NBA betting trends, odds and predictions for Monday, December 19th, 2016
NBA Knowledge
Washington three in row, five of last six games; their last five games went over total. Wizards are 3-2 as a road underdog. Indiana won/covered its last four home games; they’re 6-4 as home favorites. Last four Pacer games stayed under total. Pacers won four of last five games with Washington in series where road team won five of last six series games. Wizards won three of last four visits here. Over is 6-1 in last seven series games.
Detroit lost three of its last four games; they won/covered last five road games. Under is 6-2 in Pistons’ last eight games. Chicago lost last three games by 26-11-5 points; they’re 3-4 in last seven home games (2-5 vs spread). Five of Bulls’ last six games stayed under total. Pistons won six of last eight games with Chicago; Detroit won by 3-4 points in last two visits to Windy City. Under is 4-2 in last six series games.
Atlanta is 3-2 in its last five games after a 1-10 skid; Hawks are 4-6 as road underdogs. Three of last four Atlanta games went over. Oklahoma City won seven of its last nine home games; they’re 9-4 as home favorites. Last seven Thunder games stayed under total. Thunder won six of last eight games with Atlanta; under is 7-3 in last ten series games. Hawks lost last three visits here, by 2-8-13 points.
Phoenix lost six of its last eight games; they’re 9-5 as road underdogs. Over is 7-3 in Suns’ last ten games. Timberwolves lost five of last six games; they’re 3-2 vs spread as home favorites. Over is 7-4 in their last eleven games. Minnesota won three of last four games with Phoenix; five of last six series games stayed under the total. Suns lost last three visits to Twin Cities, by 2-30-5 points.
Dallas lost its last nine road games (2-7 vs spread); they’re 1-3 if they played night before. Over is 5-3 in last eight Maverick games. Nuggets won three of last four games; they’re 4-4 as home favorites. Over is 10-1-1 in last twelve Denver games. Mavericks won six of last seven games with Denver; over is 7-3 in last ten series games. Dallas lost three of last five games in this building.
Armadillosports.com
Struggling Suns, T-Wolves meet Monday night
By: Zach Cohen
StatFox.com
The Suns will be hoping to avoid a third straight loss when they face the Timberwolves on Monday night.
Phoenix is coming off of a 114-101 loss as a 6.5-point underdog in Oklahoma City on Saturday. The Suns have now lost two straight and seven of their past 10. This team is just not defending well enough to win games right now, as the Suns have allowed their opponents to shoot 45% from the field or better in six of the past nine contests. Phoenix has also committed 15 or more turnovers in 10 of the past 14 games. The Suns need to take better care of the basketball moving forward. The Timberwolves, meanwhile, have been equally as bad, as they have now lost 11 of their past 15 games. Their struggles have also been on the defensive end, allowing eight of their past 11 opponents to hit 45% or more of their shots. One thing Minnesota has going for it is the fact that the team has covered in three straight. The Timberwolves also happen to be facing a Suns team that they defeated 98-85 as two-point road favorites on Nov. 25. They are 3-1 SU and 2-1-1 ATS when hosting the Suns over the past three seasons. The trends do, however, suggest a bounce back outing from Phoenix, as the team is 15-5 ATS off a road loss under head coach Earl Watson. Both teams will be close to full strength in this one, so injuries should not factor into the outcome of this game.
The Suns have had a miserable start to the season, but they did get some good news with SF T.J. Warren (16.6 PPG) returning from a 13-game absence on Saturday night. Warren is still not completely healthy, but he will help this team on the offensive end. He was off to a hot start this season and just needs to continue to attack offensively moving forward. It’s possible his minutes will be limited for a week or two, though. PG Eric Bledsoe (19.7 PPG, 5.4 APG, 5.4 RPG, 1.6 SPG) is, meanwhile, this team’s best player. Bledsoe is one of the quickest players in the league, and he also happens to be insanely strong for a point guard. He should find a way to get to the rim in this one, and he’s likely to finish or draw a foul once he gets there. It is, however, important that he starts to shoot the ball better soon. Bledsoe is hitting just 29.8% of his threes on the year and is capable of being a lot more accurate from there. SG Devin Booker (18.8 PPG) is another guy that needs to start shooting better. Booker is hitting just 32.6% of his threes on the year, and that is not very good for a guy that is considered to be a “shooter”. He’d be wise to stop settling, as he could help his team a ton by passing up bad shots.
