NBA Handicapping Articles

Free NBA Picks: Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 11/18/2016

The worst game on the NBA schedule Saturday night is easily Phoenix at Philadelphia, two teams who are in full-blown rebuild/tank mode (albeit with some intriguing young players). Both the Suns and 76ers are likely to finish last or close to it in their respective conferences, something that Philly is very familiar with. But this is a good year to be lousy. The current crop of NCAA basketball freshmen is considered to be one of the best in many years. Thus, winning next summer's draft lottery could be a boon to any franchise. So while Saturday's game looks ugly on paper, one extra win/loss could be huge for both clubs regarding the future.

NBA Handicapping: Lakers a Hot Wager to Start New Season
by Trevor Whenham - 11/18/2016

The NBA season is young, but one of the big revelations so far has been the L.A. Lakers. For the last few years they have been almost completely unwatchable. Just plain bad. We knew things were going to be different this year, but only the most optimistic could have expected this - they are one of the most exciting teams to watch in the league. At 7-5 they are in the heart of the Western Conference playoff picture, and it doesn't entirely feel like a fluke. So, what is going on in La La Land? And can they keep it up? Should bettors trust them or be skeptical? Here are five factors to consider when pondering these questions:

Free NBA Picks: Friday, Nov. 18, 2016, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 11/17/2016

You don't think of Warriors-Celtics as a great NBA rivalry, but I don't know that two teams played two better regular-season games against one another last season -- and they renew acquaintances on Friday night. When Golden State visited Boston it was 23-0 and frankly should have lost but didn't, prevailing 124-119 in double overtime.

NBA Betting Trends: Totals Report for Hot Over and Under Teams
by Aaron Smith - 11/16/2016

The Los Angeles Clippers have played like the best team in the NBA so far this year. What's been the difference? The Clippers are rated first in the NBA in defensive efficiency, and it isn't even close. This team is buying in on the defensive end, and if they can stay healthy this year, the Clippers will be a very tough out in the postseason. Cleveland is doing a nice job taking care of business in the Eastern Conference.

Free NBA Picks: Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 11/16/2016

Great news regarding the NBA owners and NBA Players' Association on the new collective bargaining agreement as we will avoid any potential lockout. Apparently the sides have agreed on all the major details of a new deal, and it could be announced within a couple of weeks. Either side can opt out of the current deal by Dec. 15, and if that happened we might be headed for labor trouble next summer. But the NBA is wading in cash with the new TV deals and a surge in popularity. So neither side wants to mess with that.

NBA Betting Advice: Best and Worst Teams for ATS Wagering
by Victor Ryan - 11/16/2016

The first three-plus weeks of the NBA season has gone largely to form. The Cavaliers, Hawks and Raptors lead the way in the Eastern Conference, while out West the Clippers (10-1)-off to the best start in franchise history-are running just ahead of the Warriors (8-2) and Spurs (8-3).

Free NBA Picks: Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 11/15/2016

The New Orleans Pelicans have been an injury-ravaged mess for much of the early season, but they could become more competitive as soon as Wednesday night if Jrue Holiday returns. He has been away from his team since the preseason to tend to his wife, former US women's national team soccer player Lauren Holiday, as she recovers from the birth of the couple's first child and surgery to remove a benign tumor from the right side of her brain. She's apparently doing very well and thus Holiday is set to make his debut either Wednesday or Friday.

Free NBA Picks: Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 11/14/2016

We have our second somewhat substantial trade rumor of the young season: the Kings are reportedly open to dealing second-year center Willie Cauley-Stein, the team's No. 6 overall pick out of the 2015 draft. I never understood why Sacramento took Stein there since they already had another former Kentucky star big man in DeMarcus Cousins.

Free NBA Picks: Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 11/11/2016

Very unusual schedule for the Dallas Mavericks (2-6) as they played Wednesday and don't again until Monday -- I can't really remember a team not playing once an entire weekend outside of the All-Star break -- so perhaps now is a good time to talk about potentially the first coach fired this NBA season. Already you are hearing some rumors about the Mavs' Rick Carlisle, whom I think would be on any Top-10 list of the best active coaches in the league.

Free NBA Picks: Friday, Nov. 11, 2016, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 11/10/2016

You have to love the dysfunctional Knicks. Team president Phil Jackson is a devotee of the triangle offense that helped him win 11 titles as a head coach with the Bulls and Lakers. Yet he goes out and hires a coach this offseason in Jeff Hornacek who has no ties to that offense in his playing or coaching career. Already Jackson has expressed his displeasure with the few times the team runs the triangle, which is usually only after dead balls.

