NBA Betting Info. 3/14

[TheGame]

Re: NBA Betting Info. 3/14

Preview: Trail Blazers (35-32) at Thunder (44-22)


Date: March 14, 2016 8:00 PM EDT


The Portland Trail Blazers are hopeful they will play well on a difficult road trip while the Oklahoma City Thunder are enduring some recent woes, including some poor play at home.


It figures to be an entertaining affair as superstar guards Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook match up Monday night as the Thunder and Trail Blazers meet in what could be a playoff preview.


Portland (35-32) begins a four-game trip that includes visits to San Antonio, New Orleans and Dallas. The Trail Blazers are seeking to avoid a third five-game road losing streak this season.


'It's going to be a tough trip,' Lillard said. 'We've got to go out there and be ourselves.'


Oklahoma City (44-22) may not be as formidable as expected after losing for the eighth time in 12 games, 93-85 on the road to the Spurs on Saturday. That came one night after a 99-96 loss to Minnesota that was the Thunder's fourth defeat in five home games.


Westbrook finished with nine turnovers Saturday for his second-worst total. He only made 5 of 16 shots for 19 points while Kevin Durant led the way with 28.


"We have to start making better decisions, starting with myself," Westbrook told the Thunder's official website. "Find ways to get guys the ball and make a better decision. I don't want to put us in a position that creates problems from us turning the ball over."


These teams have split two meetings and the Thunder currently have the Western Conference's third-best record and the Trail Blazers are sixth, meaning they would match up in the first round.


If such a series materializes, the highlight would probably be how Lillard and Westbrook fare against each other. Neither played well in Oklahoma City's 106-90 home victory Dec. 16, with Lillard making 6 of 20 shots for 20 points and Westbrook making 5 of 15 for 13 points with five assists.


They were more productive in Portland's 115-110 home win Jan. 10. Westbrook had 25 points and 15 assists while Lillard scored 31 points, including five 3-pointers in the last 3:07 as the Blazers established a season best with 19 baskets from beyond the arc.


Durant has totaled 52 points in the season series. He's averaging 30.7 points in his last nine games, but the Thunder have won just three of them.


Oklahoma City matched its lowest point total Saturday and shot below 40.0 percent for only the sixth time by finishing at 38.3. Still, the Thunder led by two entering the fourth quarter.


"You can overcome a tough shooting night if you can defend at a high level," coach Billy Donovan said. "We didn't shoot the ball particularly well the entire game, our defense kept us in there."


The Blazers won for the second time in six games with Saturday's 121-84 rout of Orlando. Lillard scored 19 with 10 assists as six Portland players scored at least 10 one night after a 128-112 loss at Golden State.


"We're on the road a bunch this month and these games are that much more important," coach Terry Stotts said. "Coming off a tough loss to Golden State and going on the road, we know the importance of the game and this game in particular."


Lillard has totaled 36 points in his last two games after a three-game stretch in which he averaged 39.0.

[TheGame]

Re: NBA Betting Info. 3/14

Preview: Timberwolves (21-45) at Suns (17-49)


Date: March 14, 2016 10:00 PM EDT


The Minnesota Timberwolves opened their road trip by stunning one of the top teams in the Western Conference. They'll next face an opponent that's below them in the standings.


The Phoenix Suns, though, hung in against the league's best team in their latest game and will try to bounce back with a fourth consecutive home victory over the Timberwolves on Monday night.


Ricky Rubio's 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left sent Minnesota (21-45) to a 99-96 victory over Northwest Division-leading Oklahoma City on Friday, its fourth in 25 road games and second in seven overall contests. Gorgui Dieng scored a career-best 25 points and the Timberwolves forced a season-high 24 turnovers in the opener of a four-game trek after getting nine in a 116-91 loss to San Antonio on Tuesday.


They allowed an average of 112.6 points in their previous 16 games.


"Think about it, (the Thunder are) averaging 110 points a game and we held them to 14 points below their average," coach Sam Mitchell said. "For these guys to step up and take the challenge on the road, and this is a tough building to play in, it was just a great win for us."


Minnesota next faces a team that's lost 33 of 38 overall and 16 of 19 on its own floor. The Suns (17-49), however, came within 5:41 of ending Golden State's NBA-record home win streak Saturday, succumbing 123-116 after leading by 10 late in the third quarter.


