Bulls, Knicks tip NBA betting TNT twinbill
By: Michael Robinson
The Chicago Bulls look for their third win in a row when they host the New York Knicks on Thursday night.
Chicago is 2-1 both straight-up and against the spread. An opening loss at Oklahoma City (106-95) was followed by home wins over Detroit (101-91) and Portland (110-98). The Bulls ‘covered’ the home games as nine point favorites over Detroit and one over Portland.
The Bulls had an interesting offseason to say the least. They thought they would acquire some combination of free agents LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Instead, James ‘brought his talents to South Beach’ along with Bosh, and Chicago landed Carlos Boozer as a consolation prize.
Boozer is a 20 PPG, 10 RPG power forward, but didn’t add the sizzle of the players above. He also fractured his hand under bizarre circumstances in his home and is out until at least late November.
Scoring was an issue for Chicago last year (97.5 PPG, 24th in the league). That was due to injuries and a lack of low-post scoring. Boozer can score inside, but obviously not from the trainer’s table.
Chicago has broken 100 points the last two games thanks to monster efforts from point guard Derrick Rose and small forward Luol Deng. Rose had 39 points against Detroit and Deng had 40 against Portland, the latter shaking off offseason trade rumors.
The Bulls can’t rely on outbursts like that, so supplementary scorers like Joakim Noah (14.3 PPG) and Taj Gibson (13 PPG) need to keep shooting. The team is getting no scoring from starting two-guard Keith Bogans (2.7 PPG) and Kyle Korver is the leading bench scorer at just six PPG.
The defense should be there most nights with the hiring of defensive guru Tom Thibodeau as head coach. Noah is second in the league in rebounding (15.3 per game) and can be a force defensively in the middle.
Chicago is 7-1 in the last eight games against the Atlantic Division, with the ‘under’ 4-1 in the last five of those.
New York (1-2 SU, 2-0-1 ATS) was another big loser in the LeBron sweepstakes, but is on to the newest acquisition rumor, acquiring Carmelo Anthony from Denver via trade.
The Knicks players must feel they’re all expendable because they’re constantly being bandied about in trades. The one exception is new big man Amare Stoudemire, who they’re building around.
Stoudemire leads the team at 21.3 PPG, but is only shooting 46 percent from the field. His career mark is 54.3 percent, although he had Steve Nash feeding him the ball most of the time.
The pleasant surprise this year has been Wilson Chandler (21 PPG, 10 RPG) off the bench. That’s been important with forward Danilo Gallinari shooting 5-of-24 from the field for six PPG.
Coach Mike D’Antoni prides himself on his up-tempo offense scoring points. However, the team is averaging 98 PPG, four points down from last year (102.1 PPG). More adjustment time for new point guard Raymond Felton should help. The defense has improved to 99.3 PPG, down from 105.9 PPG last season.
The Knicks are 1-1 SU and 2-0 ATS on the road. They beat Toronto in the opener, 98-93 as one-point underdogs. They hung close at Boston before losing 105-101 as 9 ½-point ‘dogs.
New York was supposed to host Orlando at home on Tuesday, but it was cancelled due to ‘asbestos-related’ materials falling into the arena. The team is at least well rested, last losing at home to Portland (100-95) on Saturday after blowing a late lead.
Anthony Randolph (ankle) is expected to make his team debut on Thursday. He’s an athletic 6-foot-11 guy who should do well in D’Antoni’s system. Gallinari is probable with a sore wrist.
Chicago went 3-1 SU and ATS against New York last year, scoring 116.5 PPG in the final two games. The ‘over’ went 2-0 in those contests, with the ‘under’ 10-2 in the prior 12 NBA betting matchups between the two.
The ‘under’ is strangely 9-0 in New York’s last nine Thursday games.
Tip-off from the United Center is 5:00 p.m. (PT). It will be broadcast on TNT right before Oklahoma City at Portland. Those are the only two NBA Thursday games.
NBA RoundUp for 11/4
By Dan Bebe
New York Knicks @ Chicago Bulls (-7) with a total of 202
I'll say, if this game wasn't on TNT, I'd say Chicago is in a bit of a look-ahead spot. They travel to Boston for a game on Friday, and we all remember how incredible the Bulls-Celtics games can be. With that "potential" angle on the table, I think that makes this side very, very dangerous. If Chicago isn't fully focused, they might still win, but covering 7 is completely out of the question. If Chicago is focused, they should destroy the Knicks. They play better team defense, and Derrick Rose is absolutely a bona fide superstar. Looking at last year, though clearly the Knicks' roster has changed, the Bulls really did a great job of clamping down on NY, and held them to feeble shooting outputs in 3 of the 4 meetings. I think Chicago just has a nice handle on how NY wants to run their offense. That being said, the Knicks are better this year, as we've noted, but they're flawed. I happen to think this line is pretty accurate, but on the assumption that the Bulls won't shoot 62% two games in a row, lean to the KNICKERBOCKERS on the side. The total of 202 is pretty high, but we also saw Chicago doing a ton of running in their last game. We also saw a ridiculous number of free throws in that game, so when you add all the pieces together, and figure the Knicks probably aren't going to be valuing any sort of half-court possessions, this line is close to accurate yet again, but microscopic lean to the OVER, but only by a bucket or so.
