Category: Basketball

NBA Western Conference teams are asserting their dominance

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The Golden State Warriors have returned to the top of most pundits’ NBA power rankings after going on a seven-game winning streak. The odds on them winning the NBA Championship have gone into 4/5 on the back of this fine run of form, and they look unstoppable at present. The only teams enjoying similar winning runs are the San Antonio Spurs and the Utah Jazz, both Western Conference teams. It makes it look increasingly like the winner of the NBA Championship will come from this conference.

Winning Conference

The Golden State Warriors are favourites to avenge last season’s Finals defeat to LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers and win another NBA Championship. It would be their second in three years and they really have been the dominant force in recent times. Over in the Eastern Conference, the Cavs lost their last game to leave them with a win ratio of .714. That does not compare at all favourably to the Warriors’ .864 or the Spurs .791. Even the third best team in the Western Conference, the Houston Rockets, have a better record than Cleveland, with a win percentage of .723.

Below the Cavs in the Eastern Conference, the Raptors and Celtics are both on losing streaks, and none of the leading teams are playing all that well. In any power rankings, five of the top six teams right now would come from the Western Conference. The favourites, third favourites and fourth favourites to win the NBA Championship are all Western Conference teams, so it looks like the winner will come from this conference. Bet365 and Sky Bet are running books on which conference will produce the winner of the NBA Championship and both are offering 2/5 on it being the Western Conference, which looks a great bet right now.

Northwest Division

Most of the divisions look sewn up and are dominated by clear frontrunners, but one that looks interesting still is the Northwest, where the Utah Jazz are in front on 29-16, followed by the Oklahoma City Thunder on 25-19. The Thunder have MVP candidate Russell Westbrook, but that has not been enough to stop them losing their past two games. The Jazz, meanwhile, are on a remarkable six-game winning run, a streak bettered only by the Warriors, and Rudy Gobert is in fantastic form for them. They already have a healthy advantage and the gap should widen, so the 5/12 available at Ladbrokes on the Jazz winning this division looks a great bet.

Upcoming games

On Tuesday the Warriors play the Miami Heat and should win comfortably, so much so that they are just 1/8 with Betfred and Paddy Power. These teams played on January 11 and the Warriors ran out 12-point winners. Since then their form has been immense: they have won their last five games by 20 points, 35 points (against the Cavaliers, no less), 21 points, 17 points and 20 points. The Heat are on a three-game winning run but are likely to come unstuck against the Warriors, who can cover an 11-points spread at 10/11 with Betfred and Paddy Power. Wednesday sees leading lights from the Western and Eastern Conferences face off as the Spurs, second in the Western Conference, play the Toronto Raptors, second in the Eastern Conference. Expect the supremacy of the Western Conference to be asserted here with a narrow win for the Spurs, who are in excellent form while the Raptors have lost two in a row. On Friday the Jazz plays the LA Lakers and should cover a generous spread.

Jazz, Spurs and Hawks offer value in divisional betting

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The past week has seen the Golden State Warriors embark on a three-game winning streak to leave their win record at .850 and strengthen their grip on the Pacific Division. They are just 1/100 to win it, while the Cleveland Cavaliers are also 1/100 to win the Central Division. Both are looking nailed on, but there is plenty of value in predicting who will finish first in the other four divisions, which are all very much up for grabs.

Northwest Division

This looks like a two-horsed race between the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder. The Jazz has recorded their best record at the midway point of a season since 2010-11 and hold a slender lead over the Thunder. But Oklahoma City is hot on their heels and have a real superstar in Russell Wilson, so it should prove a close fought battle. Still, the Jazz is better defensively and will take confidence from beating the Cavaliers last Tuesday, so they should just sneak it in and the 8/11 Paddy Power is offering looks good.

Southwest Division

Another intense battle here is developing between the San Antonio Spurs and the Houston Rockets. In James Harden, Houston has a player vying with Wilson to be named MVP, and he recently inspired them to an eight-game winning streak. But two straight defeats saw Houston fall to 31-11, leaving them narrowly behind the Spurs, who are 31-9. Alongside Golden State, the Spurs are the NBA’s form team at present. They have the league’s best offence, and over the last month they have had the best defence, so they are topping power rankings lists and should finish just ahead of Houston, making the 1/3 Bet365 is offering look good for an accumulator.

