 2-0 since trading away Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. Portland, meanwhile, just let a win slip away vs. the Lakers on Wednesday night, losing in overtime.
Saturday the 39-17 Chicago Bulls look to continue their trek toward the top of the East when they host the disappointing 22-35 Milwaukee Bucks (8:30 pm Eastern, WGN). And the 41-15 Boston Celtics, as part of their four-game journey out West, pay a visit on the 21-37 Los Angeles Clippers (10:30 pm Eastern).
On top of some of the best pricing available on NBA game betting, bettors should also check out the NBA futures market at BetJamaica.com for odds on who will win this season's conference and league championships. And BetJamaica.com also offers a daily listing of NBA prop bets for your gaming pleasure.
A collection of the NBA's best (and most entertaining) talent gets together at the Staples Center in Los Angeles this weekend for three days of competitions and fun, capped off by the playing of the 60th NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night (8 pm Eastern, ESPN).
As of Friday morning BetJamaica.com is waiting to offer betting on the All-Star Game, but we should have some numbers up and open for action within the next 24 hours.
The NBA All-Star Game, of course, is often a showcase for individual talent, and the games often play out as little more than glorified scrimmages. Winning and losing don't mean much in this game, which can make it tough to bet on and even just to put a line on. One thing that seems certain, though, is that there will be a lot of points scored.
Last year the East beat the West 141-139; the year before the West won 146-119; the year before that the East won 134-128; and the season before that the West won 153-132. That's an average of 273 PPG those last four All-Star contests. The average NBA regular season game this season has seen a total of 198 points scored.
Thanks to his Boston Celtics posting the best record in the Eastern Conference at the break Doc Rivers will guide the East on Sunday. Rivers also coached the East to a 134-128 victory over the West in the 2008 All-Star Game.
And on the strength of his San Antonio Spurs putting up the best record in the Western Conference (not to mention the league as a whole) so far this season Gregg Popovich will call the shots for the West on Sunday. Popovich also coached the West to a 125-115 defeat in the 2005 All-Star Game.
Before the All-Star Game itself comes the preliminary events, including the 3-point contest, the Rookies vs. Sophomores game, and the dunk and skills contests, and BetJamaica.com will be offering proposition betting on those competitions.
The sophomore All-Stars have beaten the freshman eight out 11 games since the inception of that event, and many of those games were not close. But last year the Frosh, led by Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, and DeJuan Blair, broke a seven-game losing streak, beating the Sophs 140-128 at Cowboys Stadium.
BetJamaica.com will also be listing some proposition betting opportunities on Friday night's Rookies vs. Sophomores game and Sunday night's bout, so NBA bettors will still have plenty to choose from this weekend.
The NBA regular season has already passed the 50-game mark, which means the fighting for playoff spots and seedings is already heating up. And with a lot of teams very much alive in the race for the playoffs, a lot of Friday and Saturday's games have potential postseason implications.
On BetJamaica.com's NBA board for Friday the San Antonio Spurs, still the owners of the best record in the league, visit the current seven-seed in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers (7 pm Eastern). Also, the New Orleans Hornets, who hold down the five spot in the West, visit the Orlando Magic (7 pm Eastern); The defending league champion LA Lakers are in New York to take on the Knicks (8 pm Eastern, ESPN); And the Utah Jazz, under a new head coach for the first time since Reagan was president, host the Phoenix Suns (10:30 pm, ESPN).
Saturday the Charlotte Bobcats, who are only a game out of the eight spot in the East, visit the Atlanta Hawks (7 pm Eastern). And the Chicago Bulls, the current three-seed in the East, meet the Hornets in New Orleans (8 pm Eastern, WGN).
As of Friday morning BetJamaica.com is listing the Spurs at -3.5 over the Sixers; the Hornets at +9 vs. the Magic; the Lakers at -3 over the Knicks; and the Jazz at -6 over the Suns.
San Antonio is 32-18 vs. the pointspreads so far this season, 17-7 ATS on the road, and 11-6-1 ATS as a road favorite.
Philly, meanwhile, despite being four games under .500, owns the seven spot in the East at the moment. And more importantly to us here, the Sixers are 32-19 vs. the pointspreads, 15-10 ATS at home and 7-3 vs. the numbers as a home dog.
New Orleans has lost its last four road games, but on the season the Hornets are a respectable 13-13 ATS away from home. And they're 1-1 both SU and ATS in the two games in which they were dogged by nine or more points.
Orlando, meanwhile, is 13-13 ATS at home this season, and 8-9 ATS when favored by nine or more points.
The Lakers are only 24-28 vs. the numbers on the season, but they're 8-4-1 when favored by five points or less on the road.
