NBA Knowledge
Hot Teams
-- Lakers won their last three games, are 7-7 since Nick Young came back. (6-5 AU).
-- Chicago won/covered six of last eight games (2-3 AU).
-- Atlanta won nine of last ten games (6-6-1 HF).
-- Orlando covered seven of last eight games (11-4 AU).
-- Toronto won five of last seven games (1-4 last five HF).
-- Portland won 14 of its last 17 games (7-4 HF).
-- Spurs won 12 of their last 15 games (8-6 A).
-- Detroit won its last two games after losing previous 13 (5-6 AU).
Cold Teams
-- Hornets lost 12 of last 14 games (4-3-2 AU).
-- Cavaliers lost last two games but won five in row at home (5-6 HF).
-- Indiana lost its last eight games (3-3-1 HF).
-- Celtics lost last three games (1-0 AF).
-- 76ers lost last three games, by 16-18-5 points; they covered eight of last 11 (8-4 HU).
-- Bucks lost five of their last seven games (7-4 AU).
-- Phoenix lost its last five games (1-4 vs spread; 4-5 HF).
-- Clippers lost last two games after winning previous nine (4-7 HF).
Series Records
-- Hornets won last five games against the Cavaliers.
-- Lakers lost four of last five games with Indiana.
-- Road team won last five Boston-Philly games.
-- Bulls won their last six games with Atlanta.
-- Raptors won their last nine games with Orlando.
-- Bucks lost six of last eight games with Phoenix.
-- Spurs won six of last seven games with Portland.
-- Clippers won their last seven games with Detroit.
Totals
-- Seven of last nine Charlotte games went over total.
-- Under is 6-1-1 in Indiana's last eight home games.
-- Four of last five Boston games stayed under total.
-- Five of last six Atlanta home games stayed under.
-- Seven of last eight Orlando road games stayed under.
-- Six of last seven Milwaukee road games went over.
-- Five of last six Portland home games stayed under.
-- Three of last four Detroit road games went over.
Back-to-Backs
-- Lakers are 2-3 vs spread if they played night before.
-- Chicago is 2-4 vs spread if it played night before.
-- Raptors are 4-1 vs spread if they played night before.
-- Phoenix is 1-4 vs spread if it played night before.
-- Spurs are 4-3 if they played night before, 1-3 on road.
East vs West
SU: West 81-38 ATS: West 67-52
East teams HF vs West: 13-20
East teams HU vs West: 16-18
West teams HF vs East: 22-21
West teams HU vs East: 7-2
Armadillosports.com
NBA: Streaks, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
Orlando Magic at Toronto Raptors
Toronto Raptors defeating Knicks 90-95 in overtime last night are off to a smart 18-6 SU, 14-10 ATS start to the campaign with a +8.0 points/game winning margin. Purple Dino's take the floor in a desirable winning situation when they host the young core of Orlando players on Monday. That's because Raptors have had great success vs Orlando winning nine consecutive encounters outscoring Magic by an average 11.4 points/game while posting a profitable 6-2-1 mark at the betting window. Looking further back Raptors have won 12-of-16 meetings (11-4-1 ATS) and are very comfortable playing Magic north of the border winning five straight (3-2 ATS) and six of eight encounters (5-3 ATS). The most compelling numbers in the Raptor's favor, they've responded playing without rest this season posting a 4-1 ATS record, have gone 2-0 ATS on the year following an OT game the previous effort. Raptors has also cashed 10-of-15 tickets vs Conference opponents including 4-of-6 vs the Southeast. The numbers clearly illustrate Raptors are the right choice.
Lakers aim for 4th straight win
By Sportsbook.ag
L.A. Lakers (8-16) at Indiana Pacers (7-17)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Indiana -6, Total: 199
The Lakers look to extend their winning streak to four games when they wrap up a road trip with a visit to the slumping Pacers, losers of eight straight, on Monday night.
Los Angeles has certainly had a rocky season thus far, but the last week has been great with while the team has rattled off three consecutive SU victories (2-0-1 ATS). The club continued its season-best run when it traveled to Minnesota in the second of three straight road contests on Sunday night as 3.5-point favorites and left with a 100-94 win. The game was highlighted by Kobe Bryant passing Michael Jordan for third on the NBA's all-time scoring list. It has certainly not been the Lakers' offensive efficiency that is getting these wins, as they’ve shot 42% FG or worse twice in the three victories. The big difference of late is elite ball security, with a mere 10 turnovers per game, while they also took 14 more shots at the line than the Timberwolves in Sunday’s victory.
Indiana has been playing some horrid basketball of late and brings an eight-game SU losing skid (2-6 ATS) into this one, losing these contests by an average of 10.1 PPG. The Pacers have shot below 40% FG in five of those contests and did so once again in their most recent defeat to Portland on Saturday when they made only 34-of-88 FG (38.6%) in a 95-85 home loss as 5-point underdogs.
