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**TheGame** · 01-11-2016, 07:20 AM

Re: NBA Betting Info. 1/11

Preview: Spurs (32-6) at Nets (10-27)

Date: January 11, 2016 7:30 PM EDT

After narrowly maintaining their perfect home record, the San Antonio Spurs hit the road trying to establish a season-best overall winning streak when they face one of the NBA's worst home teams that's fresh off a coaching dismissal.

The Brooklyn Nets have moved on from Lionel Hollins amid being in danger of suffering their first double-digit home skid in nearly six years Monday night, and avoiding it means beating a team they lost to by 27 in the first week of the season.

The Nets (10-27) announced Hollins' firing Sunday and reassigned general manager Billy King in the midst of their worst season since moving from New Jersey. Assistant Tony Brown will serve as interim coach and the GM position will remain open until a replacement is hired.

While the only team standing between San Antonio (32-6) and NBA supremacy is Golden State, Brooklyn is the worst team in the Eastern Conference aside from woeful Philadelphia.

"It's clear from our current state of affairs that we need new leadership," owner Mikhail Prokhorov said in a statement. "With the right basketball management and coach in place, we are going to create a winning culture and identity and give Brooklyn a team that it can be proud of and enjoy watching."

Gameday No. 1 on the job for Brown won't be easy.

San Antonio won 100-99 over New York on Friday to get to 22-0 at home and extend its winning streak to seven, its second such run of the season separated from the first one by an 88-84 loss in Houston on Christmas Day.

Kawhi Leonard had 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Spurs, whose previous six wins came by an average of 20.3 points. San Antonio shot 54.0 percent in those games compared to 44.1 against the Knicks, but they didn't feel there was a letdown.

"I was kind of enjoying (the blowouts)," guard Manu Ginobili said. "It's not bad to win games like that. Nothing is easy in the NBA, but we knew in facing the Knicks that they were playing great, feeling good about themselves. We had to play much better to get this win. And I think we did."

The Spurs won 102-75 at home over Brooklyn on Oct. 30 with a 56-32 rebounding advantage, but the teams have split the last four meetings with the Nets winning both in Brooklyn. Those games, however, came when the Nets (10-27) were of playoff caliber.

That's not the case this season as their worst home skid since a 14-game slide during 2009-10 stretches on.

They dropped their fourth straight overall Saturday, 103-89 at Detroit heading into a three-game homestand. Brooklyn has averaged 87.8 points, 41.1 percent from the field and 25.7 percent from 3-point range in a 1-5 span.

They at least embraced the long-range shortcomings against the Pistons and limited their attempts, going 5 of 9. Other trends held true as the Nets fell behind by 10 after the first quarter, as they've been outscored 30.0-19.8 in the first 12 minutes during the skid.

"This has been a theme all season," said center Brook Lopez, who had a team-high 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. "A team makes an early run at us and we can't respond, so we spend the rest of the game digging ourselves out of a hole."

And new trends are emerging. Brooklyn was outrebounded 47-38 and has a minus-9.0 differential in the last three games. San Antonio has outrebounded its last nine opponents by plus-6.7.

**TheGame** · 01-11-2016, 07:21 AM

Re: NBA Betting Info. 1/11

Preview: Wizards (16-19) at Bulls (22-13)

Date: January 11, 2016 8:00 PM EDT

The Chicago Bulls are having some trouble defending in the paint and hope to have a key player back who could help in that department.

Joakim Noah may return from a nine-game absence due to a shoulder injury Monday night when the Bulls seek a sixth straight home win as they meet the Washington Wizards.

Chicago (22-13) went 7-2 in this stretch without Noah, who suffered a left shoulder sprain in a 105-102 loss to lowly Brooklyn on Dec. 21. He took part in Sunday's practice and said he is ready to return.

"I'm confident in my shoulder being all right and I'm excited to get back onto the court," said Noah, who lost his starting job this season and is averaging a career-low 4.5 points.

The Bulls went 5-0 at home without him for their longest win streak there.

They are enduring some woes preventing interior baskets, conceding 66 points in the paint in Saturday's 120-105 defeat at Atlanta that ended a six-game overall run.

Those were the most allowed by Chicago in a regulation game. It also gave up 54 two games earlier to Milwaukee to match the second-most by an opponent in a 48-minute contest.

"Defensively, again I think we have slipped a little bit," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "We've got to get those principles back that made us a really good defensive team early in the season."

It's not clear if the defensive-minded Noah can alleviate the situation. His average plus-minus is at minus-1.0 for the club's second-worst mark to Taj Gibson's minus-1.2.

