Basketball Odds

The Miami Heat (5-2) led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh look to defend their the status as the Eastern Conference champions of 2011. The dust still has not settled as teams quickly look to sign free agents and prepare for the condensed 66-game NBA season.

One of the teams active in the free agent market and looking to make a deal to land Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic (20-1) will be the New Jersey Nets (75-1). It never hurts when a Russian billionaire owns the team and the Nets will have plenty of wiggle room to acquire Howard from the Magic.

If the Nets do catch Howard they will be an instant front-runner in the Eastern Conference. The New York Knicks (30-1) are also a candidate to grab Howard in a deal. Amare Stoudamire and Carmelo Anthony give the Knicks a good base to work with and if Howard joins them, they will dominate the Eastern Conference.

The Chicago Bulls (13-2) look to build on their success last season and if Derrick Rose stays healthy they will have a golden opportunity to return as the top seed in the Eastern Conference once again.

The Boston Celtics (8-1)are flying under the radar as they grow older. The Celtics are capable of playing with the Heat and Bulls but a contracted schedule will prove difficult for the veterans.

The Philadephia 76ers (50-1) and the Atlanta Hawks (60-1) will be nothing more than afterthoughts once the season begins but they will have more of a chance to play in the post season than teams like the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers, all teams with odds of more than 100-1.

Make sure you check for updated lines as the season begins at your favorite online sportsbook.

On Tuesday night, the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat went to overtime, although it was all Miami on their home court, once the game went into the overtime. Derrick Rose production was marginalized by James, who was defending the NBA MVP as Wade and LeBron James took over the game once it went to the overtime period.

For this matchup the over/under total at 180 whereas basketball picks have the Bulls as a 3-point favorite.

In this series, the Heat are proving they are the better defensive team on the floor, and that has been the difference. Now Wade and James are just one game away from their goal of reaching the NBA Finals in their first year as a team as they are playing on another level the last three games.

In the loss, the Bulls received production from three players. With 20 a piece, Rose was closely followed by Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng and was scored 23. Even though Joakim Noah led the team with 14 rebounds, Boozer also contributed on the boards with 11 rebounds.

As the Bulls could be hosting their last game of the season, Game 5 will take place in the United Center. Against a better conditioned Miami Heat team, Rose and the Bulls looked spent in the overtime. If the Bulls can salvage a win in Chicago and then put pressure on the Heat to close the series out, it will be interesting to watch.

The critics will come out of the woodwork if they fail to finish off the Bulls in five games as the Heat will have all the pressure on them for Game 5. Even though the Heat should be a three point favorite heading into Game 5, their odds are not posted after their win over Chicago in Game 4.

The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Memphis Grizzlies will play the 6th game of their best of 7 game series this week. These teams have had a thrilling series and the Thunder is currently up 3 games to 2.

NBA Betting has Memphis as a 2-point, -130 moneyline favorite, whiles the over/under total is at 195.

This is a huge momentum shift in the series, as the Grizzlies were the team that jumped ahead early on in the season. The Thunder has managed to come back through a game that went into extra periods and a dominative defensive effort in game 5.

The Grizzlies only managed to score 72 points in their last game and only shot 36 percent from the field. Previously, the Grizzlies were able to have their way underneath the basket in the series, but Randolph and Gasol were held to just 24 combined points in game 5.

Randolph was especially limited in his production, scoring just 9 points on 33 percent shooting. The Grizzlies simply cannot win without a dominant game from Randolph in game 6.

The Thunder succeeded behind a balanced effort from their team. They had key performances from Daequan Cook, Nick Collison and Nazr Mohammed. These players took a lot of pressure off of Westbrook and Durant as the two stars took just 24 combined shots.

This is an elimination game and this will be a test for both teams. Oklahoma City is a young team and a lot of young teams need time to learn how to close out a series. The Grizzlies are also an inexperienced team and may crumble with the weight of possible elimination hanging over them.

The Boston Celtics will host the Miami Heat on their home court Saturday and it is critical that they make a statement or this series may be a sweep by the Heat.

Boston is a 3-point favorite in basketball picks.

The Boston Celtics have had no answer for two of the Heat’s big three in Game 2. LeBron James tallied 35 points and seven rebounds while Dwyane Wade stepped up and scored 28 points and eight rebounds in the decisive 102-91 victory.

