Thursday's Best NBA Bets
Washington Wizards at Orlando Magic (-13.5, 192)
No good deed goes unpunished and that’s certainly the case for Gilbert Arenas. The Wizards combo guard faked an injury in the preseason in an attempt to give teammate Nick Young some additional playing time.
But now Agent Zero is really hurt and won’t play for at least Washington’s first two games this season. The good news for Wiz backers is that the problem is with Arenas’ ankle and not the knee he’s had two major surgeries on.
Washington coach Flip Saunders knows it’ll be a tall task besting Dwight Howard and the Magic in their season and home opener.
"We hope we're not the homecoming team," Saunders told the Washington Post. "Let's face the fact, we're not going to have Gil. We're not going to have Josh [Howard]. So you're looking at your two most veteran players, they are not going to play. We started out with our roster being the third youngest team [average age 24.5], without those guys on your opening day roster, we might have the youngest opening day roster in the league."
Washington won’t have many offense weapons even with rookie John Wall making his pro debut.
Pick: Under
Phoenix Suns at Utah Jazz (-6, 208.5)
It’s hard not to love Steve Nash. He’s the ultimate teammate and nobody in the league does more with less natural athletic ability.
Still, it’s getting harder and harder to overlook his shortcomings on the court, particularly the defensive side of the ball. The Suns decided to put Nash on Blazers small forward Nicolas Batum on Tuesday night instead of having the Canadian kid keep up with Andre Miller.
The result? Batum finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds and the Blazers won 106-92.
"It's going to be (a grind) until we find some cohesion," Nash told the Arizona Republic. "That's OK. We've got to get there. I don't mind taking on a bit too much right now. I ran out of gas a little bit there but it's not going to be that way all the time. We were struggling and stagnant and I had to be more aggressive."
It helps the Suns case Thursday night that they’re catching Utah on the second night of a back to back but Phoenix will face the same problem.
Pick: Jazz
Jazz host Suns in TNT Thursday feature
By: Barry Daniels
The Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz will have something in common when they hook up Thursday night in the second half of an NBA doubleheader on TNT. Both clubs were eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers in last season’s Western Conference playoffs, and both squads no longer have their leading scorer from last season.
Utah was swept by the Lakers in the conference semifinals, while Phoenix lasted six games before falling in the conference finals. The Jazz said goodbye to leading scorer and rebounder Carlos Boozer, while the Suns did the same to Amare Stoudemire.
The Suns did not receive any favors from the NBA schedule maker to start their 2010-11 campaign. Alvin Gentry’s troops already have one loss on their ledger thanks to Tuesday’s 106-92 setback at Portland as 6 ½-point road underdogs. The combined 198 points slipped ‘under’ the 203-point closing total.
The Suns actually were leading Portland at the end of three quarters, 81-75, but the Blazers outscored the Suns 31-11 in the final stanza thanks to a game-ending 18-1 run. Portland had a wide advantage on the boards, out-rebounding the Suns 48-30.
The Suns led 91-88 with 5:44 remaining, but Portland dominated down the stretch thanks to Nicolas Batum scoring 11 of the final 18 points. Batum was 4-for-5, including 3-for-4 from three-point range over the final 4:25.
Steve Nash led the Suns with 26 points, but had just six assists and an uncharacteristic nine turnovers. Jason Richardson added 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field.
The normally quick-striking Suns were beaten at their own game, as the Blazers held a 13-6 advantage in fast-break points.
The Suns certainly will be a different team without Stoudemire this season, as the big man led the club in points (23.1 PPG) and rebounds (8.9 RPG). That might make it tough for the Suns to repeat last season’s feat as the league’s highest scoring squad at 110 points per game. However, the Suns allowed 105.3 PPG, which ranked 26th.
Phoenix also led the league in field goal percentage (49.2 percent) and three-point shooting (41.2 percent). The club was 23-18 against the NBA spread on the road last year, with the ‘under’ going 22-17-2.
