Season to Date: 17-11-2 +11.04 units
Yesterday: 2-0 + 5 units
Although there are 10 games, none of them look that exciting. SactownMinny might turn out to be the best game to watch. And oh, how the NBA has drastically turned in one year. Could you imagine the ratings last year of a Denver/Cleveland game in primetime. But, this year, it's sure to be one of the highest drawing of the regular season. Regardless of how their careers turn out, those two(james and anthony) sure do draw attention and ratings and thats good for the NBA.
Washington + 7 1 unit. This is an angle based play based largely on anticonsensus + home dog factor which i use. Dallas isn't the same team as last year. They've come out to win 3 straight to start 3-1 after losing badly to their beloved lake show. But who have they beaten? Golden St., Miami, and Utah???? 3 teams that will NOT combine for 100 wins this season. It's not their fault, they won the games who they were scheduled to play, but let's not say all is right in Maverick town right now. We don't know this early. Tonight is a big test for them to travel on the road to an Eastern Coference foe. Wizards aren't great either, they have beaten a bad bulls club, gave a game away to toronto, and stayed competitive with the Nets. Arenas is such a huge addition to their team, that he gives them an automatic scoring threat. Obviously Dallas is the better team, but at home the Wiz have shown me enough this year to make me think they can keep this one close.
Bulls/ Doc Rivers OVER 90.5 1h 2 units. Well playing a bulls game is similar to playing russian roullette. You really have no idea how this team is going to come out. They were up 14-2 against milwaukee and lost the game by 30. Albeit young, the talent is there to be at least better than they are. No Pippen again tonight. The one thing that they DO NOT DO though is play defense. And that is just what a struggling Orlando team needs right now. They have played the knicks twice, detroit, and orlando. With the exception of maybe the hornets, the other teams just don't play their style of ball. Orlando likes to run in transition and get McGrady dunks and easy looks. Against the Bulls this should be easy. I think at least for the first half, both teams will run up and down the court as neither team is really good defensively. The last 10 times these teams have played, Orlando has never put up less than 94 points and 6 of those times well over 100.
Bucks/Knickerbockers UNDER 86 1h 1 unit. Plain and simple, the Knicks offense is boring and slow. Houston should play, but is he healthy, thats the question. Milwaukee likes to run and gun as apparent yesterday with the Lakers, but this Knick team will lul them to sleep. The Knicks know that they have NO ONE to run with this team. I expect the knicks to take their time and immediately at home try and set a low tempo style game. The bucks will get flustered as the Knicks can defend. So far this year, the Knicks team is averaging only 77 points a game. If they can establish a low tempo game from the get go which they will try to, they shouldn't come that close to this number before half.
Minnesota -1 2 units. The home team has dominated in this series winning 9 of the last ten. Minnesota is definitely a home team. They play much better at home than they do on the road. They will be ready for this game. Sacramento is coming off an embarrassing loss to the Nuggets, but granted that was a 3 in 4 for them. Minny has only beaten the overrated Raptors and struggled with Milwaukee at home. They have lost both of their games on the road. It seems way early in the season for a make or break game, but I have a feeling Minny will want this game more. Garnett and co. have to see this as a key game early in the season. In what should be two evenly matched teams I'll take the home team. I love the addition of Miller for the Kings, but do not think he can stop Garnett. Garnett has to be itching to play after being tossed out of his last game at Utah early on.
Denver Cleveland OVER 183 3 units(max play). This looks to be my strongest play of the evening. Whatever David Stern and co. wants they usually get. This isn't an inference to league fixing games or anything at all close to that. But with that said, this is gonna be a highly watched game across the country and the last thing they want is some 75-65 boring game. They want flash. They have the two youngest showman in the league and they have yet to show they cannot handle pressure. The Cavs will want to run and gun and be a flashy team for their home opener. If you take away last nights fiasco in indiana the nuggets have averaged over 90 points a game for the season. The Cavs have managed 88. That puts the true number close to 178 for the game. BUT, the cavs have played 3 pretty good defensive team in sactown, phoneix, and portland. Tonight they get a much easier defensive team in the nuggets. Just because the nuggets tend not to have a ton of high scoring games like last year hardly means they are good defensively. They are going up and down the court much more than last year, and this should turn into a shoot-out. Only once in the last 5 times these teams have played did the game go under this number.
Atlanta + 1.5 1h 2 units. Although I have no numbers in front of me to support this trend at the moment, a good angle that I have found is that teams are rusty when they get a key addition back from injury. In this case a wife beating suspension. Richardson makes his season debut tonight after off the court problems. I'm sure he'll be pumped to play, but often that adrenaline is too much and the team and the player come out rusty. Although Atlanta is 1-3 they have been in EVERY game this season. Both teams are bad and each enter this game thinking it is a winnable game. I don't see golden st. blowing anybody out, and I definitely think Atlanta will hang close early with Golden St. coming out a bit rusty.
6 games on a 10 game card isn't that selective, but hopefully the basketball gods are with me tonight. I really like that Cleveland over and hope that one hits.
