Monday's Best NBA Bet
Atlanta Hawks at Denver Nuggets (-6, 201.5)
Call it the Hinrich Effect.
With defensive minded point guard Kirk Hinrich on the team, the Hawks look like a totally different squad. The three previous games before he arrived the club was falling apart and had coughed up more than 100 points in each contest – all loses.
But when the former Jayhawks star suited up late last week in Golden State, he brought a whole new approach for the team. Playing nearly 17 minutes off the bench in his debut, he scored eight points with three rebounds, three steals and added a three-pointer, a free throw and a steal. Oh, and Atlanta won 95-79 over one of the top offensive teams in the league.
“It’s important that I understand what we are trying to do at both ends,” Hinrich said. “But a lot of times our lineups and our athleticism, I think the best way for us to play is to just play. Work hard on the defensive end and try to run.”
On the other bench, the Nuggets look good since trading Carmelo Anthony. In three games since shipping him to New York, the team is 2-1 SU and 3-0 ATS, with wins over Memphis and Boston. But Atlanta can match their depth and their athleticism and can counter with a renewed emphasis on defense and transition baskets.
Pick: Atlanta
NBA Betting Preview: Boston at Utah Jazz
By: Adam Markowitz
Maybe it's a good thing that both the Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics have been on the road since the trade deadline, as both teams made moves that really weren't all that popular with their fan bases.
However, Utah will be back at EnergySolutions Arena on Monday night for an NBA betting showdown with the boys from Beantown. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 (PT) in a game that can be seen locally on Comcast and Fox Sports.
Nenad Krstic and Jeff Green are both newly infused into the Boston lineup, and at least for now, things have not gone smoothly. Green only scored seven points in 18 minutes off of the bench against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, while Krstic had nine points and six boards in 21 minutes in the starting lineup, replacing the departed Kendrick Perkins.
Still, it is apparent that this is a team that is still going to be playing great defensive basketball night in and night out. Boston is still holding foes to just 91.2 PPG this year, and ranks No. 3 both in field goal percentage against (43.6) and three-point shooting percentage against (33.4).
The trick is going to be figuring out where the inside offense will come from with Perkins gone, and both Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal sidelined with injuries. Glen Davis and Kevin Garnett can do the job, but they are both more or less power forwards and not centers, something that might really come back to hurt this team later on down the line in the season.
We know that the Jazz did what they had to do by getting rid of Deron Williams now before things got ugly next season, but it just felt like there was still one more deal that badly needed to be made that just never happened. Derrick Favors is a great young piece to the puzzle, and he has played well thus far since coming to the Beehive State, but he is just another big man.
Utah already has Andrei Kirilenko, Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson in the starting lineup, and we are probably just a matter of a couple of weeks away from Mehmet Okur coming back as well.
Instead, the guard play is really, really lacking. Devin Harris is a nice point guard to plug in as a starter, but he obviously isn't Deron Williams. Harris had 17 points and 12 assists in the loss at the Palace of Auburn Hills against the Detroit Pistons on Saturday.
The shooting guard position never really was shored up either, as Raja Bell just isn't going to be able to get the job done against the likes of Russell Westbrook, Brandon Roy (when healthy), and Kobe Bryant in the Western Conference.
The Jazz have clearly fallen off the ship, going 8-20 ATS in their last 28 games. In that stretch, there was a 110-86 beating in Beantown, as the C's had no problems beating the NBA odds on that day in January.
However, Boston hasn't won a game here in Utah since December 2007, losing 90-85 two seasons ago as short favorites and 110-97 last season as short underdogs.