Oklahoma City Thunder @ Portland Trailblazers (-4.5) with a total of 191.5
This game, like many others we'll profile this year (since these blogs are written long before games end the night before), will depend largely on how the Thunder-Clippers game goes tonight. So, new for 2010-11, I'll try to work those little "contingencies" into these writeups. First, the situationals -- the Thunder are, as noted, on a back-to-back, but that team is young enough and skilled enough to get it done. Obviously, depth is the true key to back-to-backs, and the Thunder aren't wildly deep, but those guys are horses, and young. Portland, meanwhile, is in its first game home off a relatively sizable road trip to LA, NY, Chicago and Milwaukee. This is a classic sluggish game for the Blazers, or at least the first half. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the Thunder get out to the quick start because they're still warm from last night, then the Blazers come roaring back late when they acclimate to being home. Okay, so the situationals probably favor the Thunder by a bit. How about the math logic? If the Thunder beat the living pants off the Clippers on Wednesday, that will eliminate some of the value on them, and I'd be less likely to back them in Portland. If the Clippers play the Thunder tough, and Oklahoma City prevails late, I think relying on the situational angles is the best play. If the Clippers somehow beat the Thunder outright, Oklahoma City is practically a guaranteed play. Overall, lean to the THUNDER and the UNDER. I love typing that, but with Oklahoma coming out and saying they're going to step up their defense, and with Portland potentially getting out slowly, I can't see this one being run-n-gun.
NBA Betting Preview: Oklahoma City Thunder at Portland Trail Blazers
By Jeff Mattingly
Oklahoma City suffered one of its worst shooting nights in recent memory in last night’s 107-92 road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Thunder managed to shooting just 39.3 percent from the field and suffered their second straight loss of the 2010-11 campaign. “I’m the leader of this team,” star forward Kevin Durant commented. “We’ve got to figure this out. Two games in a row, teams just did whatever they want on us.” The All-Star managed to shooting just 6-for-24 in the loss. Oklahoma City will be playing the second half of its first back-to-back of the season tonight, as the squad posted a 9-9 mark on the first night and 8-10 on the second night last year. The club is 0-2 ATS on the road this season and 51-36 ATS away from Oklahoma the last three seasons.
The Thunder played its fourth straight opponent searching for their first win of the season and the lack of high caliber opponents was a hurdle the team was concerned about. “We’ve got to worry about ourselves,” said Durant. “That Utah game, our energy wasn’t there at all. I know if we bring our energy we can play with a lot of teams in this league.” Oklahoma City’s start on the road is a bit surprising due to the club coming off a 23-18 road record last year, which exceeded the combined road win total for the prior two seasons (15).
Portland travels home after a successful road trip that saw them capture three of our games, including a 90-76 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in the final game. The Blazers limited the Bucks to 37.5 percent shooting overall and held them to 3-of-15 shooting from beyond the arc. “A very good road trip for us,” exclaimed head coach Nate McMillan. He has to be especially excited to see that the team’s bench scored 43 points last time out, including 26 in the first half. “That’s what we’re supposed to do,” said Wesley Matthews. “Bring energy and sustain what the starters do.” The starters are led by guard Brandon Roy, who is currently averaging 21.8 points, which is 17th best in the NBA. Portland is 2-0 ATS as a favorite and 65-47 ATS in this role the past three years.
The Blazers won the season series with the Thunder, 3-1, for the second straight year. In fact, Portland has won six of the past seven contests versus Oklahoma City, with three of last season’s four meetings decided by less than 10 points. One key stat in last year’s series was three-point shooting, with the Trail Blazers hitting just 25 percent from beyond the arc, while the Thunder managed to connect on just 26.8 percent. The defense held Durant to 36.1 percent shooting from the floor and 3.1 points below his NBA leading scoring average in last year’s meetings.
Bettors may elect to lay the Thunder due to their 1-7 ATS mark on zero days rest, while the Blazers are 1-5 ATS in their last six games on a days rest.