The Timberwolves are not playing well right now, but they’ll have to turn things around if C Karl-Anthony Towns (22.1 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 1.4 BPG) keeps playing the way he did last game. Towns had 41 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in 43 minutes of action against Houston, and the Timberwolves really should have won that game. They blew a double-digit lead with just about two minutes to go in the fourth and ended up losing in overtime. Expect another huge game from Towns on Monday, as the Suns do not have many guys that match up well with him on the defensive end. Both SF Andrew Wiggins (21.9 PPG) and PG Zach LaVine (20.7 PPG) will need to step it up and help Towns as well. Both guys should thrive in what is likely to be an up-tempo game like this one, but they need to play both ends of the floor. Both guys are very offensive-minded and they have a tendency to get lazy on D. If they are to do that on Monday then the Timberwolves will not be able to stop this Phoenix team. It’s also worth mentioning C Gorgui Dieng (10.3 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.2 BPG), as Dieng is a good defender and a tough presence inside altogether. He will play hard in this one, and do everything he can to hold his own on the boards against some of the Suns’ bigs.
Monday's NBA Essentials
December 19, 2016
By Tony Mejia
VegasInsider.com
Game of the Night - Atlanta at Oklahoma City
At this time last week, the Thunder were coming off a home win over the Celtics to earn their sixth triumph in seven outings. They sat atop the Northwest Division, overcoming the departure of superstar Kevin Durant through the first quarter of the NBA season.
Russell Westbrook was the talk of not just the town, but the entire league. Averaging a triple-double, he was making even Oscar Robertson tip his cap. This was no fluke. This was a man on a mission.
Kevin Durant, who? I’m the real MVP.
Then that man then look tired. The Thunder looked vulnerable. Success appeared fleeting.
In an NBA that changes from week to week, fatigue may have caught up with Westbrook, who shot 14-for-44 (31.8 ) in last week’s two losses before an amazing 26-point, 11-rebound, 22-assist night against the Suns on Saturday night. He’s definitely missed Victor Oladipo, who missed all of last week due to a wrist issue in addition to fallout over a concussion.
Oladipo will likely return this week, but has already been ruled out for tonight’s matchup against the Hawks, who have had their own issues of late, going 4-12 over the past 16 games. Oklahoma City has slipped behind Utah, who they lost to by 20 on Dec. 14.
This one is important. The Thunder are a team that rides Westbrook’s coattails, but they have big men who are expected to rise up to the challenge of dueling with the league’s best centers. Steven Adams and Enes Kanter are counted on in that manner. Considering Atlanta beat Toronto last week on the strength of a vintage Dwight Howard performance, slowing him down becomes even more important than how Westbrook fares against Dennis Schroder. Howard has averaged 18 points and 15.6 rebounds over his team’s last five games but finished with just six points and six boards on Dec. 5 in a 102-99 loss.
The Hawks make their lone appearance in OKC coming off a home loss to Charlotte, but had won three of four prior to that game to get back to .500. Atlanta opens the week just one game behind the Hornets in a Southeast Division where most teams have overachieved, so this Monday contest is extremely important.
Paul Millsap looks fully healed from a hip injury that cost him three games and has scored 20 or more points in four of the six games since returning, averaging 5.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists. Kyle Korver is definitely the Hawks’ x-factor, hitting a season-high six 3-pointers on 10 attempts in the 125-121 win over Toronto, so the fact he’s back up to 45.2 percent from beyond the arc is a major win. Still, he shot just 1-for-5 from 3-point range in the loss to the Hawks and has largely slumped this season. The Hawks are 5-4 when he connects for multiple 3-pointers while shooting better than 50 percent from that range and have a losing record when he doesn’t.
Look for Andre Roberson’s defense to try and keep the Hawks’ sniper from finding a rhythm in what should be a fun contest.
Notable Head-to-Head Trends
Washington has lost four of the last five meetings against Indiana, including two games decided by one possession. With Monta Ellis and Rodney Stuckey out, backup point guard Aaron Brooks is getting more playing time. The Wizards are hoping to get wing Kelly Oubre back from a concussion.
The Pistons have won five of the last six against Central Division rival Chicago, which comes in reeling after being destroyed by Milwaukee in a home-and-home. A hip injury has Bulls starting forward Taj Gibson listed as questionable.
The Timberwolves have lost 9 of their last 11 encounters and haven't won at home since beating the 76ers on Nov. 17, dropping seven consecutive games at Target Center. The Suns are 3-7 in their last 10 road games but have won their last three games in Minneapolis.
Dallas took down the Kings last night, but have won consecutive games only once this season, a stat that bodes well for the visiting Nuggets. With shooting guard Gary Harris back, Denver has won three of four for the first time all season.