NBA: Friday Betting Questions
Friday night’s ESPN NBA doubleheader will be about the last games of consequence for many basketball bettors
2008-03-07
Friday night’s ESPN NBA doubleheader will be about the last games of consequence for many basketball bettors, with all the important college basketball betting ahead. In all, 12 NBA games are on tap to whet your betting appetite.
When combined with the 23 games available in college basketball, this makes for the biggest Friday night betting board we’ve seen in some time in hoops. That makes for plenty of chances to earn points in the Beat the House promotion.
Each ball game tonight will raise questions, allowing those looking in on the contests something to ponder. Before considering placing wagers, make sure the answers are satisfactory to meet your needs.
Do the Chicago Bulls have a clue?
Weren’t the Chicago Bulls supposed to be true playoff contenders when the season started? Tonight in Boston, they will be after there FIRST three game winning streak of the season, that’s correct numero uno. Interim coach Jim Boylan is acting like a tough guy coach, which is remarkably similar to the guy he replaced in Scott Skiles. The Bulls are ninth in the Eastern Conference standings. They made this big trade to get Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes, with neither even being able to make an All-Midwest NBA all-star team, let alone be big time productive players.
Having lived near the Chicago area, this supposed mad rush to make the playoffs with 25-36 (27-34 ATS) record isn’t going to fool anyone from the city of board shoulders. Oh sure, Tyrus Thomas needs to be punished for acting immature, and rookie Joakim Noah has often been like a whiny French foreign exchange student, but come on GM Paxson, get these guys in the lineup and force them to play. With players like Gooden and Hughes, you already know what they can do. Let’em play, because is it really that big a deal to finish 7-10 games below .500, take seventh or eight spot in the playoffs, to be swept by Detroit or Chicago! Da Bulls will enter tonight’s contest with Boston 2-10 ATS against Atlantic division opponents this season. (When thinking about that trend, take a second to consider the other teams in that division.) Chicago only (?) lost by 25 the last time they visited Bean-Town and usually are so inspired they are 2-11 ATS in road games revenging a loss vs opponent of 10 points or more.
Will Boston care now that they have wrapped up playoff berth?
With the win over Detroit Wednesday, the Celtics captured playoff berth and pretty much locked up top seed in the East. Tonight, Sportsbook.com has them as 11-point favorites with total of 197 and there is no reason to believe they won’t continue to play hard. Consider Kevin Garnett played on many stinky T-Wolves teams that had to scrape for all 82 games to make the postseason. Now, he and the rest of his Kelly green-clad teammates are in position to have best overall record and send a message of intimidation, so why not. Boston is 14-3 ATS off a home win by 10 points or more this season. Besides, it would be fun to kick some tail against a team you could meet in the playoffs.
ESPN will have these two teams in opening game starting at 8 Eastern.
How come San Antonio always wins?
The San Antonio Spurs are the Roger Federer basketball. They are machine-like in how they mow down one opponent after another. Any slippage in play is a news story, just like when Federer loses a match. When San Antonio goes off on an 11-game winning streak like they are now (6-4-1 ATS), they are often overshadowed by other events, (Houston’s winning 17 straight) or people are ho-hum, because it is expected, much like Federer winning tennis tournaments. Back to the point of the question, the reason the Spurs always win is because they have three all-pro type players, workable bench players and they like to play defense.
Coach Greg Popovich has been blessed to have David Robinson, which led to Tim Duncan. This is reminiscent of the San Francisco 49ers, going from Joe Montana to Steve Young in terms of successful transition. Both the Admiral and Mr. Fundamental are team players first, and they set the example on the defensive end. Presently, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are the other stars and they follow the lead dog. Years ago when Steve Martin was doing stand-up, he had a joke that talked about where someone would want to put there money, First National Secure Bank or Bill’s Bank? Bill would be on the street corner screaming “Put your money in my bank, I promise I’ll watch it REAL close.” In much the same way, Brent Barry and other role players have had the opportunity to go to other teams, but what team is going to give them the best chance at another ring and playoff cash. They already know.
Can Denver win being one-dimensional?
In many cases they can, because they have two All-Pro players like Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony and a post presence in Marcus Camby. Where they will struggle is against teams that can play defense like the Spurs. Denver is a two-point favorite and has six of the last 11 regular season meetings between these Western teams, but come playoff time the Nuggets are edible against more defensive-minded teams. Denver ranks fourth in the NBA in scoring at 107.6 PPG, but even that kind of scoring has a down side, as they are 4-12 ATS after scoring 60 points or more in the first half last game this season.
Denver can win games like this especially at the Pepsi Center, where they are 24-7 and 18-13 ATS. The Nuggets get into those feeding frenzy times at home and are 12-2 ATS on home court after a game where they made 12 or more 3-point shots over the last two seasons. Another factor in Denver’s favor is the Spurs haven’t been as proficient and profitable on the road, with 12-17 spread record. This has been especially true on the road after a home game, with 4-12 ATS mark.
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