NBA Betting Odds

The Miami Heat was the first to enter the league and two teams have been produced from Florida and a part of the National Basketball Association. Florida and are in the Eastern Conference, they are based out of Miami. Erik Spoelstra, team’s head coach and it is owned by Micky Arison. Pat Riley manages the team.

The Miami Heat was first formed as an expansion team into the NBA, in 1988. 13 out of 21 seasons is their franchise records. Winning one NBA Finals in 2006, they have won seven division titles in the Southeast Division.

The Heat started off with a young roster including the likes of Ron Seikaly, Pat Cummings, and Scott Hastings. In 1993, Glen Rice was acquired next year and had a winning season. Alonzo Mourning as well as Tim Hardaway is other notable players.

In the 2000’s, the Heat started to make some significant changes. They picked Dwayne Wade as one of their best drafts picks ever. He was given a few key players to help him build his team when the heat acquired Shaquille O’Neal from the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004.

The Miami Heat improved their season record to 59-23 and achieved the second best season record in franchise history, in 2005, behind Shaq and Wade and this really improved their basketball betting odds. In 2005 they would go far into the post season, before being ousted in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat would come back with a vengeance and would end up winning the NBA finals against the Dallas Mavericks in 2006, the very next year.

In the most recent season, 2010 prove to be too little as they were beaten in 5 games by the Boston Celtics.

The Eastern Conference Semi Finals between the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks is an interesting one. However, all odds suggest that Orlando will easily breeze through this series.

First of all, there is a lot at stake for both teams. There is plenty of pressure on the Magic to defend their championship, while the Hawks are trying to make franchise history by reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time.

Frankly, the Hawks’ lineup can’t match the Magic’s firepower. Joe Johnson’s solo efforts cannot outmatch the combinations of powerful and accurate scoring by Vince Carter and Dwight Howard.

The first round series also plays a role on the outcome of this clash. The Magic swept the Bobcats, while the Hawks barely got through the Bucks in game 7. Orlando surely comes into the Eastern Conference Semi Finals as the fresher team with more energy, while Atlanta is still somewhat fatigued. This is evident by the outcome of the first game of the series, as the Magic crushed the Hawks 114-71, one of the most convincing victories in the 2010 NBA playoffs so far.

Home court advantage proved to be a major factor, as the Magic used its crowd to intimidate and defeat the Hawks in Game 1 and Game 2. Lewis, Carter, Nelson, and Howard each scored more than 20 points in game 2 to beat the Hawks 112-98. Atlanta’s center Horford scored more points than the team’s star player Johnson, which is not a good sign.

So what are the dynamics of Game 3 of this series? to start with, Atlanta will finally have the home court advantage on Saturday night, as well as for Game 4. The Hawks must win Game 3 to have any hopes for competing in this series. However, at this point it seems that not even Atlanta fans can lift up the Hawks to a victory.

The Utah Jazz will try to pick up their first win of their Western semifinal series against the Los Angeles Lakers when the teams play Game 3 in Salt Lake City on Saturday.

Game 2 between the Lakers and the Jazz followed a nearly identical script to that of Game 1.

The Jazz jumped to another quick early lead but were overwhelmed by a flurry of Laker possessions that quickly built the lead, until an early fourth quarter meltdown allowed the Jazz to nearly come back. The two unquestioned leaders in Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol then finished strong, ultimately putting away the Jazz 111-103.

Once again, the Lakers, basketball betting favorite had their way with the Jazz down low. From the beginning of the series the Jazz simply could not match up with the Lakers on paper, and have so far proven unable to come up with a solution. LA had 64 point in the paint, with a 58-40 rebounding advantage and an astounding 13 team blocked shots. Forcing the Jazz to shoot outside, they hit a woeful 39% field goal percentage.

In game three, the Jazz need to avoid getting caught in the paint with nowhere to go. They need to establish their patented pick and roll offense high on the key and make better use of cutting wing players for layups or jump shots away from the Laker’s bigs. Defensive stopper Andrei Kirilenko should be ready to return and will match up with Bryant, and the Jazz excel on their homecourt, making this the Jazz’s best chance to avoid the 0-3 deficit. The Lakers on the other hand need to put the game away at the end, avoiding costly turnovers.