The Celtics were beaten on the boards and from the outside in this game. Ray Allen was only one for two from behind the three point arc and he scored a pitiful seven total points in 34 minutes. Paul Pierce only scored 13 points in this game and team leader Rajon Rondo led all Celtics scorers with 20 points.

With the Celtics coming home, they will have to focus on stepping up their defense on James and Wade along the perimeter and make someone else beat them.

In the battle of the bench players, the Heat also had the edge. Although he did not score many points, Joel Anthony was a key body on the floor for the Heat in Game 2. If he can be a force in Game 3, it will be a long game for the older Celtics.

The question coming into Game 3 is simple. Will the Celtics be able to use the extra day off to get healthy and take a stand in Game 3? They will have the home court advantage but they will need to find their legs or this series will effectively be over in four or five games.

The Miami Heat will play against the Philadelphia 76ers in Philadelphia this week. This will be the 3rd game of a best of 7 games series in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

NBA Odds have the Heat as a -210 favorite and the over/under total at 187.

The Heat have dominated the series to this point and they have shown no signs of slowing down. Miami had a rough start in the first game and allowed Philadelphia to stick around for a while, but in their last contest the 76ers were beat down by the Heat.

The Heat simply have too much talent and too many stars for the 76ers to keep up with. The 76ers don’t have that “go-to” guy on their team that can consistently carry them through tough stretches.

The 76ers do have a chance to get things rolling in game 3 as it will be on their home court. If they can win this game, they at least have a chance of stretching out the series. If they lost this game, there is a good chance that they series does not make it past 4 games for the 76ers. Look for the 76ers to bring their best effort of the series in game 3.

The Heat need to close out this series. They were susceptible to losing streaks and rough stretches throughout the season and they can’t afford to lose any games and trigger a losing streak. If they are able to sweep this series it will give them a lot of momentum entering their second round series against their probable foes, the Boston Celtics.

Between the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks, the 2011 NBA playoffs first round series will be a repeat of last year’s second round or Eastern Conference Semifinals series. With a clean and confident 4-0 sweep last year, the Magic overpowered the Hawks. Coach Stand Van Gundy has got to love his chances of repeating last year’s performance with that in mind.

To win the NBA championship, NBA playoff picks has Atlanta at 100-1 and Orlando at 12-1.

Even though the difference of several victories doesn’t say much about the post-season form of each team, the Magic finished 2011 with a better record than Atlanta.

The two teams faced each other four times during the regular 2010-2011 season. In a pre-season game the Magic defeated Atlanta and early in November won the first regular season meeting. The Hawks got revenge with three consecutive victories since then. Because of several major trades and absences of some players the season results can be misleading though.

Since the beginning of the season the Magic’s squad changed drastically. Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis were traded, who were instrumental in Magic’s success of the last few years. With the acquisition of Hedo Turkoglu and Gilbert Arenas, nevertheless, Magic added some serious firepower to its roster. In the regular season, their performance wasn’t effective to lead the Magic to victories against the Hawks though.

There won’t be any surprises when talking about the Hawks in this first round playoff series. All season long Johnson, Horford, and Smith have been consistent as well as against the Magic they put up good numbers in the encounters.

In this playoff series the matchup that is going to get the most attention will involve the centers. Orlando’s big man Dwight Howard, whose sheer power is hard to match by anyone in the league, Jason Collins will be given the toughest task to stop him for Atlanta. In basketball betting, Atlanta Hawks is favorites to win this match.

The Los Angeles Lakers will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder Sunday April 10 as both finish out their seasons in preparation for the NBA Playoffs. The new addition for the Thunder, Kendrick Perkins, has already been talking trash in regards to Lakers big man, Pau Gasol and their coach Phil Jackson.

The Lakers are the favorite to win the NBA Championship this season at 9-2 in NBA Odds. Basketball Picks have the Thunder at 15-1.

Perkins called Gasol “soft” and did not show Gasol much respect. He also called Jackson “arrogant.” It will be an interesting matchup when the two take the floor on Sunday. The Lakers have been a dominant team on the boards with the improved play of Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom off the bench. Gasol still leads the Lakers in rebounds.

Kobe Bryant has staved off major injuries this season but he has suffered his usual assortment of minor injuries. Despite Bryant’s battle with the injury bug, he has continued to be the team leader and scoring leader of the Lakers. Bryant is averaging a little more than 25 points per game and is always known for turning it up a notch in the NBA Playoffs.