"They're a finished product. They're competing for championships. We're building and we're stuck in the beginning of our process, but we've had the right attitude and we're moving forward," Phoenix coach Earl Watson said. "We also understand that no one's going to give us anything in this league. We have to earn it. We're trying to build a reputation of playing hard."


Brandon Knight matched a career high with seven 3-pointers and scored 30 points in his first start since a nearly two-month absence due to a groin injury. He had 10 points and shot 2 of 9 in a 116-98 loss at Denver on Thursday.


"We saw the difference he makes on our team," Watson said.


Knight also made seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points in a 108-101 home win over the Timberwolves on Dec. 13. He had 20 points in a 117-87 defeat at Minnesota on Jan. 17.


The Timberwolves shot 56.5 percent in that game en route to their second victory in the past seven matchups.


Zach LaVine scored 28 points in the Minnesota's latest visit to Phoenix. He had nine Friday after averaging 18.7 in his previous seven contests.


Timberwolves leading scorer Andrew Wiggins has averaged 23.5 points in the last four games, going 6 of 11 from 3-point range.

[TheGame]

Re: NBA Betting Info. 3/14

Preview: Cavaliers (47-18) at Jazz (31-35)


Date: March 14, 2016 10:30 PM EDT


The Cleveland Cavaliers have found plenty of wins and some 3-point shooting on their road trip. The latter certainly contributes to the former, and a lot of the credit can be linked to a recently acquired deep threat.


With Channing Frye - among others - heating up from downtown, the Cavaliers look to put the finishing touches on a sweep out West with Monday night's visit to the Utah Jazz.


Cleveland (47-18) acquired Frye from Orlando at the Feb. 18 trade deadline, but it seemed he was the odd man out of coach Tyronn Lue's rotation after being used sparingly his first three weeks.


Two weeks ago, the 10-year veteran was left on the bench twice and logged less than six minutes in another game. He said he was still living out of a Cleveland hotel room with his wife and two children at the time.


He seems to have found a home on the court out West. After making 1 of 3 3-pointers in 10 minutes during Wednesday's 120-111 win in Sacramento, Frye has hit 5 of 7 in each of the last two games.


He started in place of the injured Kevin Love on Thursday and made 8 of 10 shots overall for a season-high 21 points in 24 minutes of a 120-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center. Frye followed with 15 points in 20 minutes off the bench in the same arena in Sunday's 114-90 rout of the Clippers.


He added 12 rebounds between the two victories.


'Channing coming out and making those 3s kind of became contagious,' Lue said.


It spread quickly as the Cavs made 16 of 35 against the Lakers and matched a season high by draining 18 of 37 three days later.


Against the Clippers, J.R. Smith hit 5 of 8, LeBron James made 3 of 4 and Matthew Dellavedova sank both of his. That helped Cleveland make 18 3s in a single game for the fifth time in franchise history, all of which have come in the last two seasons.


'We're getting into form right now," said James, who sat out the fourth quarter Sunday. "We've got a great rotation going right now. The guys are healthy and we're just trying to play the game the right way.'


Cleveland improved to 20-6 against the Western Conference, including 10-4 on the road.


James finished with 31 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in a 118-114 home victory over Utah on Nov. 10, the Cavaliers' fifth win in the last six games of this series.


However, the Jazz (31-35) have taken five of the last six in Salt Lake City.


Utah is one of the league's top defensive teams by holding opponents to 97.3 points per game - just better than Cleveland's 97.5 - so finding space to shoot might be more difficult. However, Sacramento made 9 of 21 in Utah's 108-99 road win on Sunday.


That victory gave the Jazz two straight after dropping nine of 12 out of the All-Star break. They trail Houston and Dallas by two games for the West's final two playoff spots.


'This was a very important, a big-time win for us,' Rudy Gobert said. 'We have 16 games left and we're going to try to win all 16.'


Derrick Favors had 28 points and 14 rebounds against the Kings while Gordon Hayward scored 27.

[TheGame]

Re: NBA Betting Info. 3/14

Preview: Pelicans (24-41) at Warriors (59-6)


Date: March 14, 2016 10:30 PM EDT


Stephen Curry can celebrate turning 28 with No. 60 overall and 49 in a row at home.


His Warriors can become the fastest team to reach 60 wins on his 28th birthday when they try to hand the New Orleans Pelicans a sixth straight road loss Monday night.


Golden State continued the best start in NBA history by improving to 59-6 with Saturday's harder-than-expected 123-116 home victory over lowly Phoenix. Curry scored 15 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter as the Warriors rallied from a nine-point deficit over the final 12 minutes.


