NBA Handicapping Articles

Free NBA Picks: Friday, Feb. 10, 2017, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 2/9/2017

Did the Phoenix Suns make a mistake by selecting Croatian teenager Dragan Bender at No. 4 overall in the 2016 draft? It's too early to say that, but the early returns aren't great. Bender was always going to be a long-term project, but his season could be over following ankle surgery on Wednesday. The 7-foot-1 Bender, whom the Suns hope can be Dirk Nowitzki-lite someday, averaged just 12.7 minutes in 38 games and put up 3.2 points and 2.2 rebounds when he did get off the bench.

NBA Handicapping: Can Toronto Raptors Bounce Back from Struggles?
by Trevor Whenham - 2/9/2017

I was in Orlando last week for a family vacation. On Friday we went to see the Magic and the Raptors play. Beautiful barn. Pitiful crowd. Plenty of fellow Canadians cheering on our national team. And a truly awful performance from Toronto. They started poorly and never shook it off. They couldn't shoot, and they really didn't seem to care. Orlando is a long way from a good team, but they had no problem at all with the Raptors - a squad that is supposed to be among the best in the conference.

NBA Betting Trends: Totals Report for Hot Over and Under Teams
by Aaron Smith - 2/8/2017

Golden State comfortably has the best record in basketball. It's hard to imagine anyone other than the Warriors being the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Cleveland has the top spot in the Eastern Conference, but Boston is only 2.5 games back. You can't say enough about the way Isaiah Thomas is playing for the Celtics right now. If Boston starts playing defense the way they have in the past, they'll be an even more dangerous team.

Free NBA Picks: Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 2/8/2017

Do I think that LeBron James personally likes his buddy Carmelo Anthony better than he does teammate Kevin Love? No question. But James has to know that Love is the better player at this point and is four years younger than Anthony - thus would be a better teammate to have over the next handful of years as LeBron winds down his Hall of Famer career. The big rumor this week was that James reportedly was pushing Cavs management to trade for Melo, even if it meant sending Love to New York.

Free NBA Picks: Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 2/7/2017

Perhaps the Minnesota Timberwolves should have traded 21-year-old Zach LaVine in a package for Chicago Bulls star Jimmy Butler when they had the chance at the 2016 draft. The Bulls weren't doing any deal without LaVine and the No. 5 overall pick, among other things, and the Wolves balked even though new Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau loves Butler from his Bulls days. Now that trade won't be happening at all with the news that LaVine tore his ACL, meaning his season is over and he probably misses the start of the 2017-18 campaign.

Free NBA Picks: Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 2/6/2017

The New England Patriots are your Super Bowl Champions, which means there's a chance that we will see the city of Boston win multiple championships in the four major U.S. sports leagues in the same calendar year. The NBA's Celtics will certainly make the playoffs and have a minor shot to upset the Cleveland Cavaliers and at least reach the NBA Finals. I still think GM Danny Ainge will add a big piece ahead of the Feb. 23 deadline (Jimmy Butler?) to improve his team's chances.

Free NBA Picks: Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 2/3/2017

While I'm usually tired of all the Super Bowl talk and betting analysis by the time the game actually kicks off, I do love all the cross-sport props that the various sportsbooks put out. BetOnline has a few regarding the NBA and Patriots-Falcons in Super Bowl LI. There's the number LeBron James points on Saturday night at the Knicks (+100) vs. number of Matt Ryan completions (-130) against New England's No. 1 defense. Ryan averaged 23 completions during the regular season and is up to 26.5 in two playoff games.

Free NBA Picks: Friday, Feb. 3, 2017, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 2/2/2017

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that the health of Zaza Pachulia could determine whether the Golden State Warriors win their second NBA title in three years. I will say, however, that the Dubs had trouble with the big lineups trotted out by Oklahoma City and Cleveland in last year's playoffs because of their lack of interior size other than Andrew Bogut. The Warriors had to say goodbye to Bogut, their top rim protector, this offseason after adding Kevin Durant. Pachulia now starts at center. He will miss at least a week with a rotator cuff strain.

Free NBA Picks: Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 2/1/2017

Being as Thursday night is the usual TNT doubleheader, I feel I must address the sudden public feud between Hall of Famer Charles Barkley and future Hall of Famer LeBron James. I won't go over every word said as I'm sure you heard it all over the past 24 hours or so because it led every sports show out there - temporarily overtaking the Super Bowl. Did Barkley have some valid points in his criticisms of LeBron? I think so.

Free NBA Picks: Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 1/31/2017

Now that we are into February as of Wednesday, the trade chatter will start to heat up ahead of the Feb. 23 deadline. There are only 19 players in the league who can't be traded without their consent by that deadline. Three guys, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dirk Nowitzki, all future Hall of Famers, have full no-trade clauses. Miami's Tyler Johnson and Portland's Allen Crabbe both possess the right to block any trade until July 10, 2017. I won't get into full detail of why, but it's because they re-signed with their teams after said team matched an offer sheet in free agency.