After Thursday’s game at Utah, the Suns have home games against the Lakers and Spurs. Therefore, Phoenix’ first four games will all be played against teams that finished last season’s campaign with better than a .600 winning percentage.
Utah will start its season with back-to-back contests. Jerry Sloan’s club played its opener Wednesday at Denver.
Similar to the Suns, Utah must learn to play without its leading scorer and rebounder from last year. Boozer is no longer with the Jazz, taking his 19.5 PPG and 11.2 RPG to the Chicago Bulls.
But Boozer wasn’t the lone player to defect from last year’s roster. Kyle Korver, who shot an NBA-record 53.6 percent from three-point land in 2009, agreed to a three-year, $15 million contract with the Bulls.
Utah is hoping to fill those offensive voids with Al Jefferson, who averaged 20.1 PPG and 10.4 RPG last season while toiling for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Jazz also got a bit younger in the process, as Boozer is 29 and Jefferson is 25.
Offense wasn’t a problem last year, evidenced by the Jazz ranking fourth in the league with a 104.2 PPG average. They ranked second with a 49.1 field goal percentage and seventh from three-point territory (36.4 percent).
Utah captured the Northwest Division crown last year thanks to a 53-29 straight-up record. The Jazz also were a fine 49-30-3 ATS, which included going 26-13-2 ATS at home. The ‘over’ was 43-37-2 in Utah’s 82 regular season games, including 22-18-1 in 41 home dates.
Phoenix and Utah split four meetings last season, with each club winning once on the road. In fact, the road team is 13-6 ATS in the last 19 series meetings. The ‘over’ is 6-3 in the last nine overall matchups.
NBA RoundUp For 10/28
by Dan Bebe
Washington Wizards @ Orlando Magic (-13.5) with a total of 192
You can go ahead and mark this one down as a win for John Wall, not because they're necessarily going to get a "W" in the game, but because the Wizards made TNT in the first week of the season. How about that, eh? In any case, this is a team that is going to be improved this year by a decent amount, but still not in the same world as the Magic. Orlando is definitely in the running for deepest team in the NBA, and my guess would be that they spent the offseason working on ways to deal with the Boston Celtics and getting pissed off at the Heat. It's a nice turn of events for a team that was dealing with disappointment after their playoff exit, since, suddenly, they can use the "no respect" schtick to get them through another regular season. Orlando is going to be solid. Washington is a team on a learning curve. I like the moves they've made, and I like their young frontcourt, too, but this game is a total crapshoot. Washington could lose by 30, or they could hang in there and take it down to the wire. What I don't see happening is a game decided by a number right around the spread. It has "extreme" result written all over it. So, my advice is...PASS on the side, DON'T tease an NBA game, especially not this one, and slight lean to the OVER.
Phoenix Suns @ Utah Jazz (-6) with a total of 209.5
Well, we have a decent idea of what to expect from the Suns, but not a great idea of what to expect from the Jazz. In the middle of the season, I'd be all over Utah coming off that horrific loss in Denver to open their season, but in the early going, the ability of a team to bounce back is less about motivation and more about actually having some solid team chemistry. Utah, it would seem, might need another week or two to figure each other out. And it wasn't like Denver shot 60% in a freak hailstorm of threeballs. Utah just shot 39%, and flat out stunk against a team that's not really known for its defense. This is also one of those teams, Utah, that Phoenix might be able to score against in the 4th quarter. Utah plays some decent defense, but not like Portland. On the flip side, Jason Richardson went off in their opener, and without his ridiculous game, Portland would have been up 15 long before the final horn. So, who's to really say how this one is going to go. TNT lined up a pair of crapshoots, in my opinion, and while I do feel Utah has the horses to win (namely, Deron Williams, since Steve Nash isn't going to be even remotely close to able to stop him), Phoenix should be able to hang in there. Slight lean to UTAH, slight lean to the OVER.