Saturday's Best NBA Bet
Chicago Bulls at New Orleans Hornets (+3, 181.5)
If you think this game can crack the over, then you must believe in several players miraculously recovering from injuries and finding their shooting stroke.
With nagging injuries to Hornets forward Emeka Okafor and guard Trevor Ariza, the two starters will likely miss yet another game with an injury or at best, play on a very limited basis. Combined, the team has seen the under hit in four of seven games without the duo this year.
“There are a couple of guys on our team that just have no idea what we’re doing and it’s costing us possessions,” Hornets coach Monty Williams said. “It puts our starting group and the guys that are playing hard and smart in a tough spot and I’m going to have to fix it. I’m going to have to sit some guys until they learn how to play the game the right way.”
Without Okafor and Ariza, the Hornets have been forced to give more minutes to Aaron Gray (3.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg), Aleksander Pavlovic (3.5 ppg, 1.4 apg) and Willie Green (7.5 ppg, 2.1 rpg). Yuck.
On the other side of the court, the Bulls have seen the under hit in two of the past three games as they continue to play solid defense. Chicago is second in the league in points allowed (92.3 ppg), second in opponents field goal percentage (42.7) and third in opponents 3-point percentage (32.9).
Pick: Under
Heat and Celtics meet in marquee NBA betting battle
By: Adam Markowitz
Many thought that it was a foregone conclusion at the outset of this season that the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat would meet in the Eastern Conference Finals. Though that might not ultimately be the case, there is no doubt that these are two of the best teams in the entire game, and they'll meet up on Sunday afternoon in Beantown.
Tip-off in this NBA betting battle from the TD Garden in Boston is slated for 10 a.m. (PT) in a game that will be televised nationally on ABC.
This will be the second contest of a four-game roadie for Miami, a trip that starts off with a duel against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night. The team has won seven in a row and is 5-2 against the NBA odds in that stretch, proving once again that this club is certainly one to be reckoned with.
It seemed impossible that one of these three studs – Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh – could really emerge as an MVP candidate, but LBJ has proven that he is absolutely the league's most valuable player, whether he wins the award or not. We can just look at what has happened to the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers without James in the fold, and now we can look at the marked improvement for the Heat.
James has been amazing, averaging 26.4 points, 7.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds per night. He really is just doing everything for this club, and there is no stopping him when he is on his game. Wade is "merely" averaging 25.2 PPG, while Bosh is "just" putting together 18.2 PPG and 8.0 RPG.
If there's a team that is deep enough to stick with this Miami team though, it's the Celtics. The depth is borderline absurd, and that doesn't even include all of the names that are out injured at the moment.
Boston was defeated on Thursday night by the Los Angeles Lakers in a game that Ray Allen became the all-time leader for three-point field goals in NBA history. This was Boston's second loss in a row and its fourth failed attempt at beating the pro basketball odds in its last five games.
Still, with two full days to rest, one would hope that the likes of Shaquille O'Neal, Semih Erden and Nate Robinson will be able to get back into the lineup. If not though, we know that the starting five of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo will be ready to roll. These five men know what it takes to get through the best in the league, having already won an NBA title and now finished as a runner-up last year to the Lakers, and there is a real argument for this team to be considered the best in the biz.
So far this season, the pendulum has swung in favor of the Celtics in this series. Boston won 112-107 down in South Beach in November and 88-80 here in Beantown to open the NBA season in October. Over the course of the last 20 meetings, the C's have dominated, going 17-3 SU and 15-5 ATS against their Eastern Conference brethren.
Don't be shocked if Miami turns the tide and gets back in the win column on the road, especially after the two losses to the Celtics earlier this year.