"I don't know about being able to make the difference," Noah said. "I'm just trying to help the team the best way I can, just staying focused."

Washington (16-19) may not provide much of a test since its average of 39.0 points in the paint is one of the league's lower figures.

The Bulls will have to worry about Marcin Gortat, who averages a league-high 8.1 paint touches and 13.4 points per game.

Of foremost concern probably is how they match up with John Wall, who averages an NBA-high 98.4 touches and 8.2 drives.

Wall had 24 points and 10 assists in Saturday's 105-99 victory at Orlando that ended a three-game slide. He's averaging 21.7 points in his last three games, but the major issue is that he has seven turnovers in each of them.

'I think I'm making the right reads but sometimes (teammates) drop 'em,' Wall said. 'Some of them are my fault, but give credit to the defense. I try to make the right play if it's there. Sometimes I make it and sometimes we lose the ball and sometimes it's a bad pass by me."

Chicago only forces 12.4 turnovers per game for one of the league's worst marks.

Washington has played the last 15 games without injured leading scorer Bradley Beal, who averages 19.8 points. Gortat has been effective in that span at plus-58 for the club's best mark.

Chicago's Jimmy Butler is averaging 28.5 points in his last six games. In 13 career regular-season contests against the Wizards, he averages 7.7 points - his lowest against any opponent.

These teams split four 2014-15 meetings. The Wizards have won five of their last six in Chicago, including the postseason.

**TheGame** · 01-11-2016, 07:21 AM

Re: NBA Betting Info. 1/11

Preview: Heat (22-15) at Warriors (35-2)

Date: January 11, 2016 10:30 PM EDT

It's been a month since the Miami Heat lost back-to-back road games but that streak is in jeopardy in the next stop on their season-high trip.

The Heat will try to end the Golden State Warriors' perfect home record Monday night.

Miami (22-15) has won five of seven away from home but lost the latest on its six-game trip Saturday, 98-83 to Utah. The Heat were outshot 54.9 to 41.5 percent and Dwyane Wade went 3 of 17 - his worst shooting performance when attempting at least 10 shots since November 2010 - while scoring eight points.

Wade, who was dealing with a strained left shoulder for much of the second half, had 27 points in the opener to Miami's trek, a 103-95 win over Phoenix on Friday. He's considered probable for this game.

"I thought we got good shots but some of them didn't go down," Wade said. "Shots that were going down (against Phoenix) weren't going down today. That's the nature of the NBA."

Miami's trip is about to become much more difficult with stops remaining at Golden State, the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City - three of the top four teams in the Western Conference. First, the Heat have the monumental task of trying to snap the Warriors' 17-0 home record and 35-game regular season win streak at Oracle Arena.

"It's spectacular. They're playing amazing basketball," Miami forward Chris Bosh said. "A lot of their guys have come back and improved, including their best player. It's just a collective punch dealing with those guys. ... They're just playing with high, high confidence right now."

Golden State (35-2) is returning home after sweeping a three-game road trip by a combined 53 points. The Warriors capped that with one of their best shooting performances of the season (56.3 percent) in a 128-116 win over Sacramento on Saturday.

Stephen Curry scored 38 points, his most in five games since returning from a bruised leg. He also had a season-high 11 assists and went 8 of 14 from 3-point range, part of Golden State's 19-for-37 performance from beyond the arc.

"I'm glad he's on our team. He's pretty impressive," interim coach Luke Walton said. "He looked like he had more of a rhythm going tonight. I think all of the injuries - he's kept getting kicked - it's throwing him off a little bit. He's still playing at an MVP level. It should looked like he had a nice bounce and rhythm to his game tonight."

Draymond Green went 5 of 6 on 3-pointers while scoring 25 points, matching his second-best performance of the season. He had a combined 20 in the first two games of the trip but recorded his fourth triple-double in five games in a 128-108 win over Portland on Friday.

Golden State won last season's two meetings with Miami by a combined 32 points and prevailed 104-89 in Oakland on Jan. 14.

Curry has averaged 34.3 points on 59.5 percent shooting and connected on 27 of 40 3-point attempts in his last four games against Miami, his best scoring performance versus any opponent since the beginning of 2013-14. He had 72 points in last season's series.

Bosh had 26 points in each matchup last season for the Heat, who have won eight of their last 11 games at Golden State.