Atlantic Division

The Toronto Raptors lead this division ahead of the Boston Celtics, but the Raptors are an inconsistent team, losing to the Bulls and the Rockets this past week, before recording hugely impressive victories over the Celtics and the Jazz. That defeat will have hurt the Celtics, who are 8-2 in their last 10, compared to 5-5 for the Raptors, and will harbour hopes of overhauling them over the course of the season. The Raptors are 10/19 with Bet365, but the 7/4 Coral is offering on the Celtics looks interesting as Isaiah Thomas and Larry Bird are in sensational form.

Southeast Division

Arguably the poorest division, this could be taken by any one of three teams: the Atlanta Hawks (13/10 with Coral), Charlotte Hornets (9/4 with William Hill) or Washington Wizards (13/4 with 888Sport). None of them ranks in the top 10 teams this season for win percentage. The Hornets looked in the driving seat a couple of weeks ago, but four straight defeats for them coincided with seven wins in a row for Atlanta, leaving the Hawks ahead of them. The 13/10 looks a good bet on Atlanta and could make a nice treble with the Jazz and the Spurs.

Upcoming Games

Tuesday sees the Jazz travel to the struggling Phoenix Suns. Utah really should be winning this game and the odds of 4/9 reflect that, but you can get 10/11 with Paddy Power on the Jazz -4.5, which looks a good bet. On the same day, an out of sorts Thunder travels to the LA Clippers, who are on a six-game winning streak and should win it at 4/9 with Sky Bet. One game to look out for is in-form Atlanta at the Detroit Pistons on Thursday. The Pistons are 8-17 against teams with a win percentage better than .500, and Atlanta should beat them and cover a decent spread.

Harden looks a great bet for MVP after breaking records

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Houston Rockets guard James Harden pulled off a magnificent feat on the final day of 2016, earning an astonishing 53 points, 17 assists and 16 rebounds in his team’s 129-122 victory of the New York Knicks. It was the first time any player has ever broken the 50-15-15 barrier and it effectively put him in a two-horsed MVP race with Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook, and it is set to be a fascinating battle in 2017. Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers have consolidated their positions at the top of their respective divisions and are on course for another NBA Finals showdown, with Cleveland gaining a psychological edge by beating them on Christmas Day. It promises to be another exciting year in the NBA, with plenty of value for punters.

MVP

Westbrook looked to have this accolade sewn up going into the festive period. The Oklahoma City guard is crucial to his team and has been dubbed Mr Triple Double this year thanks to his phenomenal stats. For the uninitiated, a triple double requires a player to hit double figures on points, assists and rebounds in a game, and Westbrook is averaging 30.9 points per game – the best in the league – along with 10.7 assists and 10.5 rebounds. The closest contender looked set to be LeBron James, but the Cavaliers superstar’s stats aren’t as high this season and he has been rested a fair bit, as evidenced in Cleveland’s defeat to the Pistons on December 27.

Now though Harden has muscled in, with a record-breaking performance. He became only the fifth player of all time to record a triple-double while also scoring 40 points, the others being James, Westbrook, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, but his points and rebounds put his performance a notch above. He has now become second favourite to be crowned regular season MVP. Some bookmakers are offering just 2/1 or 9/4 on him, but Bet Victor has a generous 4/1, which looks a great bet. This looks like a two horsed race now, and with 888 Sport offering 2/1 on favourite Westbrook, you can back both and make a profit if they remain at the top – which they should.

NBA Championship

The Warriors still have the best record in the league, with a win record of 85.3% and look unstoppable in the Western Conference, which they are just 4/11 to win with Sky Bet (although some may fancy a speculative bet on Westbrook’s Thunder at 40/1 with William Hill). But the team to really watch looks to be the Cavaliers. Their win record is not so good, at just 78.1%, but they are still comfortably leading the conference and have made a habit of resting James and losing without him. But when he plays, they are ferocious, as they showed by beating the Warriors 109-108 on Christmas Day. The Cavs were down 14 points in the fourth quarter but rallied to make up the deficit and win it at the death, with James in the driving seat on 31 points. They bested the Warriors in last season’s Finals, and look like they could do so again in 2017, so the 3/1 various bookmakers are offering on them looks a good bet right now. But the Warriors will take some stopping and also look good at 4/5 with Sky Bet. Again you can hedge your bets on these two.

Upcoming games

The Warriors face an out of sorts Bulls team on Thursday and can be expected to cover a high spread, while the Cavs should beat the Trail Blazers pretty comfortably on the same day. A huge game takes place on Friday between the Rockets and the Thunder, where will we see Harden and Westbrook go head to head. The Rockets got the better of them when they last played, winning by three points on December 10, and can repeat the feat here as they are on a roll at the moment.