What bettors need to know: Hawks at Nuggets
Atlanta Hawks at Denver Nuggets (-6, 202)
THE STORY: The new-look Denver Nuggets seek a third win in four games since the desertion of Carmelo Anthony when the road-weary Atlanta Hawks visit Monday. Denver topped Memphis and Boston prior to losing 107-106 in overtime at Portland on Friday. The Nuggets are 24-7 at home, including 9-1 against the East. Atlanta is 3-3 on its seven-game road trip and will play its third game in four nights.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, SportSouth, Altitude
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (34-26 SU, ): With Anthony and coach George Karl exchanging barbs since the All-Star forced a trade, the Nuggets have seemingly rallied around each other, and Karl is trying to find ways to construct a rotation for a team that is one of the deepest in the league. Denver blew an 11-point lead at Portland – its 12th loss when leading by double digits this season compared. The Nuggets had only 13 last season. Danilo Gallinari scored 30 points and fellow newcomer Wilson Chandler added 20 Friday.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (36-23): Atlanta is looking forward to returning home for its next four games, albeit against Chicago, Oklahoma City, the Los Angeles Lakers and New York. The Hawks are coming off two impressive road triumphs against Golden State and Portland, and are 7-5 in the second game of back-to-backs on the road. The Hawks are 1.5 games behind Orlando for the No. 4 seed and homecourt in the first round of the playoffs. Jamal Crawford scored 23 points off the bench in a 90-83 victory at Portland on Sunday. Kirk Hinrich, acquired from Washington to replace an ineffective Mike Bibby, scored eight points in 17 minutes off the bench against Golden State on Friday and added eight in 29 minutes Sunday.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Crawford’s outing against Portland was his highest since putting up 34 against the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 4. He didn't reach double figures in six of his next eight games. Jeff Teague, who started the first two games since the Bibby trade, shot 3 of 13. Denver center Nene is riding consecutive doubles-doubles for the second time this season. Nuggets point guard Raymond Felton has shot 15 of 49 in his last four games – two with New York and two in Denver.
KEY STATISTIC: The Hawks have won 19 road games, second most in the Eastern Conference, and the most in Hawks franchise history through this point of the season.
SEASON SERIES: This is the first of two meetings this season. The clubs have split the season series the last five years, but Denver has won three straight at home.
KEY INJURIES: ATLANTA: None. Denver: F Danilo Gallinari (left toe).
LAST WORD: “We've got too many talented kids. It may not be the same script every night, but we'll figure out how to score points and we'll figure out how to win if we defend and play hard.” – Karl, talking about replacing the scoring ability of Anthony and Chauncey Billups.
TRENDS: Denver is 4-0 ATS in its last four games and 2-0 ATS since Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups were traded to the Knicks. The Nuggets are also 11-4 ATS in their last 15 games as a favorite.
The Hawks are 6-2 ATS in their last eight games on the second night of a back-to-back set, but just 1-7 ATS in their last eight games following an ATS win.
The under is 6-1 in Atlanta's last seven games but 0-5 in the club's last five games against winning teams.
NBA RoundUp for 2/28
by Dan Bebe
Chicago Bulls @ Washington Wizards with a total of N/A
I think we all had a small inkling that the Wizards would come out fired up for that Mavs game after John Wall called his teammates mean names, but I can't say I'm quite positive how long the "effort" will last. Chicago is rolling, and outside of a look-ahead loss in Toronto, and an ugly one at that, this team is looking like they're pretty quickly adding Joakim Noah back to the mix. In the short term, Carlos Boozer has seen his production drop, but the energy level of Noah, combined with his ability to play on the road is going to help this team tremendously. And, while it's something we can cover in greater detail elsewhere, Boston's trade, in my opinion, brought them back to the pack, and if Chicago can improve on the road, they have as good a shot as anyone. Short term, this line is going to be huge, and I want almost no part of this game, or at least the side. In terms of revenge, Washington has lost twice to the Bulls, but I happen to believe the talent gap is such that revenge can mostly be tossed out here. We can, however, take a little something from the totals in those games. The first contest ended at 199, a bucket under the posted mark, and the second meeting featured just 167 combined points, well beneath the 194 posted mark. If oddsmakers bring this one out high, they might just tip their hand. Let's keep our eyes peeled. Tiny lean to WASHINGTON on the side, and looking to lean OVER, but time will tell.