**TheGame** · 01-11-2016, 07:21 AM

Re: NBA Betting Info. 1/11

NBA

Hot teams
-- Spurs won last seven games, covered four of last five.
-- Chicago won six of last seven games (4-1 last five HF).
-- Warriors won last six games, covered last three. Miami won four of its last six games (3-1 last four AU).

Cold teams
-- Brooklyn lost last four games; they fired the coach yesterday.
-- Wizards lost five of their last seven games (6-2 last eight AU).

Series records
-- Spurs won eight of last ten games with Brooklyn.
-- Wizards won six of last nine games with Chicago.
-- Warriors won five of last seven games with Miami.

Totals
-- Five of last six San Antonio games went over total; Nets' last six games all stayed under.
-- Under is 7-3 in last ten Washington games.
-- Four of last six Golden State games went over total.

Back/backs
-- None

**TheGame** · 01-11-2016, 07:21 AM

Re: NBA Betting Info. 1/11

Streaks, Tips, Notes

Well-Rested NBA Road Dogs Cashing

So far this season one solid but simple, trend that involves NBA road underdogs and how much rest they have has been a consistent winner for handicappers.

Any road dog that has had two or more days rest becomes a play. The trend has racked up an impressive 31-21 ATS record (59.6%). Although, winning 59.6% in sports handicapping is considered success, it’s possible to improve the hit rate if you limit the games to those road underdogs getting +4.0 to +6.5 points. Then, it hits a money-making 15-5 against the betting line (75%).

As with any betting trend of this sort, it will eventually fade away, but for now, it’s worth keeping an eye out for well-rested road underdogs.

**TheGame** · 01-11-2016, 08:24 AM

Re: NBA Betting Info. 1/11

NBA

Monday, January 11

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Trend Report
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7:30 PM
SAN ANTONIO vs. BROOKLYN
San Antonio is 10-3 SU in its last 13 games when playing on the road against Brooklyn
San Antonio is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games on the road
Brooklyn is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games when playing San Antonio
Brooklyn is 3-10 SU in its last 13 games when playing at home against San Antonio

8:00 PM
WASHINGTON vs. CHICAGO
Washington is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Washington's last 7 games when playing on the road against Chicago
Chicago is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 15 of Chicago's last 23 games at home

10:30 PM
MIAMI vs. GOLDEN STATE
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Miami's last 14 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Miami's last 9 games when playing on the road against Golden State
Golden State is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 11 of Golden State's last 16 games when playing Miami

**Satch** · 01-11-2016, 09:59 AM

Re: NBA Betting Info. 1/11

Preview: San Antonio At Brooklyn
When: 7:30 PM ET, Monday, January 11, 2016
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
The San Antonio Spurs are busy setting franchise records with their play at home, but their record on the road isn’t too shabby, either. The Spurs will try to improve to 11-6 away from home and post their eighth straight win overall when they open a two-game trip Monday against the Brooklyn Nets, who fired coach Lionel Hollins on Sunday.
San Antonio matched the best 38-game start in franchise history and improved their franchise-best home start to 22-0 by sweating out a 100-99 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday. The Spurs’ previous four wins had come by an average of 25.3 points, and the team believes the down-to-the-wire contest will only help them improve going forward. The Nets have not gone down-to-the-wire in a win of late and fell 103-89 at Detroit on Saturday to suffer their fourth straight loss, leading to the dismissal of Hollins and the reassignment of general manager Billy King. Assistant Tony Brown will take over as Brooklyn’s interim coach.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (San Antonio), YES (Brooklyn)
ABOUT THE SPURS (32-6): San Antonio’s average margin of victory of 13.9 points is tops in the league and the team nearly squandered a double-digit fourth-quarter advantage on Friday before locking down and executing. “It’s always good to be in close games, to try to learn how to execute and focus on the things you know you need to be better at during the year,” LaMarcus Aldridge told reporters. “I thought guys competed (Friday). I thought we made plays when we had to. They made some tough shots down the stretch, but I thought our guys stuck with it.” Aldridge did his part with 16 points and nine rebounds in the win after sitting out the previous game to rest.
ABOUT THE NETS (10-27): Brooklyn lost its starting point guard for the rest of the season when Jarrett Jack, who averaged 7.4 assists, suffered a knee injury in a win at Boston on Jan. 2. Shane Larkin is getting the first crack in the starting lineup at point but has averaged three assists while guiding the team to 83.5 points in the last four contests. Donald Sloan has seen an increase in minutes off the bench backing up Larkin and made his case to be the main distributor with season highs of 15 points and 10 assists in 24 minutes on Saturday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nets G Bojan Bogdanovic is 0-of-11 from the field in the last two contests and is shooting 23.9 percent in five games this month.
2. Spurs G Tony Parker (hip) returned from a two-game absence on Friday and delivered 16 points and eight assists in 32 minutes.
3. San Antonio blasted Brooklyn 102-75 at home on Oct. 30.
PREDICTION: Spurs 112, Nets 91

