NBA Handicapping Articles

NBA Handicapping: Hot or Cold Report
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 4/9/2010

The final week of the NBA season brings us teams with all kinds of different situations. Motivation is a major factor right now heading into the playoffs as is resting players. Some teams are jockeying for playoff position but most have their fate sealed already. Playoff teams are resting key players in games while eliminated teams all seem to take different approaches to this week. Here are three teams who could be hot bets this week based on the previously mentioned criteria and three teams who might be destined for a cold end of the regular season.

Handicapping the NBA Western Conference Playoff Race
by T.O. Whenham - 4/7/2010

At first glance the NBA playoff race just isn't that interesting right now, even if there are only four or five games left. All eight teams in the Western Conference have already secured their spot in the postseason, and the only real race in the East is between Toronto and Chicago to see which squad can get humiliated by the Cavs in the first round. Not exactly high drama.

NBA Handicapping: Hot or Cold Report
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 3/25/2010

There are three weeks left in the NBA season and the playoff pictures in both conferences are taking form. The 16 seeds that will be playing late into April have been all but determined, now the teams battle for seeding. Here’s a look at teams that could have value in the coming weeks and also a look at teams that are due to burn backer’s money.

Handicapping Major NBA Injuries
by T.O. Whenham - 3/11/2010

The injury to Tony Parker last week - he's out for six weeks with a broken hand - got me thinking about injures in the NBA. It seems like a lot of big name players have been missing significant time this year. Sometimes teams have handled it fairly well - like New Orleans without Chris Paul. Other times it's been a disaster - like when Chris Bosh recently went out, and Toronto lost all of the significant momentum they had built up.

NBA Handicapping: Referees
by Aaron Smith - 3/4/2010

Betting on the NBA is quite a bit different than betting on college basketball. In the NBA, there is a lot more data to work with because of all the information that is available about the referees. Since you can go to your computer and find the referee crew for each game before it begins, this data is extremely valuable to knowing what might be the best bet based on their tendencies.

NBA Handicapping: How To Handle Injuries
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 3/4/2010

It is the stretch run of the NBA regular season but it is also the time when injuries begin to catch up to teams and teams voluntarily rest players who may be showing signs of wear and tear as the playoffs approach. Here is a breakdown of which teams will be hurting the most from having players out of the lineup and which teams are in store for a boost with the return of key players.

NBA Handicapping: Hot or Cold Report
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 2/26/2010

What makes Los Angeles hot this week may end up costing them a chance at defending their NBA Title. The Lakers are 36-7 SU against teams from outside of the Top 10 in the NBA. Against the Top 8 in the league, the Lakers are a mediocre 7-8. The Lakers only play two top teams (Denver and Orlando) from now until the end of March and that bodes well for Laker backers.

NBA Handicapping: Trends Involving High Totals
by Aaron Smith - 2/25/2010

The NBA season is a long grind, which gives us plenty of chances to analyze the statistics and see where opportunities may be to profit from betting on these games. At the end of the day, the public is just like they are in other sports; they love to root for points. This brings me to the point of this article, which is to examine how NBA totals that are set quite high by the oddsmakers tend to finish.

NBA Handicapping: Betting On The Nets (No, Really)
by Matt Severance - 2/23/2010

WagerWeb has posted odds on the Nets’ season win/loss total, marking it at eight. The ‘under’ is the -145 favorite, while the ‘over’ is +115. New Jersey enters Tuesday’s home game with Portland at 5-51 – the NBA record for fewest wins in a season is nine set by the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers. So New Jersey has 26 games left to win five more and avoid infamy.

NBA Home and Away Betting Trends
by Aaron Smith - 2/22/2010

In the National Basketball Association, teams that perform better on the road than at home are extremely difficult to find. The home court advantage is stronger than most people realize, but the oddsmakers also understand that; and sometimes, there are some teams that are very strong away from home against the spread. As an NBA handicapper, your goal should be to try and stay ahead of the curve and find home/away trends that can make you money.

NBA Playoffs Seeding Predictions
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 2/22/2010

This could end up being a banner year for the Eastern Conference. It looks like the requirements to get into the playoffs in the East have just gotten a little stricter. Currently, the top eight teams in the East are all at least .500 ball clubs. That is something that could not have been said the last few years at the end of the regular season. Teams with a losing record were routinely getting into the playoffs while teams over .500 in the West were being denied.

NBA Handicapping: Cavs land Jamison Instead of Stoudemire
by T.O. Whenham - 2/18/2010

We had heard for the last couple of weeks that the Cleveland Cavaliers were looking to make a significant deal to strengthen their chances of taking home the title, so it came as no surprise when they actually did it. What was very surprising, though, was that the principal player in the deal was Antawn Jamison and not Amare Stoudemire. The deal with Phoenix for Stoudemire had been talked about so long that it seemed inevitable, but for some reason - or more likely a combination of several factors - the Cavs lost patience with that deal and went with Jamison instead.

NBA Handicapping: First Half Trends
by Nolan Sinclair with Robert Ferringo - 2/16/2010

The NBA Season is a little more than half over but we still have ample opportunity to beat our local books for some late-winter cash. As All-Star weekend leads into The Stretch Run it’s time to take a close look at some of the best betting trends of the first half of the season.

24 Seconds Around the NBA
by Nolan Sinclair with Robert Ferringo - 2/16/2010

The first “half” of the NBA season is in the books and now we’re into Money Time. The stretch run is quite pronounced in the NBA season and over the next couple months it’s going to be an all-out scramble as teams try to find their way into the Second Season.

NBA Against The Spread First-Half Trends
by Matt Severance - 2/15/2010

It’s not really accurate to call the NBA’s pre-All-Star Break the first half of the season because teams have played about 65 percent of their NBA schedule so far, but the break is an obvious time to see what against the spread trends have developed so far.

NBA Skills Competition Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 2/12/2010

The best part of the NBA All-Star Weekend comes not on Sunday with the game, but on Saturday with the skills competition. On that day the Slam Dunk Contest is the marquee event, but the three point shootout and the point guard skills contest are often more interesting, and the team shooting challenge can have its moments as well. Here's a betting preview of the Saturday events other than the Slam Dunk Contest:

NBA All-Star Game Betting Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 2/12/2010

All you men out there take note - I guarantee that there is absolutely nothing the special lady in your life would rather do on Valentine's Day than watch a meaningless basketball exhibition. Lucky for you there happens to be one of those on TV right there in prime time on Sunday night. She will love you forever!

NBA Handicapping: Hot or Cold Report
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 2/12/2010

The NBA All-Star Game is not the midway point of the season, that has already happened, but for all intents and purposes whatever happens from tip-off at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday up until the playoffs will be considered another part to the season. Who will emerge from the All-Star Break hot and poised to make a run to the playoffs and who will never snap out of the winter break?

NBA Handicapping: Celtics Struggles
by T.O. Whenham - 2/5/2010

Two seasons ago the Boston Celtics were as dominant as a team can be en route to an impressive NBA title. Their big three players and the complementing pieces around them were perfectly suited to the pursuit of an NBA title. Last year wasn't quite the same as the year before, but many people clearly expected the Celtics to reclaim their past magic this year - they were 2-1 to win the NBA Championship heading into this season.

NBA Handicapping: Offense or Defense Key to Betting Success?
by T.O. Whenham - 1/28/2010

Offense or defense? That's the question. If you spend any time at all watching the NBA then chances are that you prefer one over the other - the potential explosiveness of offense, or the strategic determination of defense. But what about from a betting perspective?