L.A. has actually been very solid as a road team this season, going 5-7 SU (7-5 ATS) so far on the season, while Indiana is a mere 4-8 SU (3-8-1 ATS) when playing at home. The Pacers were a much better team last season when they went 2-0 (both SU and ATS) in the season series while beating the Lakers by an average of 16.0 PPG.
Overall in the past three seasons, the Indiana is 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in this series while holding Los Angeles under 44% shooting each time. Some trends to keep an eye on for Monday include that the Lakers are 19-4 ATS (83%) in the past two seasons versus poor passing teams that collect fewer than 20.0 APG, but they are also just 62-88 ATS (41%) since 1996 when facing a strong rebounding team with +3.0 RPG margin or better.
The injury report continues to have SF Xavier Henry (Achilles) and PF Ryan Kelly (hamstring) out indefinitely for L.A., while Indiana is still missing both PG George Hill (quad) and C Ian Mahinmi (foot), while SG C.J. Miles (knee) is listed as questionable for Monday.
The Lakers’ offense has been fairly solid this season with 102.6 PPG (T-9th in league) behind a low 44% combined shooting from the field (9th-worst in NBA). Meanwhile, their defense has been very poor as they are allowing a league-worst 109.5 PPG while letting opponents make 47.8% FG (3rd-worst in NBA) and 38.6% threes (3rd-worst in league).
SG Kobe Bryant (25.4 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 4.0 APG, 1.4 SPG) passed another milestone on Sunday night and is putting together a great season at the age of 36 while averaging 26.7 PPG over the team’s past three wins. In his 30 career games (27 starts) against the Pacers, he has amassed 25.6 PPG (43.2% FG) with 5.2 RPG, 4.2 APG and 1.6 SPG.
PF Carlos Boozer (13.0 PPG, 7.3 RPG) has been one of the main factors in the team's recent tear with 18.0 PPG with 13.0 RPG in the past two games. Over his 29 career meetings (27 starts) with Indiana, Boozer has netted 14.6 PPG (49% FG) while grabbing 8.1 RPG.
C Jordan Hill (13.1 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 1.0 BPG) had a big start to the 2014-15 campaign, but has really slowed down with only 10.8 PPG with 6.0 RPG over his past five contests. He came off the bench in the two games against the Pacers last season and scored 6.0 PPG (50% FG), while grabbing 7.5 RPG.
The loss of Paul George this season has put this Pacers offense in disarray and they have scored a meager 93.2 PPG (2nd-worst in league) behind 42.2% shooting (3rd-worst in NBA). On the other hand, they have continued to be a strong defensive unit, giving up 97.4 PPG (9th in league) on 45.5% FG (18th in NBA) and 34.4% threes (10th in league).
C Roy Hibbert (11.6 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 2.2 BPG) has fallen off recently with a mere 7.4 PPG (38% FG), 5.4 RPG and 1.0 BPG over his past five games. He’s faced the Lakers 11 times (9 starts) in his career, averaging 12.4 PPG (52% FG), 6.5 RPG and 1.4 BPG.
PG Rodney Stuckey (12.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG) has been getting extended time with all the team's injuries and is coming off a huge game (14 points, 14 assists) in the loss to Portland on Saturday. He’s been able to go for 11.9 PPG (43% FG) and 1.3 SPG over 12 career meetings (7 starts) against Los Angeles.
PF David West (11.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG) has had a tough time returning from injury and has averaged only 10.0 PPG with 5.2 RPG over his past five performances. He’ll attempt to get things back on track against a Lakers team who he has scored 16.0 PPG (46% FG) against, while grabbing 8.3 RPG over 27 career games (25 starts).
AccuScore NBA Money-Line Pick
By: Rohit Ghosh
AccuScore.com
Two nights after letting an 18-point lead slip away, the 76ers will look to bounce back against the Celtics. Losers of three straight, expect Boston to have a much more mistake-free performance after turning the ball over 17 times in their last game.
AccuScore has the Celtics as solid 67.2 percent favorites to win, a number that would warrant a -205 price. Bettors can find the Celtics as -188 favorites. The average score after 10,000-plus simulations is 109-102. There is a 57.2 percent chance the total combined score goes OVER 206.5. The total has gone OVER in four of the Celtics' last five games when playing on the road against the Sixers.
There is a 56.3 percent chance Boston covers a -4.5 spread, a 4-star (out of 4) AccuScore hot trend. Boston is 5-2 ATS in its last seven games on the road.
Keep an Eye Out: What stands out most in the simulated box score is the number of free throws Philly misses. They average about six more FT attempts per game, but only make about one more. Leaving points at the charity stripe is not a recipe for success.
Projected Leaders
Jeff Green: 22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 2 TOs
Michael Carter-Williams: 18 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 4 TOs