**Satch** · 01-11-2016, 09:59 AM

Re: NBA Betting Info. 1/11

Preview: Washington At Chicago
When: 8:00 PM ET, Monday, January 11, 2016
Where: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
Just when it was beginning to look like the Chicago Bulls were becoming a consistently dominating team, they turned in one of their worst performances. The Bulls will try to bounce back and earn a seventh win in eight games when they host the Washington Wizards on Monday.
Chicago knocked off the Toronto Raptors (twice), the Indiana Pacers, the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics during their winning streak but could not survive another Eastern Conference playoff contender in a 120-105 loss at the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. “They rocked us right away, hit us with a right-hand hook, stumbled us,” Bulls forward Taj Gibson told ESPN.com. “We didn’t respond early. They made a good run, and it’s always hard to fight back the whole game.” The Wizards are trying to find some consistency themselves after losing five of their last seven games. Washington snapped a three-game slide with a 105-99 triumph at Orlando on Saturday and has gone over 100 points in two of its last four games while failing to reach 90 in the other two contests.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), CSN Chicago
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (16-19): Washington’s recent spate of injuries has put more pressure on point guard John Wall, and the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Month has mostly been up to the challenge. Wall recorded 24 points and 10 assists on Saturday for his 10th double-double in the last 12 games but also committed seven turnovers. The former No. 1 overall pick could benefit from the healthy return of shooting guard Bradley Beal (stress fracture), who is reportedly a week or two away from returning to the lineup.
ABOUT THE BULLS (22-13): Chicago surrendered 64 points in the first half on Saturday, and coach Fred Hoiberg was disappointed in his team’s effort. “They were getting whatever they wanted out there,” Hoiberg told reporters. “They had 30 in the first, 34 in the second. That’s just too many. They got every 50-50 ball. All the energy, hustle plays, they beat us in the first half.” The setback dropped the team to 6-8 on the road, and the Bulls will play 12 of their next 15 away from home after finishing up with Washington.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Wizards F Otto Porter Jr. is 16-of-26 from the field in the last three games.
2. Bulls C Joakim Noah (shoulder) could return on Monday after missing the last nine games.
3. The teams split four meetings last season, with Washington grabbing one victory in Chicago.
PREDICTION: Bulls 101, Wizards 89

**Satch** · 01-11-2016, 10:00 AM

Re: NBA Betting Info. 1/11

Preview: Miami At Golden State

When: 10:30 PM ET, Monday, January 11, 2016
Where: Oracle Arena, Oakland, California
The Miami Heat just put on one of their worst defensive displays of the season in a loss to the Utah Jazz. The Heat will have to get things fixed on that end quickly when they visit the high-scoring Golden State Warriors on Monday night.
Miami allowed the Utah Jazz to shoot 54.9 percent from the field in a 98-83 loss on Saturday and struggled to defend the perimeter, where the Warriors thrive. The Heat rank among the league leaders in scoring defense (94.8 points) but are hitting a slump on that end as they get ready to finish out the six-game road trip against the likes of Golden State (a league-leading 114.5 scoring average), Oklahoma City (108.9) and the Los Angeles Clippers (103.6), who all sit in the top four in the Western Conference. The Warriors have not lost a home game since Jan. 27, 2015, and pushed their latest overall winning streak to six straight with a 128-116 triumph at Sacramento on Friday. That marked the 12th time this season that Golden State put up at least 120 points, including each of the last two games.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN Sun (Miami), CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE HEAT (22-15): The defensive issues on Saturday could have been injury-related, with Dwyane Wade (shoulder), Tyler Johnson (shoulder) and Hassan Whiteside (knee) all playing through some discomfort or missing the game entirely. Wade left the contest midway through the third quarter on Saturday before returning and ended up 3-of-17 from the floor in 33 minutes. Johnson sat out due to a recurring injury and joined Josh McRoberts (knee), who has missed the last 17 games.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS (35-2): Stephen Curry has been battling through a painful shin contusion and saw his scoring numbers take a dip before breaking out with 38 points and 11 assists on Saturday. The reigning MVP sat out the final two games in December due to the leg injury and was limited to 14 minutes against Denver on Jan. 2, but has since adjusted to playing with padding around the shin and was up to 38 minutes against Sacramento. Curry went 8-of-14 from 3-point range in the win and has buried at least four from beyond the arc in each of the last four games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Warriors own the best start in NBA history through 37 games and are the fifth team in history to record at least 35 straight home wins.
2. Heat F Luol Deng scored in double figures once in six games this month (10 points at Phoenix on Friday).
3. Curry averaged 36 points in a pair of wins over Miami last season.
PREDICTION: Warriors 109, Heat 93