Phoenix Suns (-1.5) @ New Jersey Nets with a total of 206
The Nets lost in Phoenix earlier this year, somehow only as a 6-point underdog, and not surprisingly, based on that line, the Suns covered. Now, the rematch, with Phoenix somehow sneaking out an overtime win in Indiana after blowing a 10-point 4th quarter lead yesterday morning, and the Nets not looking a whole lot better with Deron Williams. Given time, I have to think Jersey will win at a slightly greater clip with Williams at the helm, but in the short term, while he's trying to get acclimated to his teammates, and while the Nets' shooters are battling injuries, I'm not sure I can get behind Jersey just yet. My concern with this game is more than the Suns seemed to run out of gas in the 4th quarter yesterday, so how will they finish today? This is the type of game where I start with the short home dog and try to talk myself out of it, and in this particular case, I believe I have enough evidence to support a move away from Jersey (new roster, apparent lack of chemistry and depth), but not sure I have enough to talk us onto Phoenix (not on revenge, playing back-to-back). If I had to offer a lean, I imagine I would continue to fade the team with new pieces and lean PHOENIX, and it looks like Jersey is running a tad more, so OVER.
Atlanta Hawks @ Denver Nuggets (-5.5) with a total of 200.5
Believe it or not, Atlanta actually played really well the last time they flew into a difficult altitude spot, dominating the Utah Jazz with one of their hottest shooting nights of the season. In general, though, this is a very bad scheduling spot, and Atlanta is heading to Denver off a tough game with Portland on Sunday night. If Atlanta can twice take care of altitude back-to-backs, more power to them, and to their credit, they seem to be just a little more awake post-trade deadline than before. That's my one true reason to be cautious about a pure Atlanta fade. Of course, this one might just be as easy as playing against the exhausted road team, given Denver should be improving by the game with their new players, especially Raymond Felton, as he learns the Denver offense. Let's wait a bit and see how that late game goes in Portland - since, as I've noted before, a struggle would certainly help our current lean - which is to DENVER and the OVER.
Boston Celtics (-4) @ Utah Jazz with a total of 191
Utah returns home off a 3-game road trip, which is roughly one game below the cutoff for road trips that we normally consider. Plus, Utah is going through a bit of a transition, with Devin Harris learning the ropes, and the team "becoming" property of Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson. And therein lies the issue - the Jazz have two solid big men, even if Millsap is a hair undersized, but no one on that team plays defense. Utah played plenty well to beat Detroit in their last game, but didn't guard the 3-point line at all, and doesn't seem concerned with defending. You just can't do that against the Celtics, or they will rip you apart. Of course, Boston is on the final game of a 4-game West Coast swing that began with the starting lineup heading to the All Star game, and they're dealing with the hurt of losing every big man on the roster...more or less. Will they be anxious to get home to host the Suns? I'm not sure that's a huge deal, since Boston has shown over the last 3-4 years an ability to take care of business in rough road trips. They have won both final games of 4 game trips this season, though each was relatively close to the cover. I'm torn. Utah and Boston are both in relatively tough spots, Boston has been in an offensive slump the last 2 nights (though they did win 1 of 2 thanks to strong defense), so the question is whether they snap out of it or Utah is able to grind out a cover. STILL MULLING over the side, and the OVER.
Los Angeles Clippers @ Sacramento Kings (-2) with a total of 207
This is an awful spot for the Kings, returning home off a painfully long road trip that started on the 13th and spanned the All Star Break. On top of that, Sactown is set for its 5th game in 7 nights since the aforementoined Break. The Clippers, meanwhile, finished their 11 game road trip with an ugly loss at the Lakers (whatever that means), then opened their non-road slate with a home loss to the Celtics. Tonight, though, you have to think the Clippers are finally settling back into some sort of rhythm. They know this is a winnable game, they know they're done with the Lakers/Celtics duet of nearly unwinnable games, and they know Eric Gordon is about to come back. Chris Kaman has retaken the starting job from DeAndre Jordan (it seems, based on his work in the second half of the Clippers last game), and his offensive ability will drastically improve the Clippers interior play. It also seems that, based on the Kings last 2 games, the lack of Tyreke Evans is starting to catch up with them. If it wasn't totally obvious based on the paragraph leading up to this sentence, I lean CLIPPERS and the UNDER.