NBA Handicapping Articles

2011 NBA Draft Predictions: First-Round Bargains
by T.O. Whenham - 6/15/2011

The lottery is supposed to be where the stars come from in the NBA Draft, and that is often the case. Many times, though, a guy who doesn’t quite make the lottery but is still a first rounder can become a valuable player when they land in the right spot. Some of these guys are guys who just weren’t quite good enough to be a lottery pick. More often, though, they were players with all sorts of potential who just had something working against them. Here’s a look at my 2011 NBA Draft predictions for six guys that are likely to go in the first round, but out of the lottery, that have a chance to be very nice players when all is said and done.

2011 NBA Draft Projections: Second–Round Value
by T.O. Whenham - 6/15/2011

Every year there is a couple of guys that come out of the second round of the NBA Draft that become solid contributors to their teams. Superstars may be rare in the second round, but key role players can be found if teams get lucky. Here’s a look at my 2011 NBA Draft projections for seven guys that are likely to go in the second round this year who could easily be valuable players for their new teams. A few of the players -- Tyler, Smith and Jackson - could potentially find themselves at the end of the first round, but they could still be strong value even there.

NBA Betting Tips: Looking Forward To Next Season
by T.O. Whenham - 6/14/2011

The NBA season is over, and unless you are from Miami you are probably thrilled with the results. For a lot of bettors the end of the season means the end of thinking about the sport until things get going again in the fall — with perhaps a brief break to consider the outcome of the draft. Before you put your NBA betting to bed for the year, though, it pays to invest some time looking back on what happened, an ahead to what could happen next year. By putting a little effort in now you can be very well positioned when the season starts up next year. Here are four effective areas to look at:

NBA Picks: Heat at Mavericks Game 4 Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 6/7/2011

The only chance the Dallas Mavericks had in these NBA Finals was if their vastly superior bench depth was enough to even out the fact that Dallas has just one superstar – Dirk Nowitzki – against the Heat’s trio of stars: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. In Game 1, Miami’s bench had a double-digit advantage in points over the Mavs. Heat won. In Game 2, the Dallas bench had a double-digit advantage in points over Miami’s. Mavs won. In Game 3, Dallas had just a 25-19 edge in reserve points, which just isn’t going to get it done. Miami won to take home-court advantage back and 2-1 series lead.

NBA Finals Picks: Mavericks at Heat Game 2 Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 6/2/2011

All that positive karma that the Dallas Mavericks had going for them heading into Tuesday’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals – a five-game road postseason winning streak, a regular-season sweep of the Heat and one more day of rest than Miami – is now totally gone after the Heat’s 92-84 victory. It kept Miami unbeaten at home in the playoffs and was its fifth straight win overall as well as No. 5 in a row against Dirk Nowitzki’s Mavs in the Finals – of course the Heat of Dwayne Wade and Shaquille O’Neal won the final four games of the 2006 Finals against Dirk and Co. Only Jason Terry is also left on Dallas; only Wade and Udonis Haslem are back on the Heat.

NBA Draft Predictions: Players with Rising Stock
by T.O. Whenham - 5/26/2011

The NBA Draft has given us further proof that while it is a big deal, it doesn’t even hold a candle to the NFL. The NFL Combine is basically a national holiday — a highly publicized, highly scrutinized spectacle. The NBA Combine, which happened last week, barely registered on the sporting radar. Despite the comparatively non-existent coverage of the NBA Combine there was a lot to take from the event. Here are my NBA Draft predictions for eight players that have improved their case — and their chances of landing somewhere where they can be an immediate contributor — with their Combine performance and the rest of the draft process:

NBA Picks: Heat at Bulls Game 5 Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 5/26/2011

Chicago Bulls rookie Head Coach Tom Thibodeau was named the NBA’s Coach of the Year this season, and maybe this isn’t fair to say but it appears that Thibodeau is being outcoached right now in the Eastern Conference Finals by Heat counterpart Erik Spoelstra. Since that Game 1 Bulls blowout, the Heat have looked like the superior team as they handed Chicago a third straight loss (for the first time this season) in Game 4 on Tuesday night.

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).