Spurs, Warriors and Raptors look good for treble

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The past week has seen the Golden State Warriors embark on another winning run and their season win percentage now stands at a remarkable .857, with a record of 24-4. That percentage is the third best of all time, and if they keep it up they will start threatening to break the all-time record of .890 they set last season. In that phenomenal campaign, they broke the record set by Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in 1996, but they still weren’t good enough to win the NBA Championship as they lost to LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers in the final.

The Warriors have responded in style this year, but they are not having it all their own way in the Western Conference, as the excellent San Antonio Spurs are on 22-5, with a win percentage of .815 currently leaving them 15th on the all-time list. Last year the Spurs ended on .817, the joint eighth best record of all-time. They lost to the Thunder in the playoff semifinal, but have proven themselves modern greats, and are on course for another fantastic season.

Western Conference

Bookmakers are offering lines on the amount of regular season games various NBA teams will win this season, and have most of them covered. The 10/11 Bet Victor is offering on the Spurs to win more than 57.5 games currently looks like a brilliant bet. Last season they won 67 games and, despite the retirement of long-time captain Tim Duncan, they are in very similar form this year and on course to once again reach 67 wins. It has not been quite so generous with the Warriors, who have to win more than 67.5 games in the over/under betting, again at 10/11. They should cover this, though. They are in superb form and finished with 67 wins two seasons ago, when they went on to win the Championship, and bettered that with the record breaking 73 last season. They are currently on course for 70 or 71 wins and should, therefore, be good to get at least 68. A double on the Spurs and the Warriors would get you odds of 41/25, which looks great.

Eastern Conference

The Cavaliers’ .760 would only leave them third in the Western Conference, but they are comfortably leading the Eastern Conference, with second-placed Toronto Raptors back on .704. They may not be as consistent as the Warriors or the Spurs, but James is a big game player, and they look good to win the conference again this season – they are 4/9 with Paddy Power to do so. Whether they will win more than 67.5 games (the over/under benchmark set by bookmakers) is another matter, however. The freak defeat to the Grizzlies last week should set alarm bells ringing, and that bet might be best avoided as they are currently on course for 62. A better bet could be on Toronto Raptors getting over 50.5 wins, at 4/5 with Bet Victor. Last season they got 56, and this time they are on course for 57. Put Toronto in a treble with the Warriors and Spurs and you get 139/25.

Upcoming Games

On Wednesday, a huge game sees the Spurs play the form team of the league, the Houston Rockets, who are on a 10-game winning streak. Someone has to put an end to it sooner or later, and the Spurs can be the team to do it, so backing them outright might be a good idea. Another good team, the Utah Jazz, play the Warriors on the same day, but with the way the Warriors are playing at present you would expect them to cover a reasonable spread. The Raptors play the struggling Brooklyn Nets and should cover a large spread. The Cavs play the Bucks twice in quick succession, but might be best avoided after they went 1-1 against the Grizzlies last week when they played twice in a row. Then it’s the big game on Christmas Day, where the Warriors travel to Cleveland looking for revenge for their final defeat last season. Given the way the form is going, the pendulum has shifted to the Warriors, who are currently looking good to get a road win at 20/21 with Paddy Power.

NBA Set for a Christmas Cracker

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Reigning champions the Cleveland Cavaliers have been in sensational form over the past week and blew away the Raptors, Heat, Knicks and Hornets in quick succession. The odds on them winning the Eastern Conference have shortened considerably, and they are now just 10/3 to win the NBA Championship. The Golden State Warriors have maintained their strong form, despite a blip against the Grizzlies, and the two still look on course for a showdown in the Championship series. There are plenty of exciting games to look forward to in the week ahead, but already thoughts are turning to Christmas Day, when the Cavs host the Warriors in what could prove to be the game of the season so far, and that could give a strong indication as to who will seize the Championship.

Eastern Conference

Odds on the Cavaliers winning the Eastern Conference have shortened from 13/20 to just 4/9 in a week, thanks to their excellent winning streak. Star man LeBron James continues to break records and in the past week became the first player to ever reach 7,000 career assists along with 27,000 points and 7,000 rebounds. He is an all-around superstar, and teams simply cannot handle him at the moment. As we suggested last week, the Cavaliers destroyed the Knicks and easily covered the spread. They are now just 1/18 to win the Central Division and look good for the Eastern Conference, so it might be worth getting on them sooner rather than later as the odds are only going one way at present.

