NBA betting trends, odds and predictions for Sunday, March 12th, 2017 from various handicappers and websites
NBA Knowledge
Bulls lost their last four games, are 1-5 against spread in last six road games. Six of their last seven games stayed under. Celtics lost three of last four games; they’re 3-8 vs spread in last 11 home games. Under is 8-0-2 in their last ten games. Home side won/covered last six Chicago-Boston games; four of last five stayed under total. Bulls lost last three visits to Boston by 5-9-7 points.
Miami Miami won four in row, eight of last ten games; they’re 7-3 vs spread in last ten road games. Six of their last nine games stayed under. Pacers are 4-0 vs spread in game following their last four losses; they’re 2-5 vs spread in last seven home games. Under is 9-1 in their last ten games. Home side won last nine Miami-Indiana games; Heat lost last four visits to Indiana (0-4 vs spread). Five of last six series games stayed under the total.
New York lost four of its last five games; they’re 2-5 vs spread in last seven road games. Six of their last seven games stayed under. Nets lost 20 of last 22 games but covered five of their last seven; four of their last five games went over total. Home side won five of last six New York-Brooklyn games, with Knicks winning last three; they lost four of last five games in Barclays Center. Last three series games stayed under.
Cavaliers lost three of last four games; they’re 7-9 vs spread in last 16 road games. Under is 8-2 in their last ten games. Houston split its last six games; they’re 6-9 vs spread in last fifteen home games. Three of their last four games went over. Rockets won seven of last nine games with Cleveland; three of last four series games played here stayed under. Cavaliers lost three of last four visits to Houston (1-3 vs spread).
Trailblazers won four of last five games; they’re 4-7 vs spread in last 11 road games. Last seven Blazer games went over total. Suns won four of last six games but lost six in row on road; they are 1-4 vs spread in last five road games. Over is 5-2 in their last seven games. Portland won five of last eight games with Phoenix; teams split last four series games played in desert. Six of last eight series games stayed under.
76ers lost seven of last eight games, but covered six of last seven road games. Over is 9-5 in their last 14 games. Los Angeles lost eight of last nine games; they’re 0-5 vs spread in last five home games. Under is 4-1 in their last five home games. Lakers won five of last six games with Philly; teams split last four series games played here. Six of last seven series games stayed under.
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NBA: Streaks, Tips, Notes
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Cleveland at Houston
There are bad spots. There are really bad spots. And then there are truly horrific spots like the one Cavaliers find themselve Sunday evening.
Cavaliers have struggled cashing recently stepping into the world of the Southewest division posting a 2-9 ATS record last eleven. Catch Cavaliers away from Quicken Loans Arena playing in the second of back-2-back games they're a horrendous 1-12 against the betting line.
If that were not enough to have Cleveland supporters sitting this one out or fading their favorite team. The Cavaliers have been a bettors nightmare last eleven trips into Houston posting a money-burning 1-10 record at the betting window. BetOnline currently has Rockets -5.0 point favorites with the total set at 231.
Sunday's NBA Essentials
By Tony Mejia
VegasInsider.com
Game of the Night - Cleveland at Houston
Here's hoping we get at least one marquee NBA matchup this weekend where the best players actually suit up. That's no lock, though.
Following Saturday night's triple-double in a 116-104 win in Orlando, James offered no indication that he'd sit out the Sunday showdown against Houston, but that doesn't mean he can't decide to take the night off if he feels any soreness or senses it's better off to play it safe. After all, just like Golden State was against San Antonio, Cleveland is on the second night of a back-to-back, closing out a stretch of road games. The Cavs will be playing their third in four days and will be at their sixth date away from home this month. That's a lot of mileage.
Cleveland won't play again until Tuesday night against the Hornets, and is going to be way out in L.A. this weekend facing the Clippers and Lakers. The Cavs will be starting another stretch that the schedule calls for it to hit the road for six of seven, so it might not be the worst idea to sit him for a high-possession game after he worked for 38 minutes against the Magic. Kevin Love won't be back until April and Kyle Korver has been shelved for the next week due to a sore left foot, so it's not like the Cavs are gaining experience with their postseason starting lineup out there. Deron Williams just arrived. J.R. Smith just returned. The memory of Andrew Bogut being lost for the season after a misstep on a simple close-out less than a minute into his Cavs debut still lingers.
