NBA betting trends, odds and predictions for Thursday, November 17th, 2016 from various handicappers and websites
NBA Knowledge
Wizards lost to the 76ers last night; not good. Washington is 2-8 this season, 2-3 at home, 2-2 as a home favorite- three of their last four home games stayed under. Knicks lost nine of last ten games with Washington (under 6-4); New York lost four of last five visits here (2-2-1 vs spread). Knicks lost three of last four road games, are 1-4 as road underdogs (under 3-2).
Bucks won/covered six of last seven games with Miami; under is 6-3 in last nine series games. Milwaukee won its last three visits to South Beach, by 7-7-12 points. Bucks lost three of last four games, are 1-3 as road underdogs- over is 4-2-1 in their last seven games. Miami lost its last six games (under 5-1); they’re 1-5 at home, 1-2 as home favorites.
Portland won four of its last six games with Houston; over is 5-2 in last seven series games. Trailblazers lost three of last five visits here, but covered last three. Portland won five of last seven games, is 1-1 as a road underdog; their last three road games stayed under. Houston Houston split its last six games; they’re 1-1 as home favorites. Under is 6-1 in their last seven games.
76ers won three of last four games with Minnesota; under is 4-2-1 in last seven series games. Sixers lost four of last five series games, but covered last three. Philly beat the Wizards last night; they split last four games, are 1-3 as road underdogs- over is 7-2 in their last nine games. Minnesota lost five of last seven games; they’re 2-1 as home favorites. Timberwolves’ last five games went over the total.
Bulls won seven of last ten games with Utah; seven of last eight series games stayed under the total. Chicago split its last four visits to Utah, but Jazz covered last three. Bulls won last three games, by 3-11-25 points; they’re 3-3 vs spread on road. Utah won six of its last nine games; they’re 2-2 vs spread at home. Six of last seven Jazz games went over the total.
Armadillosports.com
NBA: Streak, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
Portland Trail Blazers at Houston Rockets
NBA handicapping is very situational and a key is to search for hidden gems among a sea of basketball betting tips that can provide an edge. Those doing so will be quick to point out Rockets running the hardwood against Thunder last night does not bode well for their chances tonight when they host Blazers. In Houston's last eleven after playing Thunder the result has been zero tickets cashed, 11 tossed in the waste basket. Rockets also enter a cash draining 4-10 ATS without rest.
Sports handicappers digging deeper will have also picked up on the fact, Blazers respond in the situation they find themselves tonight. Blazers are a profitable 10-1 after a game against Bulls, 8-2 ATS after a loss by 15 or more ponts, 10-2 in unfriendly territory after a loss the previous game. One final nuggets favoring Blazers, they're 12-5 ATS with rest facing an opponent without.
The numbers above clearly point towards Blazers improving it's current 3-0, 4-1 ATS records on Houston hardwood.
Inside the Paint - Thursday
By Chris David
VegasInsider.com
Thursday’s pro basketball slate offers up five games and four of the matchups feature at least one team playing with no rest. Since college and pro football still write the most betting slips in November, I’ll provide my quick handicap on all of Thursday’s games and toss in a lean or two as well.
Last night’s action in the NBA was very tight as nine of the 11 games finished within single digits and some bettors were squeezed with a couple numbers.
Favorites finished 9-2 straight up and 5-4 against the spread while the ‘over’ went 6-5. Based on our closing consensus numbers, the Orlando-New Orleans and Golden State-Toronto outcomes ended in pushes.
The two ‘dogs to win outright on Wednesday provided very generous returns. The 76ers (+245) captured their second game of the season and Memphis (+750) knocked off the hottest team in the league on the road, the L.A. Clippers.
New York at Washington: The Scott Brooks era with the Wizards hasn’t started out so good with the team going 2-8 in their first 10 games. Washington enters this game on a three-game losing skid, which includes a 109-102 loss at Philadelphia last night. New York played last night as well and it held off Detroit 105-102 as a 1½-point home favorite. The Knicks have gone 0-2 both SU and ATS on no rest this season and coincidentally they allowed exactly 118 points in each of their losses. Knowing Washington only has two wins overall, its 0-2 record (1-1 ATS) in back-to-back spots isn’t surprising. The Wizards have only scored 95 and 86 points in the losses. Even though the Knicks are in better form this season, the Wizards have won nine of the last 10 meetings versus New York and four of the five results in D.C. were by nine or more points.