Western Conference

We tipped the Warriors to easily cover the point spread against the Clippers and they did so, also beating the Pacers, Jazz and Timberwolves, but an 110-89 defeat to the Memphis Grizzlies was a serious blip. The Warriors were sleepwalking through that game and it raises question marks over their mentality going into a crucial part of the season. The odds on them winning the Western Conference have gone out to 2/5 with some bookmakers, as the Spurs are looking good, so now could be the time to back them.

NBA Championship

The Warriors have drifted out to 5/6 with Sky Bet and Bet Victor thanks to the recent form of the Cavs, so now might be a good time to back them if you still think they will do it. They still rank as the best team in the league this season and top the power rankings as the NBA’s top scoring and top shooting team. But the Cavs are building up a head of steam and the odds are likely to continue tumbling on them, so it could also be worth getting on them at 10/3 with Bet Victor now.

Upcoming games

A standout game sees the Warriors take on the Knicks on Friday. After the Cavs destroyed the Knicks, the Warriors will want to put in a similarly emphatic performance to show they are still the dominant force in the NBA, so backing them to cover the spread might be a good idea. Similarly, the Cavs play the Grizzlies and will be keen to beat them to land a psychological blow against the Warriors.

The Warriors blew everyone away to win the NBA Championship two years ago but lost out to Cleveland in the finals last season, and everything looks to be heading for a grudge match between these two in this season’s finals as they are the best teams in the NBA of late. They face off in Cleveland on Christmas Day and it promises to be a thriller. Bookmakers are already offering odds and it is tight, with Paddy Power offering 20/23 on the Cavs and 20/21 on the Warriors. With the way LeBron is playing at the moment, you wouldn’t want to bet against him turning it on in front of his beloved hometown fans, and that 20/23 on the Cavaliers looks tempting.

NBA Update: Golden State Warriors in Imperious Form

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We are now a quarter of the way through the NBA regular season and the Golden State Warriors’ imperious form has left them heavy favourites in NBA betting markets to regain the Championship title they won in 2015. They have by far and away the best record in the league and are already odds-on to make up for the heartbreak of losing the NBA Finals to the Cavaliers back in June.

Western Conference

The Warriors, led by the most fearsome attacking triumvirate in basketball, have stormed to the top of their division and built up a considerable lead over the impressive LA Clippers, despite having played fewer games. Devin Durrant, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are on fire this year, and that is more than making up for a defence that has tailed off slightly after losing Andrew Bogut. At Sun Bets, which offers some of the most competitive NBA prices, they are just 1/25 to win the Pacific Division, with the Clippers out at 8/1. The Warriors are also ahead in the race to win the Western Conference, but the San Antonio Spurs look like giving them a good run for their money. The Spurs are just 1/50 with Sun Bets to win their division and are 5/1 second-favourites for the Western Conference. But the Warriors look all conquering at present and look good for the 4/11 on them winning the Western Conference.

Eastern Conference

Things are a bit more open in the Eastern Conference after a losing streak for leaders the Cavaliers. Last season’s champions are 1/20 to win the Central Division and the bookmakers expect them to win the Eastern Conference, where they too are 4/11 with Sun Bets, thanks largely to the influence of LeBron James. But the Toronto Raptors have embarked on a sensational winning run and look a good outside bet at 10/1 to win it, while the odds of them winning their division – 13/20 with Sun Bets – look fantastic.

Outright

Right now the Warriors are looking untouchable thanks to their superb offence. You can never count the Cavaliers out thanks to James, but the 3/4 Sun Bets has on the Warriors looks the best option right now. If you are looking for more value, the Raptors are an interesting option at 28/1. Their offence is the second highest rated in the league, as is their field goal percentage, and they could well go all the way. The Utah Jazz has maintained a strong record despite injuries to key players Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward and George Hill, and could be a threat at 66/1 once they get their starters back.

Upcoming games

A mouth-watering clash between divisional rivals the Warriors and Clippers takes place on Thursday. The Warriors have won both times when these two have met this season and should make it three on the bounce, but it should prove a tight game after the last meeting was only decided by a four-point margin. Back the Warriors outright but be wary of the spread. On the same day, the Cavs and the New York Knicks face one another. The Knicks have been average this season but have enjoyed a recent upsurge in form, while the Cavs have struggled. But this could be the perfect game for the Cavs to get their season back on track after they destroyed the Knicks 117-88 in the season opener. They should beat them with ease and cover a high spread.