NBA betting trends, odds and predictions for Saturday, February 11th, 2017 from various handicappers and websites
NBA Knowledge
Clippers are 3-7 since Paul got hurt; they covered three of last four road games. Seven of their last eight games went over total. Hornets lost eight of last nine games; they’re 0-6 vs spread in last six home games. Five of their last seven games went over the total. Clippers won nine of last ten games with Charlotte (7-3 vs spread); they won five of last six visits here. Under is 5-3 in last eight series games.
Milwaukee lost 12 of last 14 games, is 1-7 vs spread in last eight road games. Six of their last nine games went over total. Indiana lost two in row since their 7-game win streak; they’re 2-4-1 vs spread in last seven home games. Five of last seven Pacer games stayed under. Road team won six of last ten Buck-Pacer games; teams spit last four series games played here. Five of last seven series games went over total.
Heat won its last 13 games (11-2 vs spread); they covered last four road games. Three of their last four road games stayed under. 76ers lost five of its last six games, but they covered their last nine home games. Over is 10-2 in their last dozen games. Miami won six of last seven games with Philly but 76ers covered three of last five; Heat won/covered three of last four visits here (over 3-1).
Denver is 6-4 in its last ten games but lost three of last four on road; seven of their last nine games went over total. Cleveland won four of last five games; they’re 12-7 vs spread in last 19 home games. Last five Cavalier games went over the total. Cavaliers won five of last six games with Denver; under is 6-2-1 in last nine series games. Nuggets won three of last five visits to Ohio.
Warriors won seven of last eight games; they’re 6-3 vs spread in last nine road games. Four of their last six road games stayed under. Oklahoma City won/covered eight of its last nine home games; three of their last four home games went over. Golden State is 2-0 vs Durant-less Thunder this season, winning by 21-26 points; this is Durant’s first game back in OKC. Warriors won/covered last five series games overall. Under is 8-2 in last ten series games.
Suns snapped 5-game losing skid last night; they covered one of last six road games. Over is 10-2 in their last 12 games. Rockets won four of last five games; they’re 3-6 vs spread in last nine home games. Under is 9-4 in their last thirteen games. Road team won seven of last eight Phoenix-Houston games; teams split last four series games played here. Seven of last eight series games went over.
Magic lost five of their last six games; they’re 2-5 vs spread in last seven road games. Over is 9-6 in their last fifteen games. Mavericks won five of their last six home games, covered six of last seven; over is 6-2 in their last eight games. Dallas won eight of last ten games with Orlando, but Magic covered three of last four- they lost last four visits to Dallas (1-3 vs spread). Over is 8-2 in last ten series games.
Boston won eight of its last nine games, is 7-4 vs spread in its last 11 road games. Four of their last five games stayed under the total. Utah won four of its last five games overall; they won nine of last 11 home games (6-5 against the spread). Last four Jazz games went over the total. Celtics won eight of last ten games with Utah; teams split last four games played here (over 3-1).
Armadillosports.com
Saturday's Tip Sheet
By Kevin Rogers
VegasInsider.com
Game of the Night – Warriors (-7, 227) at Thunder
Valentine’s Day is three days away as we’ll see if Kevin Durant gets showered with love in his first game back in Oklahoma City since signing with rival Golden State last summer. Durant had OKC within one victory of knocking off Golden State in the 2016 Western Conference Finals, owning a commanding 3-1 series lead. However, the Warriors rallied back for three consecutive victories to advance to the NBA Finals and eventually break up the eight-year marriage of KD and Russell Westbrook as the dynamic duo of the Thunder.
It’s business as usual this season for Golden State (45-8 SU, 25-26-2 ATS), as Durant leads the Warriors in scoring at 25.7 points per game, with last season’s Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry right behind at 25.2 ppg. The Warriors play with no rest tonight at Chesapeake Energy Arena following Friday’s 122-107 rout of the Grizzlies to cash as 7½-point favorites. Golden State avenged a pair of earlier losses this season to Memphis thanks to a 36-point effort from Klay Thompson, which included eight three-pointers.