The key question regarding the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic series is whether or not Al Horford and the rest of the Hawks frontcourt can handle the likes of Dwight Howard. The Magic will need a second scorer, whether it happens to be Jameer Nelson or Rashard Lewis for example. You certainly want to make sure that Mike Bibby does not get out of control and start missing too many of his shots because it tends to impact his ball handling skills. If the Magic can cause a lot of turnovers by putting a lot of ball pressure on Bibby, the Magic can end up getting a lot of quality fast break points.

The Hawks certainly have the natural athleticism to compete with the Orlando Magic on the board, but they probably do not have the size to compete with Howard on the boards. The Hawks do have Jason Collins on their roster, it will be interesting to see if they end up activating for for the series.

The Hawks will need some quality second unit points from the likes of Maurice Evans, especially if they do not get a lot of production from the likes of Marvin Williams. Marvin Williams has got to take the ball to the post and to the basket in order to be effective.

Mike Woodson has his contract situation to worry about so the question is whether or not some of those worries will allow him to be out coached by the likes of Stan Van Gundy.

Game 5 between the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers looked like a competitive game by the end of the first quarter, but it turned into a blowout victory for the Suns as they took a 3-2 lead in the first round best –of-seven series against the Trailblazers with a 107-88 win. The Phoenix Suns were the pre-match NBA odds favorite.

Amare Stoudemire had 19 points for the Suns and Steve Nash had 14 points and 10 assist, but this game belonged to the Phoenix Suns bench who they can thank for this victory. The Suns had great help off of the bench as Channing Frye picked a good time to have one of his best games ever as a Phoenix Sun, he scored 20 points off of the bench against his former team. Dudley also had a superb game off of the bench, scoring 19 points.

The Blazers had a quick start in the game by going up early 23-9 in the first quarter, Andre miller racking up 10 points along the way. By the time the first quarter was over though they only had a one point lead 28-27. It remained a game into the third quarter where the Blazers only trailed 65-58 at one point. Suddenly though, Phoenix outscored Portland 17-7 and held a 82-65 commanding lead as they routed the Blazers the rest of the way.

In order for the Blazers to win game 6 on Thursday and keep this series alive, they are going to have to slow the game down a bit. In game 5, the Trailblazers played right into the hands of the Suns hands as they let the Suns play the quick temp game that they prefer to play. Game 6 is Thursday night in Portland.

Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz lock horns (10:30 PM ET, Altitude Sports). Jazz and Nuggets Series Betting NBA Odds come at Jazz with +160 and Nuggets with -200.
The Denver Nuggets didn’t have a good finish to their season as per their liking. The lost against the Spurs made them into 4th seed. They do have the home court advantage but the toughest part is that they will be playing against one of the best teams in the league, Utah Jazz. With the entry of Carmelo Anthony things have certainly improved for the Nuggets. Getting rid of Allen Iverson was a good decision.
Denver remains pretty dominant on the boards with Nene Hilaro and Keynon Martin scored 25-per night, Chauncey Billups putting 20 a game and J.R. Smith just above 15. Martin’s injury was a big setback for the team. Denver does have few good players namely Chris “the Birdman” Anderson, Johan Petro, Aaron Affialo and Ty Lawson. The Nuggets have been performing well throughout the series with a couple of losses. The interesting part is Nuggets are 34-7 on their home court up against the strong Utah team.
With the introduction of Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams has definitely made Utah Basketball exciting and interesting. The biggest setback to Utah is the absence of Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko because of injuries so without them, “It’s a sad injury, bad injury, I wish him the best,” Jazz point guard Deron Williams said as he sat on near practice court at the Pepsi Center don’t expect the Utah team to give 100% both mentally and physically. They will also miss Memo for sure. “Memo’s a big part of our team. He stretches the defense. He’s a guy you really can’t replace just because his inside-outside game is really unmatched”, said Deron. Utah Jazz has played 19 games and has lost just two, one against the Lakers and the other from Nuggets.

The Oklahoma City Thunder is one of the surprising teams of the NBA regular season and The Los Angeles Lakers open up the defense of their title with them. People have been talking about the Thunder and how they were streaking up the charts, for the past month. Up until the last weekend of the NBA season, they were looking really good. Possibly the 82 game schedule caught up with them. The Lakers have been coasting to the finish line. After you have been coasting, it is a difficult thing to pick up and play again. For that reason, it is a possibility that the Thunder could beat the Lakers.