"We've talked about it as a team," coach Steve Kerr said. "Every team we play in here is going to be excited for the opportunity to come in here and knock us off."


The Warriors extended their record home win streak and stayed one game ahead of the pace of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who set the league mark with 72 wins. Their 30-0 home record this season is second in the league to San Antonio's 32-0 mark.


Golden State learned before the game that top reserve Andre Iguodala will miss at least two weeks due to a sprained left ankle suffered in Friday's 128-112 win over Portland. His loss weakens a bench that will now see players such as Shaun Livingston, Brandon Rush and Marreese Speights get even more minutes.


"That's just something we're going to have to get adjusted to for however long he is out," Curry said. "We'll have to get prepared for that. But at the end of the day, we run the same offense, but it's one less playmaker, ballhandler."


Speights took advantage Saturday with a season-high 25 points in less than 18 minutes.


Curry will play on his birthday for the fourth time, losing the first two before he had 25 points and 11 assists last year in a 125-94 rout of New York.


Golden State clinched a second straight Pacific Division title when the Los Angeles Clippers lost to Cleveland on Sunday.


The Warriors have won eight straight at home over the Pelicans, including two victories in last year's playoffs. New Orleans (24-41) won't be returning to the postseason thanks to an injury-plagued campaign.


The Pelicans, coached by former Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry, are 0-3 on this trip following losses by 121-114 in overtime to Memphis on Friday and 103-92 to Milwaukee on Saturday. Jrue Holiday had seven turnovers each time, as New Orleans committed 17 against the Grizzlies and 16 versus the Bucks.


"To me I thought we had good effort after playing last night but I thought we just have to be more solid in what we're doing," Gentry said.


The coach says he has to be careful with Holiday because of the guard's injury history. The Pelicans will get a boost Monday if Norris Cole returns from a three-game absence due to a back injury.


'His back is still just a little bit too tight,' Gentry said. 'Hopefully, we'll get him back for the last two games on the trip.'


The Warriors beat the Pelicans twice in October in their first matchups since the playoffs, with Curry totaling 93 points and making 13 of 26 3-pointers.


New Orleans star Anthony Davis averaged 22.0 points and 32.4 percent shooting in those games.

[TheGame]

Re: NBA Betting Info. 3/14

NBA knowledge
Monday's hot teams
-- Detroit won three of its last four games (2-5 last 7AU).
-- Hornets won their last seven games (5-1-1 last 7HF).
-- Miami on six of its last eight games (6-8 last 14HF). Denver won five of its last six games (7-3 last 10AU).
-- Toronto won five of its last six games (3-5 last 8HF).
-- Houston won three of its last four games (1-5 last 6HF).
-- Cavaliers won five of their last six games (7-2-1 last 10AF).
-- Warriors won nine of their last ten games (3-5 last 8HF).


Cold teams
-- Washington lost its last five games (3-7 last 10HF).
-- Mavericks lost their last five games (1-4 last 5AU).
-- Chicago lost six of its last eight games (3-8 last 11AU).
-- Memphis lost three of its last five games (3-5 last 8AU).
-- Portland lost four of its last six games (6-4 last 10AU). Thunder lost six of their last nine games (9-3 last 12HF).
-- Jazz lost seven of their last nine games (5-3HU).
-- Minnesota, Phoenix both lost five of their last seven games.
-- New Orleans lost seven of its last eight games (2-4-1 last 7AU).


Series records
-- Wizards won four of last five games with Detroit.
-- Mavericks won seven of last ten games with Charlotte.
-- Miami won five of its last seven games with Denver.
-- Bulls won their last eight games with Toronto.
-- Grizzlies won three of last four games with Houston.
-- Thunder lost four of last six games with Portland.
-- Cavaliers won five of last six games with Utah.
-- Suns won five of last seven games with Minnesota.
-- Pelicans lost their last six games with Golden State.


Totals
-- Under is 4-1-1 in last six Washington-Detroit games.
-- Six of last seven Charlotte games went over the total.
-- Four of last five Miami games went over the total.
-- Last six Chicago-Toronto games went over the total.
-- Five of last seven Houston-Memphis games went over.
-- Four of last five Portland games went over the total.
-- Last four Cleveland games went over the total.
-- Four of last five Minnesota-Phoenix games stayed under.
-- Four of last five New Orleans games went over total.