The Thunder (31-23 SU, 30-23-1 ATS) are holding their own without Durant this season, led by Westbrook and his league-high 26th triple-double in Thursday’s 118-109 home triumph over the Cavaliers. OKC attempted 106 shots from the floor compared to 79 for Cleveland, while the backcourt pair of Westbrook and Victor Oladipo combined for 52 points in the third straight home win for the Thunder.
Golden State has won five consecutive games against Oklahoma City since falling in that 3-1 hole in last season’s conference finals, but only one of those victories came at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The first two wins this season by the Warriors over the Thunder came at Oracle Arena in Oakland, each in convincing fashion. Golden State dominated OKC, 122-96 as 12-point favorites on November 3 as Durant dropped 39 on his former squad, while Westbrook was limited to 4-of-15 shooting from the floor.
In the second meeting on January 18, the Warriors steamrolled the Thunder once again, 121-100 as 15-point favorites with Durant putting up a 40-point effort on 13-of-16 shooting from the field.
Steve Kerr’s club owns a solid 8-2 record on no rest this season, however, the Warriors have covered only twice in this situation. The Thunder is listed as a home underdog for the fourth time this season, compiling a 1-2 SU and 2-1 ATS mark, while not receiving this many points at home since a 113-88 setback to the Spurs as six-point ‘dogs on April 7, 2015.
From a totals perspective, each of the first two meetings finished UNDER the total this season, while eight of the past 10 matchups have gone UNDER.
Surprising Leaders
Nearly halfway through February and both the Celtics and Jazz are leading their respective divisions. Boston visits Utah tonight for the third of a four-game road trip, looking to capitalize off Thursday’s comeback victory at Portland. The Celtics covered for the first time in their last five opportunities with a 120-111 triumph at Moda Center, avenging a home loss last month to the Blazers. Now, Boston goes for the season sweep at Utah, while capturing four of the past five meetings with the Jazz.
Utah squandered a 21-point advantage in Thursday’s overtime setback at Dallas, ending a four-game winning streak. The Jazz are riding a seven-game home hot streak against Eastern Conference foes, while cashing in five of those contests. Quin Snyder’s squad has compiled a 6-4 SU and 4-6 ATS record off a road defeat this season, but three of those ATS losses have come as a favorite of seven points or more.
Fighting for Fourteen
The Heat continue to rack up victories as Miami extended its winning streak to 13 games after last night’s 108-99 triumph at Brooklyn. Miami has returned to life in the Eastern Conference playoff race by pulling within one game of Detroit for the eighth spot, while trying to sweep its four-game road swing. The Heat heads to Philadelphia this evening, as the two teams have split a pair of meetings this season.
The 76ers will be without Joel Embiid for the ninth straight game with a knee contusion, as Philadelphia is fresh off a 112-111 victory at Orlando on Thursday. Philadelphia continues to cash tickets at Wells Fargo Center by covering nine consecutive home games since the start of January, while winning seven times with the two losses coming to Houston and San Antonio.
Monster Mavs
Philadelphia is riding the longest home ATS streak in the league, but Dallas is right behind with eight consecutive covers at American Airlines Center. The Mavericks shoot for their seventh home victory in nine tries after rallying past the Jazz on Thursday in overtime, 112-105. Dallas owns a solid 7-1 SU/ATS as a home favorite as the Mavericks host the Magic tonight.
Orlando has stumbled to a 2-9 record in the last 11 road contests, while dropping three straight games overall. The Magic held off the Mavericks earlier this season as 7½-point home favorites, 95-87, but Orlando has lost four consecutive visits to Dallas.
Head-to-Head Trends
The Clippers have had their way with the Hornets by capturing nine of the past 10 meetings, including season sweeps in the last two seasons. Los Angeles heads to Charlotte tonight as the Hornets have dropped four of their last five home contests.