New York, meanwhile, is 31-18 vs. the BetJamaica.com pointspreads this season, 13-11 ATS at home, and 3-1 ATS as a home dog.
On top of taking advantage of some of the best pricing available on all the NBA day-by-day action at BetJamaica.com, bettors will also want to check out the updated NBA futures market for odds on who will win this season's conference championships and the NBA title.
The Super Bowl will drown out most other sports betting action this weekend, but that doesn't mean there aren't some good things going down in the NBA before Sunday's big football game.
Saturday Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers are in New Orleans to take on the Hornets (8 pm Eastern); the Memphis Grizzlies, who have recently inserted themselves into the Western Conference playoff picture, hit Houston to play the Rockets (8:30 pm Eastern); in a Northwest Division showdown the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder visit the third-place Utah Jazz (9 pm Eastern); and the Central Division-leading Chicago Bulls are on the west coast to tangle with Monta Ellis and the Golden State Warriors (10:30 pm Eastern, WGN).
For Sunday's warmup to the Super Bowl Blake Griffin and his Los Angeles Clippers hit South Beach to play LeBron James and the Heat (noon Eastern); the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers meet on the back end of a weekend home-and-home at MSG (noon Eastern); and the Boston Celtics, still the top team in the East, host the Orlando Magic (2:30 pm Eastern, ABC).
The Lakers got beat at the buzzer Thursday night by San Antonio, and have lost five of their last nine games to fall 7.5 games back of the first-place Spurs in the Western Conference. And their recent skid includes losses to the Clippers and the Kings.
New Orleans, meanwhile, has followed up a 10-game winning streak by losing three of its last four. So the Hornets, the current five seed in the West, are 2.5 games out of the four spot.
On a side note, the Lakers and Hornets are a combined 37-64 on the OVER/UNDER this season.
Memphis has been awful kind to its financial backers this season, going 31-18 vs. the BetJamaica.com numbers. The Grizz have also won four in a row (without O.J. Mayo) and seven of their last eight to climb over the .500 mark and into the nine spot in the West. They now trail the eighth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers by just a half-game.
The Bulls are 28-18 vs. the BetJamaica.com pointspreads this season, and own the biggest division lead in the league, 14 games over second-place Indiana. And with a six-game winning streak Chicago now sits just a half-game back of second-place Miami in the East, and three games behind Boston.
And something's got to give in the Knicks-Sixers game, because they've been two of the best teams in the league this season to bet on. Going into their matchup Friday night in Philly the Sixers are 31-16 vs. the pointspreads this season, while the Knickerbockers are 29-17 ATS.
With football season coming to a close next week sports betting attention increasingly turns to hoops, and the NBA, as playoff races begin to heat up. And this weekend the Association offers up what should be some pretty good ball.
Saturday's slate is headlined by the Dallas Mavericks hosting the Atlanta Hawks (8:30 pm Eastern), while Sunday's slate looks like one created with the absence of football in mind. First, LeBron James and the Miami Heat and Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder hook up for an interconference affair in the OKC (1 pm Eastern, ABC). Then comes a rematch of last year's league title series as the two-time defending champion LA Lakers host the Boston Celtics (3:30 pm Eastern, ABC).
How important is Dirk Nowitzki to the Mavs? With the big German Dallas started 24-5 this season. Then, with Nowitzki out with a knee injury, the Mavericks went 2-7. They then went 1-3 in his first four games back with the team last week, but have since won three in a row and look like they may have regained some mojo.
Dallas is also 21-15 vs. the BetJamaica.com pointspreads this season with Nowitzki, and 2-7 ATS without him. And the Mavs beat the Hawks in their first meeting this season back in November 98-93 in Atlanta.
The Hawks won five in a row earlier this month but are only 3-3 over their last six. Last Friday they scored 59 points in a home loss to New Orleans.
Miami has lost two of three games since Chris Bosh went out with an ankle sprain, and they shot just 42% in losing at the Knicks on Thursday night.
Oklahoma City, meanwhile, needed overtime to beat Minnesota on Wednesday night, and is just 2-3 over its last five games.
Boston, a winner in Portland on Thursday night, still leads the East, now by four games over the Heat and Bulls.
And the Lakers, meanwhile, are 3-2 in their last five games, and have dropped to six games behind the Spurs in the West.
Miami still tops the betting to win the East this season at BetJamaica.com at -175, followed by, among others, Boston at +185 and Atlanta at +2,200. And the Lakers are the top choice to win the West at -145, followed by, among others, OKC at +650 and Dallas at +700.
And the Heat remain the favorites at BetJamaica.com to win the NBA championship this season at +185, followed on that board by, among others, the Lakers at +250, the Celtics at +400, the Mavericks and Thunder at +1,600, and the Hawks at +5,000.