Date | Match Up | Rating | Score | Result | Profit | Lead Time | Analysis |
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02-02-21 | Grizzlies +5 v. Pacers | 116-134 | Loss | -107 | 7 h 30 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The Pacers didn’t fall for any of the Grizzlies’ play-dead tricks when they beat them twice within a week last year, 126-114 and 117-104. But the games were played in late November and early December, when Memphis was 6-14 on the way down to 10-19, before they took off in early January on a run that left them with a season-best 28-26 record by mid-February. It’s probably fair to say that the Grizzlies are a different team now than they were when they played Indiana last season. It’s a second of back-to-backs for Memphis off a 29-point win Monday night. They’re 1-0 SU and ATS with no rest (at Brooklyn, off at Cleveland in early Jan.). “We’ve got a lot of depth,” Memphis guard Tyus Jones said after completing the authoritative sweep of San Antonio last night. “You’ve got to use that to your advantage night in and night out. It’s a long season.” |
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02-02-21 | Clippers v. Nets +1.5 | 120-124 | Win | 100 | 6 h 57 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units No Paul George? No problem. Who needs him? No Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Patrick Beverly, no problem? That’s how it’s mostly been for the Clippers on their six-game road trip so far. After losing in Atlanta (winning record), they’ve won in Miami, Orlando and New York (three losers). The Clippers can clinch a winning trip here before playing in Cleveland tomorrow night, but the Nets’ 13-9 record indicates that they are “winners,” for lack of a better term. There’s certainly more scoring talent on the Brooklyn roster than within those Heat, Magic and Knicks rotations. |
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02-02-21 | Raptors -6 v. Magic | 123-108 | Win | 100 | 5 h 19 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units A problem with the Magic is that they put up the fifth-most most shots per game (91.3, with San Antonio #1 at 92.3), with the worst Effective Field Goal Percentage (48.8%). They get to the free-throw fewer times than anybody except Phoenix and Memphis. That is quite the inefficient offense! The Orlando Magic know they will need to get off to a better start Tuesday night if they are going to defeat the visiting Toronto Raptors. The Magic trailed 27-15 after shooting 27.8 percent from the field in the first quarter on the way to a 115-102 loss to the Raptors Sunday night at Tampa. To make matters worse for the Magic, Aaron Gordon left the game in the third quarter with a left ankle injury. He was going to be evaluated to determine the severity of the injury. Gordon scored 14 points. Consider that Toronto is 7-0 ATS in the last 7 meetings. |
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02-01-21 | Suns +3.5 v. Mavs | 109-108 | Win | 100 | 8 h 12 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units You’re supposed to get better as you get recently absent guys back, but the Mavericks have lost five straight, the last few with Dorian Finney-Smith, Josh Richardson, Jalen Brunson back. But when they lost to Phoenix on Saturday, the rather large presence of Kristaps Porzingis was missing (second of back-to-backs, can’t ask a young millionaire to extend himself when the team has lost four straight, no sireee, can’t have that!). Not that the Suns didn’t have their own handicap, with Devin Booker out (he’ll be out again) and Dario Saric failing to make his expected return. Maybe tonight for him? |
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02-01-21 | Kings +3.5 v. Pelicans | 118-109 | Win | 100 | 8 h 31 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans were both showing improvement. Then they both lost Saturday night. Now they'll both try to bounce back when the Kings visit the Pelicans on Monday night. The Kings saw a season-best, three-game winning streak end when Jimmy Butler returned from a 10-game COVID-related absence to lead the host Miami Heat to a last-minute 105-104 victory that ended their five-game losing streak. Consider that Sacramento is 21-8 ATS in their last 29 games as a road underdog. Kings are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games vs. a team with a winning % below .400. |
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02-01-21 | Rockets -5 v. Thunder | Top | 136-106 | Win | 100 | 4 h 6 m | Show |
Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day It doesn’t make much sense, but OKC’s average home-game scoring margin through seven dates at Chesapeake Energy Arena is -14.9, through a 1-6 SU record. Obviously, they haven’t figured out what “We must protect this house!” is all about. Their overall -7.0 scoring differential is the league’s second-lowest next to Minnesota’s -10.5. The re-tooling Rockets, fueled in part by the verbal slights of former teammate James Harden, in part by his very absence (and being able to play basketball again instead of standing around watching him shoot), have won five straight. The vanquished quintet includes nobody going anywhere special in the NBA this season. Add another to the list |
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02-01-21 | Hornets +6.5 v. Heat | 129-121 | Win | 100 | 7 h 9 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Jimmy Butler returned, played well, better than expected, but still Miami didn’t cover against us on Saturday night. Miami is 2-7-1 ATS since Jan. 16. They have a legitimate right to improve with Butler, Andre Iguadola and Tyler Herro back on the floor, although Goran Dragic and Avery Bradley didn’t play vs. the Kings. So they’re still a little iffy. This is the lone road game in a nine-game stretch for the Hornets, who played the Heat only twice last season: a loss in November. Consider that Charlotte is 12-4-1 ATS in their last 17 games playing on 1 days rest and 19-7-1 ATS in their last 27 games as an underdog. |
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01-31-21 | 76ers v. Pacers +2 | 119-110 | Loss | -108 | 8 h 25 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units You would have thought Joel Embiid to sit at Minnesota after Philly had beaten the Lakers, but there was a day of rest in between and with the T’Wolves playing without both Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid, he wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to rack up the points (37) and rebounds (11) against 6’9", 222 Ed Davis and other overmatched fellas. Hopefully, that sets up the 76ers to be overvalued in this next road match-up, for which the home side has Domontas Sabonis to score inside, and Myles Turner to deny some scoring inside, while scoring some himself. |
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01-31-21 | Jazz +1 v. Nuggets | Top | 117-128 | Loss | -115 | 6 h 36 m | Show |
Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day Utah has reeled off 11 straight wins, the past two without Donovan Mitchell and Derrick Favors, and at 15-4 own the best record in the NBA. The Jazz will put that streak on the line when they visit the Nuggets for an early afternoon matchup today. Mitchell (concussion protocol) and Favors (lower back soreness) haven't played since last Tuesday but traveled to Denver on Friday while their teammates were completing a two-game home sweep of the Dallas Mavericks. Their status for Sunday is unknown. If one or both can't play, it will be tougher to beat a Nuggets team that has found some footing over the past few weeks, but Utah has played well without them, too. Different players have stepped up in their absence, giving the Jazz a boost against the Mavericks. Consider that Utah is 11-1 ATS in their last 12 games following a straight up win. |
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01-30-21 | Pistons v. Warriors -4.5 | 91-118 | Win | 100 | 11 h 22 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Off a home win against the no-care Lakers, Detroit embarks on a five-game Western trip from which nothing good can possibly come, including two back-to-backs in four different cities that conclude with Utah and the Lakers again (trying, this time, perhaps). This would be the Pistons’ best chance to win one of the five, but the Warriors have been Jekyll-and-Hyde home and road this season so far, with a +5.8 differential here. (Pistons road differential is -6.5.) |
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01-30-21 | Kings +5.5 v. Heat | 104-105 | Win | 100 | 9 h 18 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The Heat have done nothing good all week with a handful of key missing persons still out. But remember the ol’ Texas Triangle of Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, a hellish trio for visitors to negotiate in the space of four night? The Kings complete a Tarpon Trio here after winning in Orlando and Tampa (Toronto) Wednesday and Friday. Of course, it’s only Orlando, Toronto and Miami, three struggling Eastern Conference teams. Miami has the league’s longest active losing streak (five). Goran Dragic is out, as are Meyers Leonard, Moe Harkless, Chris Silva. Andre Iguadola and Avery Bradley are questionable, as is Jimmy Butler, who has missed nine games and shouldn’t be expected to put a handicapped squad on his back first time out, if he plays at all. |
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01-30-21 | Blazers v. Bulls -2 | Top | 123-122 | Loss | -115 | 9 h 10 m | Show |
Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day Very disappointed about how the Rockets lost the first and fourth quarters badly vs. Portland the other night, but killed them in the second and third, only to have it all add up to a 3-point Houston win with the Rockets laying -4, Portland losing the game but unfortunately covering the spread. We don’t see good things ahead for the Blazers. Thursday’s result – as far as they were and are concerned, unless they’re betting – dropped them from #5 to #8 in the West, exactly the direction we see them headed, especially if they get to the free-throw line only 8 times, as was the case in Houston. The Bulls already beat them in Portland 111-108 without a few players who didn’t make that trip, when now-absent Nurkic and McCollum combined for 38 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists for the Blazers |
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01-29-21 | Nuggets v. Spurs +4.5 | Top | 109-119 | Win | 100 | 9 h 42 m | Show |
Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day Everyone Denver has played lately has been missing key players, Miami being the latest: “That team was missing Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic, Tyler Herro, a lot of their top players,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “I don’t know if we’re as good as we played tonight.” Probably not. Denver is shooting to complete a 5-0 road trip. Who does that? Few do! Heck, the Lakers, who were 10-0 on the road, just lost at Philly. The Nuggets didn’t play here last season, beating the Spurs by 7 at home, by 6 in the Bubble, with San Antonio’s DeMar DeRozen absent for the first meeting and LaMarcus Aldridge absent for the second. As the Nuggets lose the 19.5 minutes they get from injured guard P.J. Dozier per game, the Spurs welcome back point guard Derrick White, who averaged 11.3 points per game and 3.5 assists in his 24.7 minutes last season. Every little bit help |
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01-29-21 | Kings +5.5 v. Raptors | 126-124 | Win | 100 | 8 h 44 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Fade the Raptors. They’re 6-12 ATS, and playing in Tampa, FL, not Toronto, Canada. They’re all excited that Kyle Lowry just got his 10,000th NBA point, as if that means anything in the standings, where they are currently #11 in the East, (Knicks are #8, Orlando #9, Chicago #10). That’s bad company to be keeping! The Kings were 0-2 vs. Toronto last season but the Raptors were better then, and the margins were only 5 and 4 points. |
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01-29-21 | Hawks -3.5 v. Wizards | 116-100 | Win | 100 | 7 h 19 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Scott Brooks, head coach of the 3-11 SU, 6-8 ATS Wizards: “We know that we’re going to be healthy and everything’s going to be much better when we have our entire group.” Somebody should tell him that they don’t necessarily need Russell Westbrook, who sat the second of back-to-backs Wednesday and should return for this. Five other Wizards were absent Wednesday. Atlanta has no such personnel issues at the moment, could get Rajon Rondo back for this. |
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01-29-21 | Pacers -3 v. Hornets | 105-108 | Loss | -110 | 7 h 16 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Life is all about second chances, which the Hornets get tonight after dropping the first of this two-games-in-three-nights set to the Pacers, 116-106. Falling behind 36-19 after one quarter (which they did on Wednesday) is for losers, and that’s pretty much what the Hornets have been doing year in and year out for a while, so we can’t expect miracles here. Sabonis faked everyone out and played the other night for Indiana, getting a triple-double in 37 minutes. Some sprain. |
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01-28-21 | Blazers v. Rockets -4.5 | Top | 101-104 | Loss | -107 | 8 h 11 m | Show |
Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day The Blazers, a mostly lousy defensive team, hit the road after being quite unimpressive splitting their final two home games before this five-game trip. They are missing two key scorers, Jokic and McCollum. The Rockets are playing with a chip on their shoulder following the Harden trade, with three straight wins and John Wall and Danuel House back in the house for a few games each. Center Christian Wood is expected to rejoin them tonight after a multi-game absence. They are intent on proving Harden wrong about being able to contend. The Blazers are in fifth place in the West, but we feel they have ankle weights attached. The Rockets are eleventh, but only two game behind the Blazers. Time to continue rising and put more water in the Blazers’ leaky boat. |
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01-27-21 | Lakers v. 76ers +3 | 106-107 | Win | 100 | 10 h 53 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The 14-4 SU Lakers are now 10-0 SU on the road and we were right about Lebron (46 points) planning to have a big-numbers game in Cleveland the other night, even if the SOBs decided to make it interesting and wait until the fourth quarter to win by only 7 points. They’re playing for the road streak, obviously. Philly, 12-6 SU atop the East, rested Joel Embiid the other night because they’re playing to end the road streak of the championship team in a "not in our house!" night, as well as cut the margin between themselves and the Lakers to just 1 game in the overall standings for best record. |
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01-27-21 | Bucks -6 v. Raptors | 115-108 | Win | 100 | 10 h 50 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Last year’s Raptors beat Milwaukee in the Bubble when the Bucks weren’t playing so hot, just waiting for the playoffs to start so they could continue to fail to meet expectations, there, too. This year’s Raptors aren’t playing so hot themselves, still sub-.500 SU (7-10), 6-11 ATS. This is the first time they’ll be a home dog in their fake home of Tampa, FL, where they are 3-5 SU. They just love it here! (We kid!). |
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01-27-21 | Nuggets -5 v. Heat | 109-82 | Win | 100 | 10 h 37 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Fourth road game in six nights for the Nuggets, who have won the first three, the first two in OT at Phoenix and the third in Dallas by 4. Both sides were missing key players while the Nuggets were pretty much at full strength. Miami returns home from four straight on the road in which a handful of key players like Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, Avery Bradley, did not play. "End of the week" is the reported return time for at least two of them. Lucky Nuggets again? |
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01-27-21 | Pistons +3 v. Cavs | 107-122 | Loss | -110 | 9 h 17 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units This particular Cavaliers forecast comes to you with its usual warning under tonight’s circumstance: When favored, the Cavaliers are only 5-10 SU the last two-plus seasons. Sure, Andre Drummond (18-and-10) is playing in Cleveland for Cavaliers for the first time since leaving Cleveland for Detroit. But what did he usually do for Detroit, other than get big numbers in defeat? Pistons led their one prior meeting in Detroit 101-93 with three minutes left in the fourth quarter, lost in overtime. Derrick Rose had a horrible game. Have a better one, will ya’? |
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01-26-21 | Wizards v. Rockets -3.5 | 88-107 | Win | 100 | 4 h 13 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units You can’t help but feel sorry for Washington players who got good news about Westbrook being out for a week, then the bad news that the games he would miss wouldn’t be played. Naturally, as we warned, he came back as soon as the team was cleared to play again at San Antonio on Sunday, where Westbrook was a team-worst -20 plus-minus in only 25 minutes of action. There’s no way the Rockets will shoot as well as they did when Dallas’ overmatched Cauley-Stein was attempting to guard DeMarcus Cousins over the weekend, right? Well, maybe wrong! Washington’s lack of D could allow Houston to at least approach that high level (54.7%). Both sides have prima donna former-player motivation as Westbrook and Wall play for pride against their former teams. |
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01-25-21 | Thunder v. Blazers -5.5 | 125-122 | Loss | -110 | 12 h 27 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Games like last night against the Knicks, and this second of back-to-backs vs. OKC, need to be high-priority games for the Blazers right now and moving forward. Because if they can’t beat relative bums like these while Nurkic and McCollum are out, then they will lose contact with the “body of eight” in the Western Conference, where they entered the weekend 8-6 in sixth place overall. But they are only one (1) game out of ninth, 1.5 games out of eleventh, 2.5 games out of twelfth, 3.5 games out of fourteenth and 4.5 games out of last. Asking Lillard to do too much, too soon in a season, can potentially break him down. And then, you could just hand them a ticket to ride in the clown car with Sacramento. |
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01-25-21 | Lakers -10 v. Cavs | Top | 115-108 | Loss | -115 | 11 h 39 m | Show |