**Satch** · 01-11-2016, 10:00 AM

Re: NBA Betting Info. 1/11

Why NBA bettors should fade the Cavs on their ‘Texas Triangle’ road trip
By BIG AL MCMORDIE
It’s been a fantastically entertaining first half of the NBA season, with Golden State garnering most of the attention, due to its 24-game win streak to start the season. But a number of teams are starting to play very good basketball, among them the Clippers and Knicks. And that must make Commissioner Adam Silver very happy, as he no doubt wants relevant teams in the two biggest markets. Let’s take a look at some of the stories making news around the NBA.
Spread watch
The Brooklyn Nets are an absolute train wreck. They’re 10-27 SU, and fired GM Billy King and coach Lionel Hollins this weekend. Tony Brown, who played a season for the Nets in 1986-87, has been named interim head coach.
Owner Mikhail Prokhorov claimed that he made the moves because the franchise needed a “fresh start and a new vision for the direction of the team.” But it was Prokhorov’s impatient “Win Now” vision, which was at the root of Billy King’s player moves the last few years, that started the team down this path.
Brooklyn has failed to cover its last four games and has been installed as a 14-point home underdog to the Spurs Monday night. Given that the Nets are 8-20-1 ATS their last 29 versus the Spurs does not bode well for Tony Brown’s first day on the job. Brooklyn’s best chance in the near term for a win seems to be at home versus Portland Friday.
Total watch
Two weeks ago, I highlighted the Atlanta Hawks, who were on a six-game streak of going Over the total. Well, all the Hawks have done since then is go Over the total in five of their last six (so, 11 of their last 12), including the last five in a row.
One of the main reasons for Atlanta’s high-scoring run has been the insertion of Kent Bazemore into the starting lineup by coach Mike Budenholzer. And, in their last 12 games, the Hawks have averaged 110.08 points, compared to 100.1 prior to the insertion of Bazemore into the starting five.
Atlanta will attempt to go Over the total for the sixth straight time when it takes the court on Wednesday, at Charlotte. And the Hornets have been a red carpet on defense, lately, as they’ve allowed five of their last seven opponents to reach the century mark and have given up an average of 107 points per game over their last seven games (compared to 98.9 ppg prior to that point). Another high-scoring game by the Hawks wouldn’t surprise.
Injury watch
Rudy Gobert missed 18 games for Utah with a sprained MCL, but returned last Thursday and played 15 minutes versus the Rockets. But his playing time expanded to 28 minutes against the Heat Saturday, and 30 minutes at the Lakers Sunday. Gobert’s one of the best defensive players in the league and his value is illustrated by the fact that, in the 18 games he missed, Utah’s defense was the fourth-worst in the NBA, but ranked as the seventh-best defense in the games Gobert’s played this season.
The Jazz held the Miami Heat to 83 points, in a 15-point win Saturday and followed that up with an 86-74 victory against the Lakers the next night. With games this week against Portland, Sacramento and the Lakers, I look for Utah to continue its strong defensive play and extend its win streak to five games.

Schedule watch
The Cleveland Cavaliers will embark on the dreaded “Texas Triangle” this week. They’ll play three consecutive road games at Dallas (Tuesday), San Antonio (Thursday) and Houston (Friday). LeBron James’ Cavs have been a money-burner on the road in the regular season the past two years, as they’re 25-34-1 ATS.
Since 1990, NBA teams are an awful 133-260 SU on this Lone Star State trip. And they’re especially poor when the Texas teams are off back-to-back SU/ATS wins, as they’re 12-47 SU and 22-36 ATS in that situation. So, check the recent results of the Mavericks, Spurs and Rockets prior to playing the Cavs to see if any of the games qualify under this angle.

**regular guy** · 01-11-2016, 03:14 PM

Re: NBA Betting Info. 1/11

Thank you for adding this segment to the site. It is a very valuable concentration of information and very helpful as a handicapping tool.

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NBA Betting Info. 1/11

NBA Betting Info. 1/11

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