Fact or Fiction
By Mike Rose
VegasInsider.com
The 2013 NBA season is set to hit its second half, and that means that there is plenty of jockeying for playoff positions going on in the final 30 or so games of the campaign. Join us today for more NBA Fact or Fiction, as we are always analyzing the best NBA odds that you'll find on the internet.
FACT
The Bobcats Really are the Worst team in the NBA: It's easy to look at the Bobcats and say that they are a 12-40 team. However, if you happen to forget about the first two weeks of the season, this was a team that was 7-5 straight up and 6-6 against the spread once upon a time. Since that point, Charlotte has just five SU victories and a 13-26-1 ATS mark. The Cats shoot just 42.1% from the floor, the worst mark in the league, and they really are as bad as it gets for the second straight season.
LeBron James Being Called the Best Player Ever: There's a reason that LeBron is going to walk away with his fourth MVP Award in the last five seasons this year, assuming that he doesn't get hurt in the second-half of the season. How many men can shoot 56% from the field and take as many crazy shots as LeBron does? We know that we normally talk about team accomplishments here in Fact or Fiction, but without LBJ, there is no way that the Heat would be 22-games above .500 with a 26-24 ATS mark on the campaign. He has put up seven straight games of 30-plus points to lead the way for this winning streak going into the league's intermission.
Brooklyn's Ascent As the Top Team in the Atlantic: The Nets closed to within 2 ½-games of the New York Knicks for the top spot in the Atlantic Division, and if you look closely, you'll see that by the middle of next month, there is really no reason to think that New York will still see its name atop the division. The Knicks have 10 of their next 15 games on the road, and mixed into the home games are dates with Golden State, Miami, Oklahoma City, and Utah. Meanwhile, the Nets are going to be favored in at least 11 of their next 15 games, which have an even distribution of dates at home and on the road. The hardest team on the slate in that stretch is probably the Chicago Bulls.
FICTION
San Antonio's Winning Streak on the Rodeo Road Trip: The Spurs haven't been at home since Feb. 2 thanks to the rodeo being in town, but they have only been beaten once as a result (119-109 at Detroit). Out of the blocks here in the second-half, there are four more road games that are crammed into just six days, and it is very believable to think that the winning ways for the men in silver and black is about set to come to a close as a result.
The Hawks as Playoff Contenders: When you play in the Southeast Division, you get a ton of games against some bad teams. The Wizards, Magic, and Bobcats are a combined 71-games under .500. Atlanta has a 10-3 SU mark in division play this year, but if you take out the games against Miami, it is 10-1 SU and 5-5-1 ATS against the worst teams in the division. Against the rest of the NBA, Atlanta is just 19-21 SU and 17-22-1 ATS. This isn't anywhere near a contender for the NBA title this year.
Milwaukee's ATS Losing Streak: The Bucks have incurred some bad fortune over the course of the last few weeks, and as a result, they have failed to cover eight games in a row dating back to Jan. 30. They'll get C Larry Sanders back at some point this week, and they've got a favorable matchup coming up twice in a row in the form of the Brooklyn Nets; a team they’ve covered the closing number against 10 straight times!