NBA Play of the Day The Lakers’ road trip continues with game number three of seven, a home invasion situation for which they were in town yesterday while the Cavaliers were battling in Boston. The Lakers’ current road tally is now 9-0, following up on a strong 2019-20 road season. Cleveland was averaging only 98 points per game until the Nets hit town with the The Three Ball Hogs and the Cavs scored 113 and 125 in regulation. Was that a two-shot deal against defense-less superstars coached by Steve Nash/Mike Dantoni and obsessed with scoring points? The Lakers, despite having Lebron and Lebrow, are more interested in a well-rounded experience. After Anthony Davis snapped out of a recent funk during a 21-point win in his hometown of Chicago (we projected it by 22, sorry for being off), figure Lebron to show up large for his home-area peeps, even if nobody is in the arena. He had 32-14-12 in his re-return to Cleveland in 2018-19, for the 37-45 Lakers team (that was 23-21 at the time, before he got hurt). You see how these guys are operating, right? |
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01-25-21 | Raptors +2.5 v. Pacers | 114-129 | Loss | -109 | 10 h 32 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Indiana Pacers first-year coach Nate Bjorkgren will try to gain a split with his former boss and Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse Monday night when the teams complete a two-game set at Indianapolis. The Raptors won the opener of the back-to-back games 107-102 on Sunday afternoon. The Raptors, who have won five of their past six games, were without Kyle Lowry (infected toe) and Pascal Siakam (left knee swelling). Their status for Monday was uncertain. The Pacers have lost three of their past four games. Consider that Toronto is 11-5 ATS in their last 16 games as an underdog. |
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01-24-21 | Knicks v. Blazers -3.5 | 113-116 | Loss | -115 | 12 h 16 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The Portland Trail Blazers received an unexpected but welcome break this week, and figure to be fresh and rejuvenated tonight when they host the New York Knicks. Portland's scheduled games on Wednesday and Friday against Memphis were postponed due to COVID-19 issues for the Grizzlies. So, Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts saw an opening to refine some things in practice and tinker with player rotations. It was certainly well-timed after recent injuries to shooting guard CJ McCollum (foot) and big man Jusuf Nurkic (wrist). Consider that New York is 2-6 ATS in the last 8 meetings in Portland. |
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01-24-21 | Hawks v. Bucks -7 | 115-129 | Win | 100 | 9 h 23 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The Bucks have won 9 of the 10 meetings since Mike Budenholzer was canned by the Hawks and hired to coach the Bucks. They have all the continuity here, with Atlanta still trying to put the right pieces around Trae Young, who may not even be the right guy to be putting pieces around. Every now and then he erupts for 43 points and the Hawks beat a bad team, and everyone is like, ‘Trae Young! Superstar! Building a Hawks dynasty!’ Then they lose some games before they beat some other lousy opponent with Young scoring a lot, and the call is revived: ‘Trae Young! Awesome! Hawks on the rise!’ Yawn. The Bucks are off two losses; the Hawks are off three wins. It is time for the invisible forces to adjust the direction of their respective destinies |
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01-24-21 | Hornets +1 v. Magic | Top | 107-104 | Win | 100 | 8 h 27 m | Show |
Rating: 4 Unit NBA Play of the Day Quadruple-revenge for last year’s 0-4. We’re going to invent a category. It’s called, “Second Half Scoring Margin, This Year Compared to 2019-20.” The Charlotte Hornets are #1 in the NBA in this category. Last season, they were -4.0 per game in second halves. This season, they are +3.1 The +7.1 points change is the largest positive second half scoring differential change in the league. It’s early, the sample is small (eight road games), but it’s a sign that they are better able to bring it in battle. Their road differential in the second half is actually greater than it’s been on their home floor (+4.2 vs. +1.7). Orlando is a losing foe with the NBA’s worst first-half scoring margin: -6.8 per game. It’s the second game back from injury for 6’11” C Cody Zeller, who’s been with the Hornets since the last year in which they were called the Bobcats (eight years ago), so he must be at least somewhat important. |
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01-24-21 | Raptors +1.5 v. Pacers | 107-102 | Win | 100 | 2 h 19 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Toronto is 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games as a road underdog. While Indiana is 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games overall, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite, and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games. In addition, Toronto is 5-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings and 4-0 ATS in the last 4 meetings in Indiana. |
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01-23-21 | Nuggets -2.5 v. Suns | 120-112 | Win | 100 | 11 h 39 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units We’ve been hit with a run of bad luck, losing with deserving winners like underdog Detroit Pistons at Atlanta, Charlotte U. at FAU failing in overtime and the Suns -1 last night also failing in overtime (after they led by 14 points at halftime, after which Devin Booker got hurt). These things happen – right side, wrong breaks -- and the ball will bounce our way again. For the Suns, definitely without Booker tonight, the ball may not bounce their way. They wasted Denver star Jamal Murray’s 0-fer from three-point range last night. |
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01-23-21 | Lakers -9 v. Bulls | Top | 101-90 | Win | 100 | 11 h 45 m | Show |
Rating: 3 Unit Inter-Conference Play of the Day When the Lakers hosted the Bulls recently, they treated it like a practice and won by 2 points. Tonight, they are in position to perform a home invasion as they were in town yesterday while the Bulls were in Charlotte last night, winning against an opponent that made only 7 of 32 three-point baskets (hey, don’t take it if you can’t make it!). For those who don’t already know: Lakers were the best road team in the NBA last season and are currently 8-0 SU on the road. Off the win at Milwaukee, if they’re looking for “something to play for,” then “continued road dominance” is available. |
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01-23-21 | Pelicans -8 v. Wolves | 110-120 | Loss | -105 | 9 h 22 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Stan the Man Van Gundy brings the Pelicans to the end of the line… of their six game, five-city road trip that began on Jan. 11, hasn’t had any back-to-backs, but has produced only one win in six games so far. He did it again – Zion Williamson and Steven Adams both starting, playing 34 and 30 minutes piece, and the entire starting lineup was -15 to -25 in the 11-point loss at Utah. The guy did not adjust after the loss in the first of the two-game series. He can get away with doing the wrong thing against the T’Wolves because the head coach of the 3-11 SU home team – that has scored 96, 97, 96, 98 points in four of its last five games and probably won’t have the oft-absent Towns again -- is worse than him. |
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01-22-21 | Nuggets v. Suns -2 | Top | 130-126 | Loss | -104 | 10 h 46 m | Show |
Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day Suns won in Denver on the second of back-to-back nights on the road Jan. 1, off a win in Utah the night before, when Denver had no games the prior two nights and was coming off a loss. In other words, the Suns were wearing ankle weights, playing with less air in their lungs and less gas in the tank than usual, taking the worst of the “motivational” situation, yet were still able to take care of business in this match-up. Denver continues to be overrated, 5-9 ATS. At 7-7, they really don’t have an impressive win among the seven. |
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01-22-21 | Heat v. Raptors -3 | 81-101 | Win | 100 | 7 h 23 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The Toronto Raptors are not sure whether they will have All-Star Pascal Siakam in the lineup Friday night at their temporary home in Tampa, Fla., when they complete a two-game set against the Miami Heat. Siakam took an awkward fall on a dunk late in the first quarter of the 111-102 loss to the undermanned Heat on Wednesday night and left the game. He returned in the second quarter and finished with 18 points. He did not practice Thursday and his status was uncertain for Friday. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Raptors, who will complete a five-game stretch of home games on Friday. Consider that Miami is 1-8-1 ATS in their last 10 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game, and 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games following a ATS win. |
