Hot and Cold Bets
By Matt Fargo
The NBA has hit the two-third mark and the games are becoming that much more important. Matt Fargo has been looking into Hot and Cold NBA bets throughout the season and he takes a look at four games that you will want to pay attention to coming up over the next few days.
NBA Hot Bets
Tuesday – Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs 8:30 PM ET
The rodeo is over and that means the Spurs get the AT&T Center back, for three games at least before they head back out on the road. San Antonio had an eight-game roadtrip as it had to leave the arena at the beginning of February and the one break was that it coincided with the All-Star layoff so it was not on the road the entire time. The Spurs went 5-3 on the trek (5-2-1 ATS) with one of those losses coming by a bucket and another coming in overtime. They have had a great history of coming out strong in the first home game back from the long roadtrip as they are a perfect 6-0 straight up and ATS over the last six years, winning those games by an average of 18.5 ppg. Dallas has dropped four of the last five meetings in this series and despite being at .500 on the road this season, it has been struggling recently by going 4-8 in its last 12 road games (5-7 ATS). San Antonio has covered six straight games against winning teams.
Wednesday – Utah Jazz at Minnesota Timberwolves 8:00 PM ET
Heading into Monday, Utah was 10 games over .500 yet was clinging on for dear life in eighth place in the Western Conference. The Jazz have been one of the hotter teams in the league, going 7-1 in their last eight games (7-1 ATS) yet have not been able to make up much ground due to the simple difficulty of the conference. Utah has had an up and down season overall but injuries have been the culprit in that. Utah is now back at full strength for the first time this season and it could not come at a better time as the remaining schedule is extremely soft through March. The Utah home court is tough once again but winning on the road needs to become more consistent as it is only 9-17 but a better 11-15 ATS. The Timberwolves had a fantastic January but February has not been nearly as kind, as they are 2-8 straight up and 4-6 against the number. Minnesota is just 1-21 against teams ranked within the top ten and Utah is sitting right on that #10 spot.
NBA Cold Bets
Tuesday – Detroit Pistons at Miami Heat 7:30 PM ET
The Pistons are in one of their worst slumps in a very long time. They have dropped six straight games which is a season high and have fallen into seventh place in the Eastern Conference playoff standings. At this time last season, people were already anticipating a Boston/Detroit Conference Finals and now Detroit is not even a guarantee to make the playoffs. The Pistons are 20-34 ATS and they now own the worst record against the number in the NBA. They are on a dreadful 4-16 ATS run and yet it seems like the lines are holding and not taking their results into consideration. Detroit has been better on the road, going 13-12 ATS compared to 7-22 ATS at home but it is 7-19 ATS following a loss this year as they just seem to be coming in bunches. Miami is not playing very well either but with the addition of Jermaine O’Neal, it should be getting better as the season winds down. The Heat are 7-2 ATS against the Central Division this season and will be catching a fair number against the overvalued Pistons.
Thursday – Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers 10:30 PM ET
I fell into the trap on Sunday with Phoenix. After pouring in 140 or more points in three straight games, the Suns laid an egg against the Celtics. Playing the Clippers twice and Oklahoma City will allow a team to thrive apparently. Phoenix got rid of its coach at the All-Star break and now it has to deal with the absence of Amare Stoudemire and things could get rough. The Suns are 21-33-1 ATS, third worst in the NBA, and despite a winning road record, they are just 11-16-1 ATS in those 28 roadies. They will no doubt be an underdog here and that is not a role they have relished this season, going 2-10 straight up and 3-9 ATS. They have lost three straight to the Lakers dating back to last season. Los Angeles is rolling once again as it has won 15 of its last 17 games (11-6 ATS) and with its four straight wins, it has won at least four in a row on eight different occasions this season. The Lakers are a modest 17-6 against the East but 29-4 against the West (18-15 ATS).