The matchups are interesting. The Thunder should probably be given the point guard battle. Westbrook has the athletic prowess and Fisher is getting older to take him on. The other guard position has Kobe going against Sefolosha. You just do not bet against Kobe therefore you have to give the Lakers this matchup. He has been the premier player for too long.

It could be tough for the Thunder to match up with the Lakers with the power of these players like Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom. Kevin Durant and Jeff Green inexperience in the playoffs will catch up with them even though it is true that Thunder have some good young players.

Some people will probably be surprised by thunder. The Lakers could be caught napping and win the first game in Los Angeles. However, the Lakers will catch fire from there and put the Thunder away in six games. About winning in the playoffs, The Oklahoma City Thunder just has too much to learn.

On Thursday, the Dallas Mavericks is set to be hosted by the Portland Trail Blazers. The game should be nothing short of excellent with both teams jockeying for their respective playoff positions.

The NBA betting game will be entered by the Dallas Mavericks, who are led by Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki, as one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Since the middle of February, 14 of 16 games have been won by the Mavericks which include a 13 game winning streak that last for three weeks. The main reason for the Maverick’s surge seems to be a mid-season trade which brought in Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood from the Washington Wizards. With a record of 46 and 23, the Mavericks are presently in third place in the Western Conference.

A successful NBA betting season has had been so far this year by the Portland Trail Blazers, who are led by Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. With a record of 42 and 28, the 8th place is held by the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference. While 8th place is good for a spot in the NBA playoffs, the Blazers seem poised to move up. They have won 5 straight games, and 8 of the last 10.They are only a game and a half out of fifth place, while they are in 8th place.

For the third time the two teams have met this season will be Thursday. Both of the previous meetings have been won by the Trail Blazers, however both games were tightly fought. The two teams will meet again on April 9.

In the NBA season, the competition for the 2010 playoffs is heating up with less than 20 games remaining. For very different reasons, the significant game for both teams will be the game between the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat on Thursday.

It is scheduled to start the game at 7:00 PM at the American Airlines Arena with local and national broadcasting on FSN Florida, TNT, and WDBO/WONQ radio. You can bet on basketball online with different sportsbooks.

The second best team in the Eastern Conference with a confident eye on the playoffs is the Orlando Magic, with a record of 46-20 as of the second week of March. The Magic are confident to continue this success as they face Washington, Charlotte, and San Antonio before clashing with the Miami Heat, and have won their first six games of March.

The Miami Heat find themselves fighting hard for a shot at the playoffs with just over 30 wins by early March. Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Antonio will have to be faced by the Heat before hosting the Magic.

Despite having the worst standings, two of the last three games against the Magic are won by the Heat. The last match up between the two teams will be the game on March 18. For Orlando, the game will be all about prestige and revenge. For the Heat, it will be about trying to win a much needed game to keep the playoffs hopes alive.

A lot of hype and excitement is there for the last NBA Florida derby game. How well will Orlando’s Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, and Rashard Lewis perform against Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat remains the big question? The truth is that each team has an equal shot at winning the game. At this point, you can throw out any statistics and expect any result. Many online sportsbooks offer basketball betting.

The Memphis Grizzlies have surpassed expectations during parts of the season and underperformed in others and were somewhat of a wild card this season.  Lately, somewhat of an odd stretch is on them.  It involves losing eight straight games at home, while winning all six on the road.  This is an odd trend, especially figuring that home court advantage has to be some kind of “advantage”.  Basketball betting odds are always available.

The teams that they played are the key to look at in this stretch of wins and losses.  All the teams they played on the road were around .386, while eight of the teams they played at home were above a .582 winning percentage.  In essence, they have just been playing the hard teams at home and the easy ones away.

33 games have been won by the Grizzlies and 31 games lost.  The Portland Trailblazers who have 38 wins is helped by eighth spot in the Western Conference.  There is only a five game difference between the Grizzlies and the Blazers, and if they play well enough in the next five weeks they could make it into the post-season.

In order to do this, their game is to be really taken to the next level by Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, and Marc Gasol.  Both the offense and the defense are included in this.  The Grizzlies acquired a key defender in Ronnie Brewer before the trade deadline but he injured his hamstring his first week with the team, so they will have to improve their defense without him. Check out all the basketball betting online with the sportsbooks.