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01-22-21 | Rockets v. Pistons -3 | 103-102 | Loss | -100 | 7 h 51 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Bad luck losing Pistons plus the points at Atlanta in OT the other night. Whaddya’ gonna do? Houston’s three-point attempt rate of 35.2% in their home loss vs. Phoenix the other night (third straight "L" since celebrating Harden’s departure with a win) was their lowest of the season. John Wall and Danuel House remain out for the Rockets. Houston head coach Steven Silas: "We’re dealing with a lot of different things. But mainly without those guys it’s stagger minutes and try to figure it all out." Hopefully, they won’t figure it out until at least one day from now. "Houston off a straight-up loss" is 30-44-1 ATS the last two-plus seasons (worst in the NBA), could get worse under current conditions. |
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01-21-21 | Knicks +5 v. Warriors | 119-104 | Win | 100 | 6 h 15 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Knicks won in OT here last year. They hit town yesterday before the Warriors came out to play vs. the Spurs, which makes this a second back-to-backs and third game in four nights for the home side. Nobody played more minutes than Curry, Wiseman and Oubre’s 31 apiece last night when the Warriors jumped on the Spurs early. But the Knicks, despite being the Knicks, probably won’t shoot 4-for-33 from three point range like the Spurs did… especially if Alec Burks – a Warrior last year – maintains his current 66.7% three-point shooting in the three games he’s played for New York. He returns from an injury tonight after not playing since Dec. 27. The Warriors won their only home second of back-to-backs by 31 points but that’s one heck of a short sample, is it not? Before last night, their starting lineup of Curry, Oubre, Wiggins, Green and Wiseman had a Plus-Minus of -45. |
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01-21-21 | Lakers +2 v. Bucks | 113-106 | Win | 100 | 4 h 3 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The last time the Lakers played the Bucks, it was as the fifth and final game of a road trip last December, after they’d won the first three and guaranteed themselves a winning trip. They trailed 65-46 at halftime, understandable given the situation. But they “won” the second half 58-46, not bad given the situation. The set-up for this is different: first game of a seven-game road trip, off a Martin Luther King Day loss (they always lose on Martin Luther King Day; it’s a Laker tradition). Low-man help defense was a focus in L.A. practice for this. Opponent-specific practice is a thing that NBA teams don’t get much time for during the season. The Lakers are 7-0 SU on the road so far. |
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01-20-21 | Suns v. Rockets +6 | 109-103 | Push | 0 | 10 h 16 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The Houston Rockets still are not whole, and with one dozen of their 72-game schedule in the books, it's becoming easier to wonder if they will find their footing and salvage their season. The newest member of the Rockets was preaching patience following a 125-120 loss at the Chicago Bulls on Monday. Victor Oladipo predicting fairer skies ahead following his 32-point, five-rebound, nine-assist debut in the aftermath of the blockbuster trade that sent All-NBA guard James Harden to Brooklyn and landed Oladipo on a makeshift roster in Houston. Suns coach Monty Williams described the time off Phoenix had between its blowout loss at the Washington Wizards on Jan. 11 and its 108-104 setback at the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday as a delay in the process of acclimation, with multiple health and safety protocol postponements putting the Suns "in a bit of a bind." Consider that Phoenix is 7-16 ATS in their last 23 games vs. a team with a losing straight up record. |
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01-20-21 | Pistons +5 v. Hawks | 115-123 | Loss | -110 | 8 h 24 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Hawks had a get-well game against Minnesota on Monday, but they didn’t hit their scoring average in victory (108 vs. 111), against the team giving up the fourth-most points per game in the NBA (118.7). Atlanta has still lost more games outright as a favorite than they’ve won, the last two-plus seasons. Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose were out for the Pistons when they lost 128-120 on this floor in the third game of the season. They’re back. They’re useful veterans. |
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01-19-21 | Pelicans +6.5 v. Jazz | 102-118 | Loss | -110 | 9 h 4 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units This is the first of two games in three nights between Northwest Division leading Jazz, and Southwest Division habitual also ran Pelicans, still struggling after all these years to elevate into the Western Conference’s top eight. They think Stan Van Gundy is the guy to step in and get them over that hump when their focal-point player, Zion Wiliamson, doesn’t even have a full season in the league yet. We shall see. For the moment, he’s led them to 5-7, five of the seven losses in succession until they won in Sacramento the other night. Erratic shooting, too many turnovers, Lonzo Ball absent for the last three games… but he could return tonight. Their three losses to the Jazz last season were by 8, 2 and 2 points, and there was a home OT win. Utah won their circled revenge affair at Denver on Sunday, a game to which many of them had been looking forward since Sept. 1. Safe to say they haven’t been looking forward to this game since Sept. 1. Maybe since Jan. 18. |
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01-18-21 | Bucks -2 v. Nets | 123-125 | Loss | -105 | 11 h 35 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The large mass of human form resembling James Harden will encounter more defensive resistance than it did in its Nets’ debut vs. Orlando on Saturday. Bucks have had two off-days before coming in and have not been dealing with many personnel absences. |
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01-18-21 | Spurs v. Blazers +2 | 125-104 | Loss | -107 | 6 h 8 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Spurs have long had problems in this building. Popovich seems to use it as a place to rest guys, test out new lineups, let somebody else coach (he’ll get himself ejected). Weird. |
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01-18-21 | Wolves +8 v. Hawks | Top | 97-108 | Loss | -106 | 6 h 45 m | Show |
NBA Game of the Week It’s a great “situation” for the T’Wolves, although they are the type of team that tends to not take advantage. The Hawks were out West last week, return home with only one day in between their 6-point loss at Portland (taking +5) and this assignment, for which they don’t even get a break with a night-time tip. It’s 2:35 pm, ET! Are we feeling a bit sluggish today? The T’Wolves haven’t played since Thursday night at home against Memphis. They figure to be the fresher and more in sync side, because if recently injured and absent Hawks come back for this, they may need a game under their belts before re-jelling with their mates (actually, with so many new players, they haven’t originally jelled yet). Atlanta is a mere 13-15 SU – that’s straightup -- when favored the last two-plus seasons. T’Wolves have a built-in excuse for blowing this, with Towns out again, and probably Juancho Hermangomez and Ricky Rubio, too. But their 0-5 SU road record has been compiled vs. Utah, LA Clippers and Lakers, Denver and Portland. All winners. So, if they don’t come through for us, then we can just hate on them and insult them and win some other games starting tomorrow. |
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01-18-21 | Magic -1.5 v. Knicks | 84-91 | Loss | -107 | 3 h 17 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Home invasion situation with the Magic having been in god-forsaken New York since Friday, where they competed well against Brooklyn on Saturday but were victimized by a large mass of human form who resembled James Harden, swishing threes from way downtown. The Magic have their issues and obstacles but they have been waiting for the Knicks to arrive so they can take well-prepped advantage of losing-streaking New York playing the second of back-to-backs, road to home. |
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01-17-21 | Pacers +6 v. Clippers | Top | 96-129 | Loss | -105 | 11 h 21 m | Show |
NBA Play of the Day With a 42.9% rate on three-pointers, you’d think the Clippers should be undefeated, right? Utah led the NBA in that department with 38.0% last season, so expect that percentage to be dropping. The Pacers enter in what was supposed to be a second of back-to-backs, but their game at Phoenix was postponed last night. That’s a fortunate break that eliminates what would have been a fifth road game in seven nights, and instead makes it a Jan. 14 to Jan. 17 gap with time to practice on the road for what has been an undervalued team (8-4 ATS). Indiana’s response to trading Victor Oladipo was a 111-87 win at Portland, accomplished without yet-to-arrive Caris Le-Vert. |
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01-17-21 | Pelicans -2.5 v. Kings | 128-123 | Win | 100 | 10 h 24 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units In the downturn the Pels have shown a lack of defensive intensity, losing the TO battle by 4½ per game, allowing foes to make 42% of their treys and giving up 9 steals a game. Sacto not doing any better, with a 2-7 SU mark since New Year’s Eve, ranking dead last in net differential in that period. The Kings average 113.6 PPG, but they allow a whopping 123.2. Look for New Orleans to improve to 6-1 ATS in its last seven following a straight-up loss of ten or more points in its previous outing and lay the short points. |