Free NBA Picks: Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 1/30/2017

Yes, the Knicks were off on Monday, but I wonder how much their key guys will have left in the tank for Tuesday's game considering the Knicks and Hawks played a four-overtime epic on Sunday, a 142-139 Atlanta win. It was the first four-OT game since Bulls-Pistons in 2015 and only the 11th quadruple-OT game in NBA history. It was New York's first since 1951 against the Rochester Royals. Four Knicks fouled out: Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis, Joakim Noah and Kyle O'Quinn. Anthony played 46 minutes and finished with 45 points, his first 40-point game since November 2014.

Free NBA Picks: Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 1/27/2017

The NFL has parity -- just look at the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl. Major League Baseball has it too as your last two champions are the Royals and Cubs. The NBA doesn't really have parity as the best teams just about always win the championship. I'm not here to tell you the Warriors or Cavaliers won't win it all this June. But we are at the time of year where the top teams are slogging through the season and waiting for the All-Star break -- Cleveland is a prime example.

Free NBA Picks: Friday, Jan. 27, 2017, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 1/26/2017

If you are like me, you are rather tired of the Dunk Contest on All-Star Weekend but also can't not watch just in case something spectacular happens. Last year something did as the Magic's Aaron Gordon and Timberwolves' Zach LaVine staged an epic duel won by LaVine -- although most believe Gordon should have won. This year's Dunk Contest field hasn't been finalized yet, but Gordon will return. That's great news. The bad is that LaVine is not likely to pursue a threepeat. And another fabulous in-game dunker, Larry Nance Jr., the son of former Dunk Contest champion Larry Nance, also is passing.

Free NBA Betting Picks: Season-Long Utah Jazz Analysis and Expert Predictions
by Chris Vasile - 1/26/2017

It's just about the end of January, and several teams are starting to feel the effects and rigours of an NBA season. The main culprits are fatigue and injuries. Every team in the NBA is up against it, and depth is now just as important as the five guys that start every night. Look at the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors for example.

Free NBA Picks: Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 1/25/2017

If we are being totally honest, LeBron James returned to the Cavaliers not solely because he wanted to bring a championship to the city of Cleveland. Sure, that was a part of it, but James also essentially wanted to run the team and get what he wanted. Especially when it came to player acquisitions. And while David Griffin might have the title of GM of the Cavaliers, we all know who's in charge.

Free NBA Picks: Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 1/24/2017

The Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers weren't the only American sports teams to lay a prodigious egg on Sunday. The Los Angeles Lakers went to Dallas and were spanked 122-73, the largest margin of defeat ever for that historic franchise. Ironically, it came 11 years to the day of one of the great regular-season moments in Lakers history, when Kobe Bryant scored 81 points, the second-most in any game, against the Toronto Raptors. Coach Luke Walton called Sunday an embarrassment, and I'm sure the team had some pretty intense practices on Monday and Tuesday. I often like to bet on teams coming off such a shellacking because they tend to bounce back and show some pride, but the Lakers have been a terrible wager on the road this season like they are Wednesday.

Free NBA Picks: Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 1/23/2017

Some much-needed good news for the Los Angeles Clippers is imminent as Blake Griffin is expected to return from his knee injury. It's most likely he will do so Tuesday in Philadelphia. Griffin underwent an arthroscopic procedure to remove loose bodies from his right knee on Dec. 20. Griffin worked out Friday with Brice Johnson and Alan Anderson and reported no problems. The Clippers were 9-8 without him entering Monday's trip to Atlanta -- Griffin wasn't playing there as I'm sure the team didn't want him out there for both ends of a back-to-back -- and really looked bad in losses to Minnesota and Denver last week once they lost Chris Paul for 6-8 weeks following thumb surgery.

NBA Betting Trends: Totals Report for Hot Over and Under Teams
by Aaron Smith - 1/20/2017

Most teams are a little more than halfway through the regular season. The 76ers have played only 40 of their 82 games thus far, but the Lakers have already played 46 contests. The next month before the NBA All-Star Game will be very telling. I think we'll know a lot more about which teams are contenders for a playoff spot by then. It is already clear who the four or five teams are that have a real chance at winning the NBA Championship, but who will get in the playoffs is a different story.

Free NBA Picks: Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 1/20/2017

Sacramento Kings ownership was all in on this season with the team playing in its new publicly-funded arena. By all in, I obviously don't mean winning an NBA title but simply making the playoffs, which the terribly-run Kings haven't done since 2006. I'm not sure what's so exciting about getting a No. 8 seed and then getting swept in the first round by Golden State, but I'm also not in marketing.

Free NBA Betting Picks: Season-Long Utah Jazz Analysis and Expert Predictions
by Chris Vasile - 1/20/2017

The NBA has just passed the midway point in the regular season, and there is very little surprise in the way the standings shake down. The elite teams lead their respective conferences, while the scrappy teams like Chicago, Charlotte, Detroit, Denver and Portland scrap it out for the final few seeds and that coveted playoff berth. The way the season started off for Utah, you could argue that they would be fighting tooth and nail for a playoff spot, but with just under half the season left, the Jazz are 10 games up on eighth place and have their sights set on a top-three seed.