Weekly Betting Notes
By Bovada.lv
The Los Angeles Lakers haven't been particularly kind to their backers this season as L.A. enters this week at 7-11 ATS overall and just 1-6 ATS on the road. But the Lakers still remain the most popular team to bet on in the NBA.
Of Bovada's five-most wagered NBA games of last week, three involved Kobe Bryant and Co.: a win over Dallas and losses at Miami and Orlando.
The book was a bit surprised that last Thursday's TNT game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat wasn't the most-wagered of the week (it was No. 3). But the result was a good one for the book. The Lakers closed as 5.5-point underdogs and took more than 66 percent of the action on that number. L.A. also took more than 55 percent of the lean on the moneyline at +185, so Miami's 98-87 victory was a win for the book.
There's little doubt why the Los Angeles Lakers took so much action: Miami's Dwyane Wade didn't play and LeBron James was a game-time decision with the flu. The book did project that Wade would sit and LeBron wouldn't. James was the star of the show with 31 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists in continuing his recent personal dominance over Kobe and the Lakers.
The Miami Heat had a strong week in beating the San Antonio Spurs, Lakers and 76ers before clearly running out of gas on Sunday night and falling at home to Milwaukee. That was the Heat's first loss this season in seven games without Wade, whose status for this week remains up in the air.
The biggest win of the week for players came on the most-wagered game: Oklahoma City at Boston last Monday night. The Oklahoma City Thunder won 97-88 in the TNT national TV special (Martin Luther King Jr. holiday) and Kendrick Perkins' return to Boston. Almost 79 percent of the action on the side was on the Thunder giving 3 points. And nearly 70 percent of the moneyline lean was on OKC at -150. The Thunder have been great to their backers on the road this year, going 7-2 ATS entering this week.
The Boston Celtics, meanwhile, look very old. That loss to OKC was Boston's fifth in a row, the longest skid since Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen came to town. Boston has since rebounded to win two of three but those victories were over Toronto and Washington, arguably the NBA's two worst clubs. In fact, half of Boston's six wins this season have come against the Wizards, who have the league's worst record at 2-14. The C's, who haven't had point guard Rajon Rondo the past two games, start this week Monday night at home against Orlando in an NBA TV game.
Previewing the early week schedule
That Orlando-Boston matchup highlights Monday's schedule - in a scheduling quirk the teams then play again in Florida on Thursday. In between that, the Orlando Magic have a very tough game Tuesday night at an Indiana team that just beat the Lakers in Los Angeles.
The game that will get most of the hype on Tuesday will be when the Cleveland Cavaliers visit Miami as LeBron faces his former team for the first time this season. Wednesday has two national TV games on NBA TV: the Pacers at the Bulls and the second battle of Los Angeles this season when the Clippers visit the Lakers.
It appears that the Los Angeles Clippers, who are 3-0 vs. the Lakers this season (including exhibition games) will get back star point guard Chris Paul for that game. He has missed the past five games with a hamstring injury suffered Jan. 14 in a 102-94 win over the Lakers. The Clippers have gone 3-2 without Paul.