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01-16-21 | Hawks v. Blazers -4.5 | 106-112 | Win | 100 | 12 h 45 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Both teams are dealing with injury issues, but the backcourt of Lillard and McCollum will just be too much for this young Hawks team to deal with in the second game of the back-to-back scenario, as note that Atlanta has indeed struggled in this spot for bettors, going just 2-7 ATS in its last nine road games after failing to score 100 points in a SU/ATS loss in its previous game and playing on no rest. |
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01-16-21 | Hornets +7.5 v. Raptors | 113-116 | Win | 100 | 9 h 14 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units ‘Fade the Raptors’ mantra worked again on Thursday night. They’re 3-8 ATS. Say no more. |
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01-16-21 | Magic v. Nets -9.5 | Top | 115-122 | Loss | -100 | 8 h 41 m | Show |
Rating: 4 Unit NBA Play of the Day Orlando won the first three meetings with Brooklyn last season until the very meaningless fourth, when Brooklyn won 108-96 led by Jeremiah Martin, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Dzanan Musa and Tyler Johnson. The Nets are in much better shape physically and scoring-potential now, and they’ll have had two days off since beating the Knicks. Orlando is not in better shape physically or in scoring potential. In fact, they’re worse off. They’ve scored 90, 98, 99, 97 points in their current four-game losing streak. Plus, they’re in a second of road back-to-backs (Nets are rested) coming out of Boston Friday last night, where they were without Mo Bamba, Michael Cater-Williams, Evan Fournier, Al-Farouq Aminu, and the three guys who were already out long-term, Chuma Okeke, Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac. |
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01-16-21 | Rockets v. Spurs -7 | 91-103 | Win | 100 | 7 h 40 m | Show | |
Rating: 3 Units When you work with somebody who doesn’t want to be there and doesn’t think |
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01-15-21 | Pelicans +10 v. Lakers | 95-112 | Loss | -103 | 11 h 8 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The Lakers pounded the Oklahoma City Thunder 128-99 on Wednesday to remain the NBA's only unbeaten team on the road. But the Lakers, who are an NBA-best 10-3 overall, are 3-3 at home, with losses in two of their past three games at Staples Center. Consider that LA is 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a losing straight up record and 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games as a home favorite. |
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01-15-21 | Clippers -6.5 v. Kings | 138-100 | Win | 100 | 11 h 6 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Kings won two of three against the bad-favorite Clippers last season. L.A. managed to “get past” New Orleans the other night, 111-106, when the Pelicans were playing without Zion Williamson, Lonzo Ball and Eric Bledsoe. Paul George… ugh. But the Kings are allowing 122 points per game, most in the league. That’s just too many. |
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01-15-21 | Bulls +1 v. Thunder | 125-127 | Loss | -110 | 11 h 40 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Billy Donovan has one of those Nick Saban-like staffs in Chicago, with an assistant for everything. He had one at Oklahoma City, too, where he was the head coach for the last five years until he stepped down after last year, not wanting to be part of the stated rebuild. (His former assistant Mark Daigneault has only four assistants on the current OKC staff). Mo Cheeks was Donovan’s assistant in OKC for five years. The Bulls are off three straight narrow losses out West, before a home game with the Celtics was postponed Tuesday. All the more time to focus on an opponent that Donovan and Cheeks know as well as anyone not connected to the OKC. Both Lauri Markkanen and Ryan Arcidiacono have returned to practice for Chicago (both out since Dec. 31). |
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01-15-21 | Knicks v. Cavs +2.5 | 103-106 | Win | 100 | 6 h 15 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Cleveland is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 Friday games, 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games playing on 2 days rest, 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 games following a straight up loss of more than 10 points. While New York is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall, 0-4 ATS in their last 4 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game, and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game. |
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01-14-21 | Pacers v. Blazers -2.5 | 111-87 | Loss | -110 | 6 h 33 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Portland is 6-1-1 ATS in their last 8 games after scoring more than 125 points in their previous game, 4-1 ATS in their last 5 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game, 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games when their starting 5 players combine for more than 160 minutes of the previous day, and 22-9 ATS in their last 31 Thursday games. |
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01-14-21 | Hornets v. Raptors -8.5 | 108-111 | Loss | -105 | 3 h 25 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Hornets go second of back-to-backs, home to road, after being the successful target of Dallas’ re-introduction of Porzingis. You know how we feel about the Raptors: fade ’em. |
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01-14-21 | Heat v. 76ers -10 | 108-125 | Win | 100 | 7 h 26 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Ah, we meet again, stranger! But Philly will have a more familiar look than in their Tuesday night win vs. the Heat, as Matisse Thybulle, Shake Milton, Tobias Harris and Terrance Ferguson are all "probable." Last night, eight Heat players were still listed as out, including Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic. Meyers Leonard was listed as doubtful with a left shoulder sprain. Miami could be going 8 against 12 or 13. |
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01-13-21 | Pelicans +6.5 v. Clippers | 106-111 | Win | 100 | 13 h 2 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The L.A. Clippers… a favorite that can’t hold a lead. A favorite that falls behind before making a rally. In short, not a good favorite |
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01-13-21 | Grizzlies v. Wolves -2.5 | Top | 118-107 | Loss | -110 | 12 h 30 m | Show |
Rating: 4 Unit NBA Play of the Day The T’Wolves are 1-6 SU and ATS when Karl-Anthony Towns hasn’t played, 2-1 SU, 3-0 ATS when he has played. Well, that makes it easy-peasy Great Lakes breezy, doesn’t it? Sunday’s instant-revenge vs. the Spurs was their first straight-up win without him, when they intentionally rested him after his first game back from his injury. With that non-injury absence in the books, he would figure to be a go in this match-up. Minnesota is geeked up about allowing only 88 points to the Spurs in victory and jazzed about playing defense for a change. They’re not good defensively. But Memphis is #27 in points per game (105.9), Morant, Jackson and Winslow aren’t walking through the locker room door and onto the floor for this, and now C Jonas Valanciunas has ‘hit the list!’ The contact police actually pulled him off the floor in-game on Sunday. Second-line guards around Gorgui Dieng – probably not a winning formula. |
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01-13-21 | Bucks -10 v. Pistons | 110-101 | Loss | -110 | 11 h 33 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Pistons lost by 10 and 15 points to the Bucks last week. They lost by 14, 24 and 20 points to the Bucks last season. They lost four playoff games in a row to the Bucks the season before, three of them by 35, 21 and 23 points. During that regular season, they were 0-3 vs. Milwaukee, two of the losses by 23 and 23 points. Do you really want to be “that guy” who steps in front of a 13-0 bulldozer? Good luck |
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01-12-21 | Lakers -4.5 v. Rockets | 117-100 | Win | 100 | 3 h 14 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Just a hunch, based on observation and experience. Relatively short road lays against opponents they perceive as challengers to their dominance are better pro-Lakers situations than when they are 10-point more favorites against lesser opponents that don’t get their blood pumping over the course of a long season. We told ya’ that before the first Lakers at Rockets get-together here on Sunday, which L.A. won by 8 points laying -3.5. At home, vs. weaker, they layed more and won by less! Rockets, adjust off a loss? It’s the Rockets. Do they ever adjust? |
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01-12-21 | Nuggets +1.5 v. Nets | 116-122 | Loss | -104 | 1 h 46 m | Show | |
Rating: 3 Units Nets are 3-3 when both Durant and Irving play, 2-3 when one or both are jaking it. Nuggets are 4-1 last five, with team defense gradually getting back to its normal good level. Jamal Murray is shooting less (11.5 shots per game) during their current five-game run. |
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01-12-21 | Jazz -13 v. Cavs | Top | 117-87 | Win | 100 | 3 h 48 m | Show |
