Spurs at Bulls: What Bettors Need to Know
By Covers.com
San Antonio Spurs at Chicago Bulls (-1.5, 192)
The Chicago Bulls are in the midst of a stretch where they are playing eight of nine games on the road, and the lone home game could be their toughest test when they host the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. The Bulls are coming off a six-game road trip in which they went 3-3 and saw their typical iron-clad defense shredded in back-to-back losses to Central Division rival Indiana and Denver. The Bulls did tighten things up defensively in their last outing, holding off the Utah Jazz 93-89 on Friday night.
San Antonio is facing a trek even more difficult than that of the Bulls, playing the fourth contest on its nine-game rodeo road trip. Winners of 12 of 13, the Spurs bounced back from a loss in Detroit by annihilating the Brooklyn Nets 111-86 on Sunday night. Despite playing without Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, the Spurs flexed their own defensive muscles, giving up only 29 points in the second half after permitting 35 in the first quarter. San Antonio became the first team in the league to win 40 games.
ABOUT THE SPURS (40-12, 29-21-2 ATS): Duncan has missed three straight and eight of 10 and Ginobili has sat out four in a row, but Parker has been immense at the start of the road trip. He had 29 points and 11 assists against Brooklyn and is averaging 30.3 points and nine assists in the last three. He has five double-doubles and 10 20-point games in his last 11 to insert his name into the MVP conversation. "He's carrying the whole team, especially when Tim and Manu are out," Spurs forward Boris Diaw said. "He's doing everything on the court."
ABOUT THE BULLS (30-20, 21-29-0 ATS): Chicago has also been dealing with myriad injuries. Center Joakim Noah has missed three of the last five games due to plantar fasciitis and is a game-time decision. Guard Kirk Hinrich will sit out his sixth straight game with an elbow infection. In addition, power forward Carlos Boozer was sidelined for the first three games of the recent road trip but had 19 points in the win over Utah. Boozer, who has failed to score 20 points in 10 games, has been linked to trade talks involving Toronto's Andrea Bargnani.
TRENDS:
* Under is 8-1 in the last nine meetings.
* Spurs are 1-4 ATS in the last five meetings.
* Spurs are 10-4-3 ATS in their last 17 games playing on zero days rest.
* Bulls are 6-17 ATS in their last 23 vs. Western Conference.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The fastest team to 40 wins hasn't meant much in the past seven seasons. Only the Boston Celtics (2007-08) went on to advance to the NBA Finals.
2. Chicago has won four of the past five meetings.
3. San Antonio owns the league's most road victories (18-10).
NBA Game of the Day: Boston Celtics vs. Charlotte Bobcats
Atssportsline.com
The Boston Celtics (27-23 SU, 21-26-3 ATS, 25-24-1 O/U) are coming off a triple-overtime win over Denver, 118-114 on Friday. The Celtics have won seven straight games since losing Rajon Rondo in their overtime win over Miami on Jan. 27. Charlotte (11-39 SU, 18-31-1 ATS, 23-26-1 O/U) is coming off seven straight losses including a 87-76 defeat at Philadelphia on Saturday, getting 10. Boston travels to Time Warner Cable Arena to take on the Charlotte Bobcats at 7pmET.
Current PRO BASKETBALL Odds: Boston is a 3.5-point favorite with a total of 193.
Matchup: Last game: (1/14/13) BOSTON (-11) over Charlotte, 100-89. Boston has won four straight in the series but has only covered two of them.
Key Trends:
Boston is:
6-0 ATS in their last 6 games following a S.U. win.
6-0-1 ATS in their last 7 games following a ATS win.
6-2-1 ATS in their last 9 Monday games.
4-11 ATS in their last 15 road games.
3-9 ATS in their last 12 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
Charlotte is:
4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 Monday games.
20-42-1 ATS in their last 63 games overall.
16-40 ATS in their last 56 home games.
7-18-1 ATS in their last 26 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game.
1-7 ATS in their last 8 games following a S.U. loss.
1-4 ATS last 5 at home in series.
0-6 last matchups on the Under bet on Monday.
Key injuries:
Boston:
G Rajon Rondo (knee) is out for the season.
F Jared Sullinger (back) is out for the season.
Charlotte:
None.
Preview:
After cooling off the NBA's hottest team in their last game, the Boston Celtics will try to extend their winning streak against the team with the league's worst record.
The Celtics look to win their eighth game in a row since All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo went down on Monday night when they visit the Charlotte Bobcats, losers of seven straight.
Boston (27-23) appeared to be going nowhere fast only two weeks ago when it lost the NBA leader in assists and triple doubles to a season-ending knee injury in the final game of a season-high six-game losing streak.
Instead, the Celtics have responded with a season-best seven consecutive victories - their longest since winning 14 straight in the 2010-11 season.
While four of the first six wins came against teams with losing records, Boston made a big statement on Sunday when it snapped Denver's nine-game win streak with a 118-114 triple-overtime victory.
Paul Pierce had an impressive performance with 27 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists - the first time in his 15-year career that he's had that many points, rebounds and assists in the same game.
Jason Terry added a season-high 26 points as the Celtics won despite shooting 39.8 percent from the floor.
With 20 points and 18 rebounds against the Nuggets, Kevin Garnett has averaged 18.6 and 9.8, respectively, in the last eight games.
Garnett, though, has had a tough time against Charlotte, averaging 13.5 points in his last 11 meetings. He had just seven points on 2-of-11 shooting in a 100-89 victory over the visiting Bobcats on Jan. 14.
The Celtics average 96.4 points with 23.4 assists per game on the season, but have scored 105.0 and handed out 25.6 assists in seven games without Rondo.
After having six of the seven wins come at home, Boston will try to keep it going on the road against a Charlotte team that has given up 103.4 points on 49.1 percent shooting in its last five games.
The Bobcats (11-39) have also sputtered offensively, shooting their second-lowest field goal percentage of the season (30.7) in an 87-76 loss at Philadelphia on Saturday.
Guard Ramon Sessions led the team with 20 points, while forward Byron Mullens contributed 16 on 7-of-19 shooting.
Mullens has averaged 18.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in two games since returning to the starting lineup.
Guard Kemba Walker will try to break out of his slump after finishing with six points while shooting 2-of-9 from the floor against the 76ers. Walker, the team's scoring leader at 17.3 points per game, has been held to 10.0 per contest on 34.1 percent shooting in his last four.
He's also struggled against the Celtics, averaging 9.0 points on 7-of-33 shooting in the last three meetings.
The Bobcats, who have lost 34 of 38, are averaging just 88.0 points - 6.1 below their season average - during their latest losing streak.
It doesn't figure to get any easier against Boston, which has limited opponents to 91.9 points per game during its tear.
The Celtics have won eight of the last 10 meetings in Charlotte and 10 of 12 in the series overall.