Lean: The Wizards will likely be short-handed again tonight without Bradly Beal (hamstring) but I might still lean to the home team. Washington has gone 2-1 as a home favorite and New York’s road tendencies (1-4 SU, 1-4 ATS) are nothing to put your money behind.
Milwaukee at Miami: The Heat opened as a 3½-point home favorite over the Bucks and this game looks like a toss-up. Miami has had trouble scoring (94.4 PPG) this season, especially at home where the club has started 1-5. They enter this game with a six-game losing skid and the offensive woes have helped the ‘under’ go 5-1 during this span. The Bucks played last night in Atlanta and were on the wrong side of a 107-100 decision. Make a note that Milwaukee is 0-2 both SU and ATS on zero days rest this season and the offense looked horrible (75, 83) in both setbacks, which helped the ‘under’ go 2-0. The Bucks have had Miami’s number in this series recently, winning and covering six of the last seven encounters. Milwaukee is 3-0 in its last three visits to South Florida despite only averaging 97 PPG in those wins.
Lean: If anything, I’d go with the ‘under’ based on Miami’s strong defensive numbers (97.5 PPG) and Milwaukee’s struggles with no rest.
Philadelphia at Minnesota: Stop the presses, the 76ers are on national television! It’s not surprising to see Philadelphia listed as a double-digit ‘dogs (+11½) but should Minnesota really be laying that many points to anybody? The Wolves received a ton of preseason hype but haven’t lived up to the expectations under new head coach Tom Thibodeau. The defense (106.1 PPG) certainly is a “Tibs” unit right now and the offense is lacking an identity despite some great parts. The Wolves have alternated wins and losses in their last four games while Philadelphia enters this game off a 109-102 win over Washington last night as a seven-point home ‘dog. The 76ers were horrible on no rest last season (1-18 SU, 7-12 ATS) and they’ve started this year in the same manner, going 0-2 both SU and ATS with both losses coming by double digits. For what it’s worth, despite being non-competitive the last couple seasons the 76ers have managed to go 3-1 against Minnesota during that span.
Lean: It doesn’t happen often (once last season) but Minnesota has gone 9-1 (6-4 ATS) in its last 10 as a double-digit favorite dating back to 2013. I don’t have faith in either team but would take a stab at Wolves team total ‘over’ which is hovering around 111½ points.
Portland at Houston: Based on overall talent, this should be the TNT game to watch tonight as the Trail Blazers kick off a five-game road trip at Houston. Portland garners a lot of attention for its offense but its scoring defense (111.2 PPG) is ranked 29th in the league. They enter this game with no covers in their last five games and are 4-8 ATS overall. I’ve often labeled Portland as a bully because it cleans up against weaker foes. When the Blazers face better competition as underdogs, they still hasn’t won a big game (0-3 SU, 0-3 ATS).
Houston isn’t great but for this matchup, it’s favored (-4) and it should be. The Rockets are only a game above .500 but they’ve been on the road for eight of their first 11 games. They’ve had some great wins and really tough losses, in particular last night’s 105-103 setback at Oklahoma City. Houston had 87 points with three minutes left in the third quarter yesterday and managed to only score 16 the rest of the way, three of them on a backdoor 3-pointer.
Will we see a rebound tonight? The Rockets have only faced one back-to-back situation this season and they easily notched a win and cover versus the Knicks (118-99) at MSG on Nov. 2. These teams split last year’s four-game regular season series with each club stealing one road win. Portland owned a 3-1 ATS edge at the betting counter and the ‘over’ went 3-1 in those games.
Lean: I can’t believe I’m writing this but I’d lean to the better defensive team in this matchup, which is Houston. Also, the Rockets haven’t dropped back-to-back games all season and the expected return of guard Patrick Beverly should help slowing down Portland’s backcourt.
Chicago at Utah: This is a very solid matchup and the Jazz opened as 3½-point home favorite over the Bulls. Utah was caught napping on Monday in its first game back from a long road trip as it lost to Memphis 102-96 as a six-point home favorite. The Bulls are coming off an impressive 113-88 road win over Portland on Tuesday and will now face a much stiffer defensive test on Thursday. The home team won and covered the two meetings between the pair last season but the visitor won captured both games two years prior. The ‘under’ has gone 7-1 in the previous eight meetings.
Lean: The ‘under’ (195½) looks a little too obvious and it’s hard to argue against the low side. Utah went 11-4 versus Eastern Conference teams at home last season and I’d expect that trend to carry over this season in Salt Lake City.