Rating: 4 Unit NBA Play of the Day Jazz are 3-2 on their seven-game trip. A win here would guarantee a winning trip and allow them to take a vacation day in their next spot, at Washington tomorrow night, which will be the Jazz’ ninth game in 13 days. A headline about last night’s Cleveland loss to Memphis doesn’t really understand them: ‘Growing pains emerge as Cavs lose without Garland, Sexton.” They lost a lot with them! The story proceeded to further indicate that the writers don’t get it: “Andre Drummond extended his Cavaliers record for most consecutive double-doubles to start the season with his 11th straight.” His team lost! By 10 points! To an opponent with four key players missing! |
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01-11-21 | Raptors v. Blazers -5 | 111-112 | Loss | -106 | 10 h 20 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The Raptors are now 2-7 SU with the only wins coming against the Kings and Knicks. Oddsmakers are probably scrambling to downgrade this team, so I recommend jumping on Portland quickly here before the line gets too high. The Blazers are off B2B convincing wins where they scored 125 and 135 points. Toronto is 0-6 ATS so far against teams that have winning records. Portland is 5-4 SU on the year and should win easily. |
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01-11-21 | 76ers v. Hawks -6.5 | 94-112 | Win | 100 | 8 h 54 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Hopefully this won’t be postponed, with all the 76ers’ virus stuff floating around. Lloyd Pierce’s Atlanta coaching tenure began with 0-3 vs. the 76ers, where he was an assistant under since-fired Brent Brown (replaced by Doc Rivers & Co.). But Atlanta has won four of the last six outright vs. his former team, and one of the losses was 105-103. |
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01-11-21 | Grizzlies -2 v. Cavs | 101-91 | Win | 100 | 7 h 27 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units This did not go well for us on Thursday when Memphis lost outright as the rested home chalk vs. the injured, second-of-back-to-back on the road Cavaliers. Cleveland should go favored this time. We’ve pointed this out before: Cleveland has lost outright 10 of the last 15 times they’ve been favored dating back to the start of 2018-19. Unreliable little, er, tall SOBs, aren’t they? Unless you’ve been on the underdog. In that case, call them a meal-ticket! |
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01-10-21 | Nuggets v. Knicks +6.5 | Top | 114-89 | Loss | -107 | 9 h 31 m | Show |
Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day In the first of a four-game Eastern trip last season, the Nuggets won here 129- 92. The Knicks had two days off before the game, coming off a 44-point loss at Milwaukee. It was the last game that David Fizdale coached for them. He was fired the next day. Off the home loss to OKC – no surprise, and OKC assistant Mike Miller was the Knicks’ interim head coach last season and their former assistant -- this would be a good spot for first-season head coach Tom Thibodeaux to point to and say, ‘Hey, bosses and fans, looky what we can really do against this Western Conference contender who buried us here last time.’ It’s a good player rally-around-each-other game, as well. It doesn’t hurt that it’s the second of back-to-backs for Denver coming out of Philly yesterday, with the Knicks rested and off that loss. |
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01-09-21 | Blazers -6 v. Kings | Top | 125-99 | Win | 100 | 11 h 30 m | Show |
Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day The Blazers are rested while the Kings are on second of back-to-backs after fighting the Raptors last night. Fighting is not really the right word because they rolled over and played dead in the second half, allowing an opponent struggling to score to get to 144. Portland may have payback on their minds given that the most recent meeting was a 123-111 Kings victory in Portland in March, just before all the stuff hit the fan and prior to the eventual return of long-absent C Jusuf Nurkic (who showed in the summer re-launch for Portland). Kings were unconscious from three-point range in that game, 21 for 39 (53.8%). Said head coach Luke Walton afterwards, “We knew they were on a back-to-back, so we wanted to make a point to push and push and push.” Uh-oh. Turnabout is fair play. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. The shoe is on the other foot. Are there any other appropriate clichés? |
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01-08-21 | Jazz v. Bucks -5.5 | 131-118 | Loss | -109 | 3 h 36 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Normally the Jazz start out well in the East and then get sour. For this current seven game trip, after first winning at conference rival San Antonio, they lost by 34 points in Brooklyn, then by 12 points at the Knicks. Have they been saving themselves for a better foe, the Bucks? Eh, probably not. It’s probably just another Eastern Conference road trip working vacation mail-in spree that they all get paid extremely well to walk through without being prepared to hand |
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01-08-21 | Magic v. Rockets -6.5 | Top | 90-132 | Win | 100 | 3 h 50 m | Show |
NBA Play of the Day Tough luck for the Magic. Markelle Fultz, somebody else’s #1 overall draft pick, who they coached up and made into a real player for a short while, tore an ACL in the win vs. Cleveland the other night and is out for the season. Rookie from North Carolina, Cole Anthony, will begin seeing more minutes as the point guard than the 20 he’s been getting. He’s been shooting it worse than Fultz (29.7% from the field vs. Fultz’s 39.6%). Guards Michael Carter-Williams and Evan Fournier didn’t play against Cleveland the other night. Rockets’ head coach Steven Silas bemoaned how Indiana drove the ball into the paint repeatedly against the Rockets on Wednesday night but the Magic aren’t as good at doing that. |
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01-07-21 | Cavs v. Grizzlies -4.5 | Top | 94-90 | Loss | -115 | 9 h 48 m | Show |
NBA Play of the Day Cleveland couldn’t get a reversal against Orlando last night despite one day in between games (which was very much expected by all of us, hence the Play of the Day on Orlando against Cleveland last night). They travel to Memphis to play the second of back-to-backs on the road against a host that’s had one day of rest since taking the Lakers to the wire in their “second chance.” There aren’t many teams with more key guys missing than Memphis, but Cleveland, as we noted yesterday, is one of them! Stat geeks keep reporting that Andre Drummond has eight straight double-doubles and Collin Sexton’s eight straight games of at least 20 points to start a season has broken Lebron James’ franchise record (for what?), which is a good “distraction” that masks the fact that Cleveland has topped out at 99 points in its last five games, failing to cover four of them by -12.5, -8, -14 and -5 points. |
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01-07-21 | 76ers -1 v. Nets | 109-122 | Loss | -110 | 8 h 13 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Brooklyn managed to beat Utah by 34 on Tuesday without the services of Kevin Durant (contact tracing), but fact is the Nets had lost 4 of previous 5 games with Durant active. Meanwhile, Philly has won and covered 4 straight and leads the league in defensive efficiency. The Sixers have won and covered 7 of the last 8 against Brooklyn, none with KD on the floor, but then again, he won’t be there for this one either. Definitely give the nod to Philly, with F Tobias Harris hitting a sizzling 56% from beyond the arc in his last 5, and the Sixers holding foes to just 41% shooting in that stretch |
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01-06-21 | Raptors v. Suns -2.5 | 115-123 | Win | 100 | 30 h 45 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Searching for their identity, the 1-5 Raptors – 0-3 on the road already after being one of the best road teams in the NBA last season -- begin a four-game Western swing. It usually takes time for displaced Easterners to find themselves out West and we have a feeling that before they do, the trip will be over. It’s two franchises heading in different directions. Fred Van Vliet has now led Toronto in scoring for three straight games – 25, 27, 35 points. But they won only one of them. We’ve said it before – if he’s the guy, then something is wrong over there. The team that knocked them out of the post-season – the Celtics – just waxed them in their temporary Tampa home that’s doing no favors for them and now they must face a stranger riding an upcurve that has had two days off to get in a Raptors-specific practice and prepare for double-revenge. Sextuple-revenge, actually. Suns haven’t beaten Raptors since the 2016-17 season. |
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01-06-21 | Cavs v. Magic -5.5 | Top | 94-105 | Win | 100 | 7 h 33 m | Show |
Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day Much of the world awaits to see how the Cavaliers react after the 103-83 defeat here on Monday night, their fifth straight loss against the Magic. Why wait? Anticipate. Already without starters Kevin Love, Darius Garland, and Isaac Okoro, Cleveland lost guard Dante Exum to a leg injury 47 seconds into the Monday night loss. The Cavs are down seven players. “It is what it is and we’ve just got to figure it out,” first-season Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We are down bodies and we talked about adversity a few games back and this is the epitome of it. We’ve just got to figure it out.” Take a little more time with that, coach, if you don’t mind. |