Free NBA Picks: Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 11/9/2016

There are two homecoming games I am very much looking forward to this season. The first is Kevin Durant's initial game back in Oklahoma City on Feb. 11. I'm sure Durant will get some cheers, but there are a lot of people still angry he bailed on the franchise so there will be plenty of negativity. But it should only be positive on Thursday night when Dwyane Wade returns to Miami for the first time.

Free NBA Betting Picks: Season-Long Utah Jazz Analysis and Expert Predictions
by Chris Vasile - 11/9/2016

The year 2016 is a year we won't soon forget. The Chicago Cubs broke a 108-year World Series curse and Donald J. Trump was just elected as the new President of the United States of America. I know better than to use this as a political platform, but these two major events should remind us of something we already knew thanks to an infamous Kevin Garnett postgame interview - "Anything is possible".

Free NBA Picks: Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 11/8/2016

So much for Steph Curry's slump. Curry, who surely will go down as the greatest 3-point shooter in league history by the time he retires, had his record streak of 157 straight games with at least one made 3-pointer end in a stunning Golden State loss to the Lakers on Friday as Curry was 0-for-10. No worries. Curry hit an NBA single-game record 13 of them (on 17 attempts) in Monday's win over New Orleans.

NBA Betting and Handicapping: Surprises so far in 2016
by Trevor Whenham - 11/8/2016

Every team in the NBA except for Minnesota (5) has played at least six games, and two have played eight. The sample size is still fairly small, but already we know enough to know that things aren't going to work out as expected for every team this season. Some teams are exactly what bettors thought they were for the most part, while others have been real surprises - both positive or negative. Not surprisingly, given the setup, our job here today is to look at a few of those biggest surprises.

Free NBA Picks: Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 11/7/2016

The New Orleans Pelicans stink right now. I don't think they are as bad as their record, but they are ravaged by injuries/missing players. There's only so much Anthony Davis can do each night. Unfortunately for the Pelicans, they have lost another guy in swingman Lance Stephenson. He was hurt in Friday's loss to Phoenix, suffering a serious groin injury (in my mind, all groin injuries are serious!). Stephenson had averaged 9.7 points, 4.8 assists and 3.3 rebounds in 27.0 minutes per game.

Free NBA Picks: Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 11/4/2016

It's quite amazing how quickly things seem to sour around Dwight Howard. He had a very good thing going in Orlando and owned that town, but he not only got Coach Stan Van Gundy fired but forced a trade to the Lakers. Los Angeles appeared poised to have a super-team in Howard's one season there alongside Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol, but injuries wrecked that and Kobe basically hated Howard. So he took less money to get away from ball-hogging Kobe and sign with Houston. And the Rockets reached the Western Conference Finals two seasons ago.

Free NBA Betting Picks: Season-Long Utah Jazz Analysis and Expert Predictions
by Chris Vasile - 11/4/2016

We are 10 days into the NBA season and there have been an abundance of storylines so far this season. Some of the feel-good storylines include Russell Westbrook's triple-double average over five games, DeMar DeRozan scoring 145 points in his first four games since signing a massive $139-million contract in the offseason, and the surprise 3-1 start by the Atlanta Hawks, a team many pegged to have a down year this year.

Free NBA Picks: Friday, Nov. 4, 2016, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 11/3/2016

The NBA's Revenge Tour continues on Friday, a night after Russell Westbrook took his pent-up frustrations out on former teammate Kevin Durant in Oakland. On Friday, it will be interesting to see how New York point guard Derrick Rose is welcomed back to his hometown of Chicago. In the 2010-11 season, Rose became the youngest-ever MVP and arguably the most popular athlete in the Windy City since some Jordan guy. The Bulls were poised to be LeBron James' top challenger in the Eastern Conference for years.

Free NBA Picks: Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 11/2/2016

I've obviously never played professional sports, but I feel like that even if I hated a teammate and assuming the money was equal, I would want to stay where I'm comfortable and have a chance to win a championship. I bring this up because of Thursday's epic showdown between Oklahoma City and Golden State. It's now pretty clear that Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant weren't exactly best pals in the wake of Durant leaving for the Warriors.

Free NBA Picks: Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, Opening Line Report and Handicapping
by Alan Matthews - 11/1/2016

Monday was the deadline for teams to extend players chosen in the first round of the 2013 draft on rookie-scale extension deals. Any players not extended would hit restricted free agency next offseason. I don't think there were any huge surprises ahead of the deadline. The Jazz smartly locked up center Rudy Gobert on a four-year, $102 million extension. He was perhaps the biggest steal of that draft at No. 27 overall, originally chosen by Denver.