The Bucks and Pacers are meeting for the second time this season as the Central division rivals hook up in Indianapolis. Milwaukee rolled past Indiana in its first matchup in November, 125-107, avenging a 1-3 record from last season against the Pacers. Both teams are playing without rest coming off losses on Friday as the Bucks are 3-8 SU/ATS and the Pacers own a 3-7 SU and 2-7-1 ATS mark on the second of a back-to-back.
Cleveland has won five of the past six matchups with Denver as the teams meet up at Quicken Loans Arena. The Nuggets have put together a 1-8 SU/ATS record off a road victory this season, coming off Friday’s triumph at New York. Cleveland is in an interesting scheduling spot tonight off a four-game road swing, then traveling to Minnesota on Tuesday.
The Suns are fresh off a rare home victory last night against the Bulls as Phoenix travels to Houston. The Rockets have posted a perfect 2-0 SU/ATS record against the Suns this season, while the road squad has won eight of the last 10 meetings in this series. Seven of the previous eight matchups between these Western Conference squads have flown OVER the total, including both December wins by Houston.
Thunder host Durant's Warriors
By: StatFox.com
Kevin Durant makes his return to Oklahoma City when the Warriors face the Thunder on Saturday.
The Warriors are coming off of a matchup with the Grizzlies on Friday, but their hearts are really going to be in this game on Saturday. SF Kevin Durant is the guy that will be the focal point of this one, as Durant left the Thunder for the Warriors this past summer. The superstar’s departure shook up the NBA landscape, and he will surely hear his fair share of boos on Saturday. Still, it’s hard to really fault Durant for wanting to head to Golden State. The Warriors had one of the most loaded rosters in the entire league, and they are off to a ridiculous start with Durant. The Thunder, meanwhile, are playing some solid basketball, but they are not the championship contender they were when they had Durant around. They also have struggled with the emotional nature of playing against Durant thus far, as Golden State has won the first two meetings between these teams by an average of 23.5 PPG this season. The Thunder will be hoping that the fans at Chesapeake Energy Arena will be able to get into the head of their former superstar, but Durant might just be too good for that. He is putting together the most efficient season of his career, and it’s more likely that he’ll put on a show than struggle in front of his former fans.
As previously mentioned, Durant will be making his return to Oklahoma City on Saturday and he should find plenty of success in his meeting with his former team. In two matchups with the Thunder this season, Durant is averaging 39.5 PPG and 9.5 RPG on 70.0% shooting from the floor and 66.7% shooting from three. Those are absolutely ridiculous numbers, so it’s clear that he likes to show Oklahoma City what it is missing. He might struggle a bit early on because of nerves, but he should settle in and have another solid outing. PG Steph Curry will, however, need to help take some pressure off of Durant. Curry has struggled a bit against the Thunder this season, shooting just 33.3% from the outside on 6.0 threes attempted per game in two meetings. If he can shoot a better percentage on Saturday then it would really help the Warriors in this one. PF Draymond Green and SG Klay Thompson will also need to play their games in order for Golden State to come away with a tough road win.
If the Thunder are going to beat the Warriors in Durant’s return to Oklahoma City then PG Russell Westbrook is going to need to go off. In two meetings with Golden State, Westbrook is averaging 23.5 PPG, 11.5 APG, 10.5 RPG, 2.0 BPG and 1.5 SPG. He is, however, shooting just 31.6% from the floor in those two games. While the triple-double average is nice, Westbrook needs to take better shots for his team. He could also use some help, though. His supporting cast comes and goes, but he’ll need both SG Victor Oladipo and C Steven Adams to play well on Saturday. Oladipo has done just that in his two meetings with the team this season, averaging 20.5 PPG and 2.0 SPG on 53.3% shooting from the floor. He will, however, need to lock in on defense, as he can’t let Thompson go off in this one. Adams, meanwhile, must protect the rim and provide some second chance opportunities.