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01-05-21 | Jazz -4.5 v. Nets | 96-130 | Loss | -110 | 7 h 35 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Apparently, Kyrie Irving likes losing. “It’s not going to be put together overnight, nor am I expecting it to, nor am I going to get frustrated over six games… So I’m just gonna enjoy this.” Four losses in last five for the Nets. Enjoy! This is #2 of seven-game road trip for Utah, the first having been a 21-point win on the way here at San Antonio. So get ‘em now before they expire from exposure to the elements. Five different guys have led them in scoring in their seven games. Kevin Durant’s absence tonight could help the Jazz, but we were liking them before it was announced that this gold-bricker would be taking some time off |
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01-04-21 | Celtics +3 v. Raptors | Top | 126-114 | Win | 100 | 11 h 40 m | Show |
Rating: 2 Unit NBA Play of the Day Raptors: ‘You beat us in a seven-game playoff series last season. We want revenge!’ Celtics: ‘You’re not as good as you were then. We have several guys who can take over a game, like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Your home floor is in Florida, but your fan base is in Canada. You have no real support here. You’re scoring 11.5 fewer points per game than last season and we’re not about to allow you to suddenly get better offensively |
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01-03-21 | Blazers -5 v. Warriors | 122-137 | Loss | -104 | 11 h 36 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Steve Kerr getting a taste of what it’s like when trying to navigate the Western Conference with only one available all-star instead of the 4-5 he had at his fingertips during the heyday in the Bay Area, just 3 years ago. It also made a difference having one of, if not the, best perimeter defenders around in Klay Thompson, but he’s out again with a 2nd season-ending injury. Not unrelated is the fact that the Warriors are giving up 47% FGs this year, after foes burned them at a 47.6% rate a year ago. Golden State sits at 29th in defensive efficiency, and Portland has a very productive backcourt featuring Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum (combining for 53.2 points per game). Steph Curry is going to have his hands full |
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01-03-21 | Jazz v. Spurs +5.5 | 130-109 | Loss | -115 | 9 h 9 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Utah, which has alternated wins and losses to start the season, is due for an L after beating the Clippers 106-100 on New Year’s Day behind a whopping 33 points by Jazz G Mike Conley, who became the 5th scoring leader in 5 games for Utah. Things getting a bit tense in San Antonio, after being stuck on 103 pts. for the last 2:34 of the game and watching the Lakers swoop by to snatch a win and send the Spurs down to a 3rd straight loss. The Spurs are 17-2 SU at the AT&T Center against the Jazz, so expect “Pop” to circle the wagons around the Alamo. Our eyebrows were raised when we saw the openers of Utah -4...perhaps a tad too aggressive. |
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01-03-21 | Lakers -9 v. Grizzlies | Top | 108-94 | Win | 100 | 8 h 13 m | Show |
Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day Ja Morant could have been a pesky penetrator against the Lakers’ interior D but he’s out 3-5 weeks for the host Grizzlies. Jaren Jackson and Justice Winslow have yet to play and Grayson Allen (day-to-day) was hurt earlier in the week. (Really, you wouldn’t mind Allen being back out there to miss jumpers.) Actually, seven guys were out when Memphis managed to beat Charlotte the other night. But Memphis won only the last of four games vs. the Lakers last season, when the Lakers got a season-low 88 points on this floor with Lebron playing with a sore groin – just one of those nights. |
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01-02-21 | Hornets v. 76ers -9.5 | Top | 112-127 | Win | 100 | 9 h 7 m | Show |
Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day Rested home favorite 76ers, allowing only 99.8 points per game after five, vs. road dog Hornets, who travel for second of back-to-backs after managing to lose outright to Memphis as home chalk when Memphis didn’t have Ja Morant, Justice Winslow, Jaren Jackson, DeAnthony Melton or Grayson Allen. Okay, so a Grayson Allen absence was probably a good thing for the other side but you get the idea, the idea. “We can’t find a rhythm offensively. We can’t get good looks or we’re turning it over… There’s not a lot of practice time here. So, we’re just going to have to do it through game reps.” So says head coach James Borrego. C Cody Zeller hasn’t suited up yet (24 points in last season’s only meeting), so Joel Embiid won’t break a sweat against Bismack Biyombo. |
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01-01-21 | Blazers -3.5 v. Warriors | Top | 123-98 | Win | 100 | 13 h 4 m | Show |
Rating: 3 Unit NBA Play of the Day Well, the expected-to-be-bad Warriors are 2-2 after four straight road games to start the season. However, they beat the Bulls and Pistons. Chicago had just gotten some guys back in only their third game for a new coach, and the Pistons – a bad team -- shot 15-for-50 from the field in the first half (30%) but nevertheless led Golden State at that juncture. They’re not returning home to a raucous, welcoming arena. They might hear more noise coming from Damian Lillard, who shot 0-for-8 on three-pointers, 3-for-14 overall, in Portland’s loss at the Clippers the other night. Alleged superstars often bounce back big from nights like that. |
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01-01-21 | Wizards v. Wolves +1 | 130-109 | Loss | -112 | 11 h 38 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units A two-day break since getting back from a week out West works well enough for the T’Wolves as the Wizards must fly out for the second of back-to-backs. The home side’s leading scorer, Karl-Anthony Towns, has a dislocated wrist and will reportedly miss this game, and a few more. But one thing we’ve learned while doin’ this: losing one high-scoring, leading rebounding big allows the rest of the team to float freely over the floor in celebration. Returning home off two losses, with an absence like that to bond over, is a fine situation. Not that Minnesota can’t screw it up, but… |
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12-31-20 | Suns v. Jazz -3.5 | 106-95 | Loss | -102 | 10 h 57 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Pre-season NBA results: Utah, 119-105 and 111-92 over Phoenix. “They handled us in many areas of the game,” Suns head coach Monty Williams said. “That’s the focus right now. How do we go up there and keep them out of our paint, do much better in transition, keep those guys off the glass?” Ricky Rubio knew how, but he doesn’t play for Phoenix anymore. He did when the Suns beat the Jazz by 20 points here the last time the teams played for real. “I know their game and I played with them for a long time,” Rubio said afterwards, talking about how he often knew where the Jazz wanted to go with their motion and their passes and stepped into the passing lanes. Is Chris Paul that cerebral? Don’t think so |
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12-31-20 | Kings +5.5 v. Rockets | Top | 119-122 | Win | 100 | 8 h 2 m | Show |
NBA Play of the Day John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins returned to practice yesterday after their seven-day absences and will make their Houston debuts. Cousins: “Sitting at home for seven days straight, then jumping back into a full-speed practice or game… there’s not a lot of positive things on that side. Maneuver through the BS, and make the best of what you can.” Alrighty, then. We know the Kings can beat Denver. And Phoenix. We also know that they won 119-118 in this building last season, playing only eight guys, none of them named Fox or Bagley |
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12-30-20 | Lakers -6 v. Spurs | 121-107 | Win | 100 | 29 h 56 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The Spurs are shifting from veteran-laden rotations to a more balanced attack with younger talent. Doing it against the defensive length of the Lakers might set ‘em back a bit but they’ll have tomorrow night to adust. The Lakers are off a home loss in the second of back-to-backs against what was a rested Portland team, for which head coach Frank Vogel said that they appeared to be stuck in mud. |
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12-29-20 | Nuggets v. Kings +2.5 | 115-125 | Win | 100 | 9 h 59 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The Kings have beaten the Nuggets in Denver already, as we figured they would. They didn’t lose to them by much last season (7- and 5-point losses, plus a win). Denver beat the Rockets for us at home last night – for which they don’t get a gold star -- and now they make the trek to Sacramento for the second of back-to-backs. They didn’t have to do any of those, with travel, in the Bubble |