"It's been a strange season, probably one of the strangest I've been a part of from the simple fact of just having the chemistry and camraderie out on the floor," James told reporters after the win in Orlando. "From the coaches to the players, guys have been in and out. We've had injuries and things of that nature."
Even head coach Tyronn Lue has been dealing with vertigo-related issues, and while the Cavs already rested James and Irving on March 4 down in Miami, it's not out of the question that they opt not to bother with a road game against a Rockets team that has thrived due to improved chemistry and a defined identity. Cleveland avoided what would have been a season-long four-game losing streak by pulling away from the Magic in the fourth. James has now posted back-to-back triple-doubles, increasing his total this season to nine and his career tally to 51. Over his first five games in March, LeBron is averaging 29.8 points, 13.6 rebounds and 9.4 assists, but his team is just 2-3 when he's participated.
If he sits, the Cavs might as well sit Irving too. Consider this a friendly reminder that this could all happen, so you're going to want to get pre-game confirmation that everyone is a go here before you decide you're all about that action. You should also remember that Cleveland is 0-5 this season when James doesn't play, falling to 4-20 in his absence since his 2015 return to the franchise.
If everyone plays, we should get a great show. The Rockets snapped a two-game skid with a 21-point win at Chicago on Friday night in a game where they were never challenged. James Harden, who ranks second behind Russell Westbrook with 15 triple-doubles, scored just 19 points on 6-for-16 shooting and had six turnovers, matching his average for the month. He suffered an ankle sprain in the victory but doesn't expect it to hamper or him or keep him out of the lineup. After winning its first two after the All-Star break upon acquiring Lou Williams, Houston is just 3-3 since and Harden has had games where he's gone 1-for-9 and 0-for-8 from beyond the arc. His struggles are enough to make you wonder whether he's wearing down and succumbing to the season-long grind too.
The Rockets have fallen six games behind the Spurs in the Southwest Division and are 6.5 back of the Warriors for the best record in the Western Conference. They remain one game up on the Cavs for the third-best mark in the league, but are even with the Cavs in the loss column at 21. Cleveland won this season's lone meeting 128-120 way back on Nov. 1 behind Irving's 32 points and 19 points, 13 boards and eight assists from James. Harden scored 41 and dished out 15 dimes in a game where separation was gained through a 43-36 fourth-quarter advantage. Houston point guard Pat Beverley wasn't yet healthy enough to play.
The Rockets don't play again until Wednesday when the Lakers come through town, so expect all hands on deck. After this contest, Houston will play five consecutive games against teams with losing records, so it has an opportunity to run off a streak if it can take care of business against the Cavs. Houston has won seven of the last nine in this series and hasn't been swept by Cleveland in both regular-season meetings since 2001-02, a streak that lies in jeopardy tonight.
Injury Concerns
Miami point guard Goran Dragic suffered a bruised eye socket in Saturday night's 104-89 home win over the Raptors after catching an elbow from counterpart Cory Joseph just after halftime. He sat on the Heat bench with an orbital contusion and sported a massive shiner, but made the trip to Indianapolis and told reporters he intends to play in Sunday's key game against the Pacers. Indiana is currently the No. 6 seed in the East, but is just 1.5 games up on the Heat, who trail the Bucks by a half-game for the final playoff spot. After tonight, just 15 games will remain for Miami.
Brooklyn center Brook Lopez will return from a one-game absence due to an ankle sprain, so the Nets will be close to full strength as they host the Knicks. They've won twice already this month and will see New York on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, so this is like Super Bowl week for a team otherwise doomed due to their brutal decisions these past few years. New York just returned home after three straight road games and were outscored 23-11 in the fourth quarter of last night's 112-92 at the Pistons.
Phoenix is expected to have point guard Eric Bledsoe back out there despite nursing a knee injury. The Suns beat the Mavericks on Saturday night 100-98 on Devin Booker's buzzer-beater. Booker scored 38 points and will look to further ruin Portland's weekend after they were on the receiving end of an awful break in a 125-124 OT home loss to Washington. Markieff Morris stepped out of bounds before depositing a Bradley Beal pass into the basket in the final second. That isn't reviewable despite the fact that the league looks at almost everything over the last two minutes and in overtime. The Blazers would've been playing their fifth game of the week but had Monday's game postponed due to on-court condensation in Minneapolis.
Shooting guard Gerald Henderson will return for Philadelphia against the Lakers after missing the last game with a hip injury, but it's hard to figure who is out to win tonight's Tankapalooza.