Kevin Durant is still one of the best players in the NBA that is flying under the radar in Oklahoma City. The Thunder gave the Lakers all they could handle in the first round of the NBA Playoffs last year and their acquisition of Perkins could lead them to a later NBA Playoffs battle with the Lakers this year.

The Thunder are stronger this year and more seasoned and this game Sunday will lay the groundwork for the 2011 NBA Playoffs.

The Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks will square off this weekend. This will be a game between two teams that have already qualified for the Eastern Conference playoffs. There is a decent chance that these teams will meet up at some point during the playoffs if the Hawks are able to find their way out of the first round of the playoffs against the Orlando Magic.

Boston has slipped in basketball betting odds to win the NBA Championship. The Celtics are now at 10-1.

The Hawks have finally managed to turn things around after a scary slide. They still have won just 5 of their last 10 games, but they have at least managed to win 2 games in a row. They are now 42-32 on the season. This would be a huge game for the Hawks to win in their preparations for the playoffs. Winning games against teams like the Celtics can often build a team’s confidence and help them on their way to a winning streak.

The Celtics have been fairly mediocre as of late. They have won just 5 of their last 10 games and they are allowing the Chicago Bulls to run away with the best record in the Eastern Conference. That will mean that the Bulls will have home court advantage throughout the playoffs. The Celtics need to do whatever they can to take those honors back as the Bulls are a much poorer team on the road than they are at home. They are currently two games behind the Bulls in the standings.

The Celtics have the best defense in the NBA and they will be tough to score on for the Hawks. The Hawks need Joe Johnson to step up and play like a superstar. This will force Paul Pierce to play good defense and will take away from his offensive production.

This should be a great game between two solid teams.

On Thursday the Arizona Wildcats will battle against the Duke Blue Devils. Even though these teams have now qualified for the Sweet 16, they have both had close encounters in the NCAA Tournament already. They have high expectations for the tournament this year as these teams both have had success in the NCAA Tournament historically.

College Basketball Picks and NCAA Tournament Betting have Duke as an 8.5-point favorite.

Derrick Williams is leading the Wildcats and he is one of the most efficient players in the nation. With 19 points per game and also chipped in 8 rebounds per game, he was the leading scorer for the Wildcats. The most impressive thing about Williams is his shooting percentage while those are great numbers. Williams has shot an amazing 58 percent from the 3-pt line as he has shot 60 percent from the field overall this season. The Blue Devils will be in trouble if Williams is able to find a rhythm.

As the Wildcats would want Williams to be the thing about him is that he is not always as aggressive offensively.

It is reasonable to believe the Blue Devils could win the whole tournament if they are able to get past the Wildcats as they have one of the most talented teams in the NCAA.

The Blue Devils may be the best combo of guards in the nation as they have Nolan Smith and Kyrie Irving as their guards. If the Blue Devils can find a way to involve Irving they will be tough to beat but he is coming off of an injury and it is unclear whether or not he will step in and contribute.

This Thursday, the Temple Owls will battle against the Penn State Nittany Lions. In the NCAA tournament, these teams will be participating. the Owls are a 7 seed whereas the Nittany Lions are labeled as a 10 seed. In Tucson, Arizona, these teams are scheduled to play at 2:10 eastern time.

In NCCA Basketball Picks, the Owls are a -145 moneyline, 2.5-point favorite with the over/under total at 121.5.

In spite of losing 14 games on the season, the Nittany Lions made the tournament. They enter the tournament playing the best basketball that they’ve played all season while they had some rough points in the season. Before losing to Ohio State they won 4 consecutive games against Minnesota, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan State.

By posting a 25-7 record on the season, the Temple Owls have been excellent this season.

In order to beat the Nittany Lions, the Owls will rely on an offense with great ball movement. With an average of 15.3, the Owls are 33rd in the nation in assists per game. For their scoring they depend a lot on Moore. With 15 points per game Moore led the team in scoring and was a solid 3-pt shooter at 39 percent.

Even though the Nittany Lions manage to win game one way or another, they have a rather inefficient offense. On the season they averaged just 63 points per game which is the 298th best average in the nation. At 31.6 rebounds per game they are also a poor rebounding team. For Penn State, Battle is the leading scorer. By shooting 42 percent from the field, Battle averages 20 points per game. To take this game over and win it for the Nittany Lions, he has the potential.