Posts tagged NBA

I posted a playoffs preview on Ocelot’s blog titled Heat-Thunder Finals Reprise.

I have one series bet… Memphis +155… to beat the Clippers in the first round.

I made a futures bet on… OKC +400 and +550… to win the NBA Championship.

No bets on games today, but I’m leaning Memphis today against the Clippers.

It’s the next-to-last day of the NBA season and we’re passing on tonight and tomorrow’s games. Our regular season betting experiment has come to a close. We finished the season with a win (we had the Jazz) and our overall record was 162 wins and 139 losses. Barely a shade above 53%, but we finished the second half of the season flirting with a 60% clip.

The best thing we did all year was betting overnight lines. That extra half point or full point came into play more often then we’d like. In the second half of the season, fading Charlotte Bobkitten on the road was a profitable venture along with backing the Nugs during their hot run in February and March.

With the playoffs on the horizon, it’s hard not to anticipate another rematch between Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Miami Heat. Could either team lose to a hotter squad… sure, in theory… but I doubt the Knicks or Spurs will be able to put together enough resistance. They’d be lucky to force both conference series to 6 games.

It’ll be fun to watch some of these emerging teams in the West like the second tier (Clippers, Denver Nugs, Memphis) and the third tier (Golden State and Houston) but none of those teams have the experience of the top tier (the Spurs and OKC).

In the East, it’s a battle of the haves (Miami, New York, Indiana, and Brooklyn to a degree) and the have-nots (Bulls without D. Rose and the rest of the scrubby teams like Boston, Atlanta, and Milwookie). Seriously, how bad has it gotten in the East? The #8 seed will be a sub .500 team, while the Eastern Conference has three of the worst teams in the league with the triumvirate of suck — Charlotte, Orlando, and Cleveland.

I do not expect to bet daily in the playoffs. If we see any trends or have any plays during the next two months of the playoffs, we’ll certainly post them here.

As always follow @OcelotSports on Twitter.

We went 0-1 on Saturday and passed on Sunday. Only one game of interest…  Utah Jazz is in a must-win situation (at Minnesota). If they want to make the playoffs, they have to win their next two games AND the Lakers have to lose one game. The future doesn’t look great, but then again, at least they have some hope and are still mathematically in the playoff race.

NBA:

Utah -3

Leans: The Knicks -1 take on the Bobkittens in Charlotte. We usually fade the Bobkittens on the road, but we’re on the fence here. The Knicks bench is thin (Solomon Jones started the other night) and we have no idea which starters are going to get rested by Woody.

Good Friday for us. 3-1 overall. Knicks and Detroit both covered, but we missed covering the Jazz game by a single point. Such is life.

Milwookie is our team tonight. Fading the Bobkittens. Brandon Jennings will not be playing, but the Bucks should still easily handle the Bobkittens. We had been fading the Bobkittens on the road all season yet passing at home. But tonight, we’re backing the Bucks.

NBA:

Milwookie -3.5

…

Crappy Thursday night. For a second game in a row, a team blew a lead and lost in OT. Frustrating. On Wednesday it was Milwookie. Last night it was the Knicks/ We went 0-1 because the Knicks coughed up a 17 point lead. The Knicks were down 5 late and forced an OT but ran out of gas. They shot horribly in the second half. Rough. Their streak is over, which is good because now they can rest the rest of the season and prep for the playoffs… but not before they pick up an easy game in Cleveland.

Friday night. Full slate of games. I should pass, but I’m going to play a bunch of games only because it’s the last full Friday of the NBA season.

NBA:

Knicks -4

Utah -450 ML

Utah -8

Detroit -6.5

The Cavs blew a 20-point lead in Indy the other night and lost at home to Detroit. Even though Kyrie Irving is back in the lineup, he’s still a little banged up. We’re backing the Knicks here. Melo is still eying a scoring title, so you know he’s going to be looking for his shot all night long.

With 3 games remaining, the Utah Jazz have to win all of them (and hope the Lakers lose one game) if they want a crack at the #8 seed in the West. Tonight is in a must-win scenario and essentially a playoff game. Do or die for the Jazz, which is why I’m betting them on the moneyline (laying a chunk of change) and taking them with points against the T-Wolves. It’s going to be playoff-like atmosphere tonight and the Jazz fans will be whipped up into a frenzy, while the T-Wolves are looking to end their disappointing season as quickly as possible. It should be a slaughter.

The Piss-stains play the lowly Bobkittens. Detroit stepped up against the Cavs the other night, in a game they could have just given up and rolled over and died. Yet, they fought hard to the end. We’ve been fading the Bobkittens all season, especially on the road. Detroit is 5-0-1 ATS in their last 6 games and 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10.

* * * * *

Leans: Denver -3. I don’t know why this line seems too good to be true. The Mavs are dunzo. WIll they even get up to play the Nugs’ B-team (provided Karl rests a lot of his starters)?