Good Luck to All
Yesterday: 2-0 + 5 units
Although there are 10 games, none of them look that exciting. SactownMinny might turn out to be the best game to watch. And oh, how the NBA has drastically turned in one year. Could you imagine the ratings last year of a Denver/Cleveland game in primetime. But, this year, it's sure to be one of the highest drawing of the regular season. Regardless of how their careers turn out, those two(james and anthony) sure do draw attention and ratings and thats good for the NBA.
Washington + 7 1 unit. This is an angle based play based largely on anticonsensus + home dog factor which i use. Dallas isn't the same team as last year. They've come out to win 3 straight to start 3-1 after losing badly to their beloved lake show. But who have they beaten? Golden St., Miami, and Utah???? 3 teams that will NOT combine for 100 wins this season. It's not their fault, they won the games who they were scheduled to play, but let's not say all is right in Maverick town right now. We don't know this early. Tonight is a big test for them to travel on the road to an Eastern Coference foe. Wizards aren't great either, they have beaten a bad bulls club, gave a game away to toronto, and stayed competitive with the Nets. Arenas is such a huge addition to their team, that he gives them an automatic scoring threat. Obviously Dallas is the better team, but at home the Wiz have shown me enough this year to make me think they can keep this one close.
Bulls/ Doc Rivers OVER 90.5 1h 2 units. Well playing a bulls game is similar to playing russian roullette. You really have no idea how this team is going to come out. They were up 14-2 against milwaukee and lost the game by 30. Albeit young, the talent is there to be at least better than they are. No Pippen again tonight. The one thing that they DO NOT DO though is play defense. And that is just what a struggling Orlando team needs right now. They have played the knicks twice, detroit, and orlando. With the exception of maybe the hornets, the other teams just don't play their style of ball. Orlando likes to run in transition and get McGrady dunks and easy looks. Against the Bulls this should be easy. I think at least for the first half, both teams will run up and down the court as neither team is really good defensively. The last 10 times these teams have played, Orlando has never put up less than 94 points and 6 of those times well over 100.
Bucks/Knickerbockers UNDER 86 1h 1 unit. Plain and simple, the Knicks offense is boring and slow. Houston should play, but is he healthy, thats the question. Milwaukee likes to run and gun as apparent yesterday with the Lakers, but this Knick team will lul them to sleep. The Knicks know that they have NO ONE to run with this team. I expect the knicks to take their time and immediately at home try and set a low tempo style game. The bucks will get flustered as the Knicks can defend. So far this year, the Knicks team is averaging only 77 points a game. If they can establish a low tempo game from the get go which they will try to, they shouldn't come that close to this number before half.
Minnesota -1 2 units. The home team has dominated in this series winning 9 of the last ten. Minnesota is definitely a home team. They play much better at home than they do on the road. They will be ready for this game. Sacramento is coming off an embarrassing loss to the Nuggets, but granted that was a 3 in 4 for them. Minny has only beaten the overrated Raptors and struggled with Milwaukee at home. They have lost both of their games on the road. It seems way early in the season for a make or break game, but I have a feeling Minny will want this game more. Garnett and co. have to see this as a key game early in the season. In what should be two evenly matched teams I'll take the home team. I love the addition of Miller for the Kings, but do not think he can stop Garnett. Garnett has to be itching to play after being tossed out of his last game at Utah early on.
Denver Cleveland OVER 183 3 units(max play). This looks to be my strongest play of the evening. Whatever David Stern and co. wants they usually get. This isn't an inference to league fixing games or anything at all close to that. But with that said, this is gonna be a highly watched game across the country and the last thing they want is some 75-65 boring game. They want flash. They have the two youngest showman in the league and they have yet to show they cannot handle pressure. The Cavs will want to run and gun and be a flashy team for their home opener. If you take away last nights fiasco in indiana the nuggets have averaged over 90 points a game for the season. The Cavs have managed 88. That puts the true number close to 178 for the game. BUT, the cavs have played 3 pretty good defensive team in sactown, phoneix, and portland. Tonight they get a much easier defensive team in the nuggets. Just because the nuggets tend not to have a ton of high scoring games like last year hardly means they are good defensively. They are going up and down the court much more than last year, and this should turn into a shoot-out. Only once in the last 5 times these teams have played did the game go under this number.
Atlanta + 1.5 1h 2 units. Although I have no numbers in front of me to support this trend at the moment, a good angle that I have found is that teams are rusty when they get a key addition back from injury. In this case a wife beating suspension. Richardson makes his season debut tonight after off the court problems. I'm sure he'll be pumped to play, but often that adrenaline is too much and the team and the player come out rusty. Although Atlanta is 1-3 they have been in EVERY game this season. Both teams are bad and each enter this game thinking it is a winnable game. I don't see golden st. blowing anybody out, and I definitely think Atlanta will hang close early with Golden St. coming out a bit rusty.
6 games on a 10 game card isn't that selective, but hopefully the basketball gods are with me tonight. I really like that Cleveland over and hope that one hits.
Good Luck to All