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12-29-20 | Celtics v. Pacers +100 | 116-111 | Loss | -100 | 6 h 4 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units When they played here on Sunday, both teams shot better than 50% overall in the Pacers’ 109-108 win that obviously could have gone either way. But Jeff Teague was 0-for-6 on three-pointers for Boston, doing his new team a real favor (we kid!). Kemba Walker, come back soon! Yes, the need him! Teague took a 0 in 21 minutes vs. Brooklyn, had only 9 – all on free throws – on Sunday. |
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12-28-20 | Rockets v. Nuggets -7 | Top | 111-124 | Win | 100 | 12 h 42 m | Show |
Rating: 2 Units At Portland, the currently depleted Rockets scored 68 points in the first half, then 45 in the second half. They don’t know how to pace themselves. They just go out and run around quickly and shoot the ball, still. In the thin air of Denver, with only nine available, and four of them named Christian Wood, Brodric Thomas, Sterling Brown and Bruno Caboclo, they’ll be sucking wind by mid-third quarter against the angry, desperate, 0-2 home team |
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12-27-20 | Bucks -12 v. Knicks | 110-130 | Loss | -115 | 10 h 15 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Rested, classy road chalk vs. low-level home dog playing second of back-to-back nights after tussling with the 76ers yesterday. Initial thoughts are that they can’t make this line high enough. Already, Knicks’ rookie Obi Toppin had to miss the team’s second game of the season last night with an injury. Hey, maybe they’re load managing him! After all, he’s all of 22 years old and shouldn’t be playing back-to-backs! LOL! R.J. Barrett shot 2-for-15 last night for New York. Kevin Knox scored 7 points in 29 minutes. This is what they get from their first-round draft picks. The Knicks are so delusional that Barrett thinks having no fans in the stands is an edge for New York in home games |
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12-27-20 | Mavs v. Clippers -5 | 124-73 | Loss | -110 | 6 h 17 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Two nice wins for the Clippers in their first two games with Tyronn Lue coaching instead of Doc Rivers. Two ugly defeats for Dallas, without Porzingis on the floor. Sounds like addition by subtraction for L.A., and subtraction by subtraction for Dallas. Keep the trend going before the oddsmakers catch up and ruin it. The Lakers outscored the Mavericks in second-chance points 35-0 the other night. |
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12-26-20 | Raptors v. Spurs +2.5 | 114-119 | Win | 100 | 11 h 54 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The Raptors, along with the Warriors, were the only NBA teams to score fewer than 100 points in their first game. Warriors followed up with a second sub-100 game. Do you see some irony in that relationship, given that those two franchises played for the NBA Championship in 2018-19? For Golden State, it was expected. For Toronto, was it: Fluke, or Foreshadow? Could be Foreshadow, given the players they’ve allowed to leave via free agency over the course of the last two seasons, and considering that Wednesday night’s opponent, New Orleans, was one of the NBA’s worst defensive teams last season. Spurs |
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12-26-20 | 76ers -8 v. Knicks | 109-89 | Win | 100 | 10 h 4 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Let the Knicks show you some reasons why you should be on them. They specialize in losing. Until they change that, why bother? Obi Toppen, 3-for-12, all 3 of the makes on treys. What happened to attacking the basket? Oh, they have former #1 pick Kevin Knox (4 points) for that! Sixers struggled against Westbrook, as usual – no big deal -- but won the game. No big deal. Sixers seek to forge a new road identity. They were terrible away from home last season. No fans here is a good place to start |
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12-25-20 | Clippers -2 v. Nuggets | 121-108 | Win | 100 | 34 h 27 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Takin’ an anti-Denver stance here early on. Their big playoff run in the bubble was nice but creates expectations that they’re super-duper. They won’t be changing much about what they do. First and only chance to be on the Clippers in first game without Doc Rivers was a resounding win against the Lakers with a big game from the “star,” Paul George, who was most vocal about Rivers being the problem. Here’s a second chance! Under Rivers, the Clippers had the Nuggets down 3-1 in the playoffs, then lost three straight. No Rivers, and revenge |
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12-23-20 | Pelicans v. Raptors -4 | 113-99 | Loss | -101 | 10 h 60 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units It’s all falling by the wayside for the Raptors, champions of 2018-19. Right? First, Kawhi Leonard left. Now, Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol are gone. They’re playing home games at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL, a far cry from Toronto, Canada and their devoted faithful. How can they possibly compete? You’ll see. Hopefully via their zone defenses attracting three-point misses. For one thing, they shared best road record in the league with the Lakers last season |
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12-23-20 | Hornets -130 v. Cavs | 114-121 | Loss | -130 | 10 h 33 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The Cavs suffered re-buildus interruptus when they had to can John Beilein. They ranked last in defensive field goal percentage and think that 6’6” rookie Isaac Okoro can be plugged in to help defend on the wing. The Hornets have had a defensive mindset during their inexorable process of attempting to become good. LaMelo Ball might give ’em a spark until he’s figured out next week or thereabouts, and needs to adjust to the adjustments. Kevin Love, out for Cavs. |
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12-22-20 | Warriors v. Nets -5 | 99-125 | Win | 100 | 4 h 38 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The Nets will surely amount to less than the sum of their overhyped parts that love to hog the ball and get stats and have needed to play with other, more talented, dominant superstars to win whatever they claim to have won individually, when it was really team efforts. But at least they have parts. The Warriors attempt to surround Stephen Curry with replacement parts in the absence of Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. Why do new bigs Kelly Oubre and rookie James Wiseman – the latter off a college career of two games – not get us excited? |
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10-04-20 | Lakers -9.5 v. Heat | 104-115 | Loss | -105 | 11 h 53 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units Los Angeles has been dominant the first two games, outscoring and outrebounding Miami. The Western Conference champs have been potent both in the paint and from long range, and they show little sign of slowing down with LeBron James and Anthony Davis leading the way. Davis is averaging 33 points and 11.5 rebounds through the first two games, and James is just behind at 29 and 11. The dynamic duo has elicited comparisons to Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, who combined to win three consecutive championships for the Lakers from 2000-02. Consider: The Lakers are 6-2 ATS in their last eight after a ten points or greater SU victory in their last outing. |
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08-08-20 | Clippers +165 v. Blazers | 122-117 | Win | 165 | 1 h 18 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The Clippers now own the West's best per game point differential (+6.6), which is a big deal, despite being just 2-2 SU since the restart. Montrezl Harrell and Patrick Beverley is still out with injuries, which probably factors into the line move, but LA was still able to defeat Dallas by double digits on Thursday. Portland is probably without Hassan Whiteside today. |
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08-07-20 | Celtics v. Raptors -2 | 122-100 | Loss | -105 | 7 h 5 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units The Toronto Raptors own the longest active winning streak in the NBA and can clinch the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference on Friday night when they oppose the Boston Celtics at The Arena inside the NBA bubble near Orlando. The Raptors (49-18) will be seeking their eighth consecutive victory, and the triumph would eliminate third-place Boston (45-23) from contention for the No. 2 seed. Toronto is 3-0 since the season restarted and has held two opponents below 100 points, including the Orlando Magic in Wednesday's 109-99 victory. The Celtics are only 2-2 in the restart but averaged 138.5 points in the two wins, including Wednesday's 149-115 drubbing of the Brooklyn Nets. |
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08-04-20 | Celtics v. Heat UNDER 221.5 | 106-112 | Win | 100 | 8 h 8 m | Show | |
Rating: 2 Units These teams met twice already this season, and both meetings came up well short of 221 points. Not once in the last 10 meetings between these teams have bookmakers listed a total as high as 221 points. In fact nine of the last 10 times these teams have faced each other the total was lower than 215 points. Miami is allowing an average of 108 points per game this season, and they gave up 107 points in a loss to Toronto in their last game. Boston is allowing an average of 107 points per game, ranking #3 in the NBA in that category. |