Back/backs
-- Cleveland covered six of its last eight if it played the night before.

[Satch]

Re: NBA Betting Info. 3/14

Iguodala injury has big meaning for bettors heading into second Warriors-Spurs clash
By BIG AL MCMORDIE
We’re five days away from the second meeting of the season between the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs. The Warriors’ 30-point win in the first meeting may have taken some luster off this next game, but it shouldn’t.
The Spurs still rank as the league’s best team in margin of victory (12.24) and they’ve won 41 regular season home games in a row – the 3rd-best streak in NBA history. Meanwhile, Golden State needs to win to remain on pace to break the Bulls’ record for wins in a season. Of course, there are 54 other games on tap for this week, so let’s see what’s on the horizon.
Spread Watch
When Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol, sustained his season-ending injury in the game versus Portland on Feb. 8, Memphis’s season surely looked bleak. The Grizzlies were 30-22 at the time, but had been outscored by 1.28 points per game and down their all-star center, many expected Memphis to possibly even fall out of the playoff picture all together.
But a curious thing has happened in its 14 games since. Memphis has gone 9-5 straight up and 10-4 against the spread, while averaging 104 ppg (compared to 97.9 ppg while Gasol was healthy). Of course, the increase in Memphis’ offensive production could just be a by-product of a faster pace of play initiated by coach Dave Joerger. The numbers, though, say otherwise. The Grizzlies’ offensive efficiency was ranked 22 at the time Gasol went down, but has been in the Top 10 since. Dating back to January 25, Memphis is an impressive 14-7 SU and 15-6 ATS, including four upset wins.
Memphis will be an underdog on Monday night at defensively-challenged Houston, which gives up 107 ppg. Then, on Wednesday, it will be back home to host the Timberwolves, who give up 103.9 ppg. Surely, the Grizzlies are worth a look in each of those games, as they’re 20-4 SU and 17-7 ATS this season against teams that give up at least 103.9 ppg.
Total Watch
Kawhi Leonard missed three games with a calf injury following the All-Star Break. The Spurs gave up 105, 113 and 111 in those games. Since his return, the San Antonio has given up 99 points or less in nine of 10 games and in the lone game they allowed an opponent to reach 100, it took a meaningless Nikola Mirotic 3-pointer with three seconds left for the Bulls to score 101.
San Antonio’s allowed just 90.1 ppg in its last 10 games, and eight of the 10 have gone Under the total. This week, the Spurs will host the Clippers, Trail Blazers and Warriors. Their previous meeting against all three opponents went Under and their game on Tuesday vs. Los Angeles, in particular, looks to be the best candidate for a low-scoring game. The Clippers scored just 90 on Sunday versus Cleveland and the Under is 17-5-1 since January 22.
Injury Watch
Golden State forward Andre Iguodala hurt his ankle in last Friday’s win against Portland, and will miss upwards of four weeks. Along with Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut, Iguodala is one of the Warriors’ three best defensive players and Golden State will struggle without him in the lineup. Indeed, Iguodala’s missed five games this season, and the Warriors are 0-5 ATS in those games and they’ve failed to cover by a whopping average of 14.1 ppg.
That doesn’t bode well for the Warriors this week against the Pelicans, Knicks, Mavericks and especially the Spurs. Interestingly, when the Spurs and Warriors first met this season, it was the Spurs who were without one of their two best defensive players (Tim Duncan).
Speaking of Duncan, Golden State has lost all 32 regular season road games versus the Spurs since he came into the league (and 34 of 35 road games when playoffs are included). Additionally, the Warriors are a dreadful 10-22 ATS in those 32 regular season games, including 1-6 ATS if the Spurs were playing with revenge.
Schedule Watch
The Boston Celtics will resume play on Tuesday, at Indiana, after getting the previous three days off. The Celtics won, 103-94, at home versus the Pacers in the last meeting, and are 23-16 SU and 25-14 ATS against them over the last 11 seasons.
This season, NBA teams are 40-29 ATS when playing with at least 3 days’ of rest against a less-rested opponent, including 12-0 ATS since January 18 against a revenge-minded foe and a perfect 9-0 ATS since Feb. 23 (against any opponent).
Boston’s played excellent basketball over the previous two months, as it’s 20-8 SU and 17-11 ATS. They’re also 7-1 SU/ATS its last eight versus winning teams. I look for Boston to upset Indiana.