Tag: Phoenix Suns

NBA Betting Preview for Friday, April 5

By Al Walsh – Follow him on Twitter @14AdotWalsh

Get ready for another exciting night of NBA hoops! The Spread Knowledge top value plays of the night are listed below. However, because they are such heavy favorites on the moneyline, we’re only advising you to take them as an extra caveat to add to your parlays:

  • Los Angeles Lakers at Los Angeles Clippers (-667 ML)
  • New York Knicks at Houston Rockets (-2500 ML)

[7:10 p.m. EST] Under 226.5 – Atlanta Hawks (+342 ML) at Orlando Magic

There’s no getting around it, but the Orlando Magic need to win, as they currently sit in the final spot of the Eastern Conference playoff race. This is the final time that Orlando will have a regular season game on its home court, so the level of importance doesn’t even need to be described.

However, the SK value system loves the moneyline number on the Atlanta Hawks, who have been quite pesky down the stretch with outright wins over the 76ers (twice), Bucks and Jazz. Hawks point guard Trae Young is still trying to make one last heroic attempt at winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award and he can certainly make life difficult on the Magic defense.

While it is true that Orlando hit four straight overs, 216 has been the highest total over that stretch. Granted, Atlanta’s NBA-leading pace and lackluster defense are the reasons we see a 226.5 total tonight, but that just lends more optimism that the Hawks come in and pull off the upset win. In fact, two of the three Hawks-Magic matchups have gone under tonight’s total.

[8:10 p.m. EST] Under 213 – Boston Celtics at Indiana Pacers

These two teams just faced off last Friday and now they’ll do battle once again. The term “battle” is an understatement, as they both have the same record and find themselves jockeying for homecourt advantage in their eventual first-round playoff matchup. The Boston Celtics do hold the head-to-head tiebreaker but a win for the Indiana Pacers would be monumental here.

The one lean the SK value system has is Under 213 points in the game, mainly because of the importance of defense in this matchup, as Indiana ranks third in defensive efficiency and Boston ranks sixth. Not to mention, the two teams just saw each other and will likely have their best defensive efforts on deck.

[10:10 p.m. EST] New Orleans Pelicans (-130) at Phoenix Suns

The SK value system has quite the knack for pointing out these late-season NBA games that have absolutely no meaning whatsoever in the standings. However, the amount of key players the Phoenix Suns are missing is just too large to ignore. Granted, the New Orleans Pelicans will be missing Anthony Davis but that seems like a blip on the radar, consider the Suns are missing Devin Booker, DeAndre Ayton and T.J. Warren.

Look for the Pelicans B-team to get the win over the Suns C-team.

[10:40 p.m. EST] Portland Trail Blazers (+236 ML) at Denver Nuggets

In what would be a dazzling upset win, the SK value system loves the Portland Trail Blazers to go on the road and get the outright W over the Denver Nuggets. The Trail Blazers have won 11 of their 13 games while the Nuggets have been a very Jekyll-and-Hyde sort of team, going 3-4 over the last seven. Denver has won each of the previous two meetings versus Portland this season by a combined four points. Not to mention, these two teams will face each other in their next game on Sunday – time for the Trail Blazers to get busy and even the score.

NBA Betting Preview for Wednesday, March 27

Welcome back for another night of NBA action! Before we get to tonight’s slate of five games, let’s take a look at how Spread Knowledge did last night:

✅ Under 227 in Houston/Milwaukee
✅ LA Clippers moneyline over Minnesota
✅ Over 233.5 in Washington/LA Lakers
❌ Houston moneyline over Milwaukee
❌ Under 226.5 in Sacramento/Dallas

Don’t forget, tomorrow is MLB Opening Day, so be on the lookout for that betting preview!

NBA Betting Preview for Wednesday, March 27

[8:05 p.m. EST] Portland Trail Blazers (-8.5/-294 ML) at Chicago Bulls – Total: 216.5

The Portland Trail Blazers were dealt a massive blow in Monday’s double-overtime win over the Brooklyn Nets, losing center Jusuf Nurkic for the season to a horrific leg injury – not to mention, C.J. McCollum is already on the shelf with a knee injury. While their championship aspirations have likely capsized, the Trail Blazers should still handle the Chicago Bulls with relative ease tonight. Our system thinks Portland, winners in seven of its last eight games, rally around one another to get the win on the moneyline over Chicago, which has lost nine of its last 12.

* Update: Chicago will be without its four best players tonight – Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen and Otto Porter.

[8:05 p.m. EST] Golden State Warriors (-11/-650 ML) at Memphis Grizzlies – Total: 219.5

Who the heck is this Memphis Grizzlies team trying to make a name for themselves down the stretch? After another season of disappointment, Memphis is 5-1 outright in its last six home games, with wins against current playoff teams – Portland, Utah, Orlando, Houston, OKC. The system’s lean, however, lies in the total going under in this game. That’s probably because Golden State Warriors’ games have had that fate in 13 of their last 15. This is usually the time of the year that Golden State goes through the motions, and The Grindhouse has always presented a stiff challenge for this team over the years.

[8:05 p.m. EST] Indiana Pacers (+6.5/+231 ML) at Oklahoma City Thunder – Total: 217

The Indiana Pacers have slowly been losing their hold on home-court advantage for the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, losing four of their last five games. Meanwhile, Boston Celtics are just 1.5 games behind them for the four-seed, so it would behoove the Pacers to get their act together before the postseason starts in a little more than two weeks. The OKC Thunder have been equally as dreadful down the stretch, losing five of their last six games. Indy did get a narrow 108-106 win over OKC two weeks ago, and our system likes the Pacers to do so once again tonight on the road.

[10:05 p.m. EST] Washington Wizards (-3.5/-128 ML) at Phoenix Suns – Total: 231

The Washington Wizards played last night, so our system feels like they won’t have enough left in the tank to put up enough points tonight. And that’s interesting, considering the Phoenix Suns have the NBA’s second-worst defensive efficiency – the Wizards are no better themselves, sporting the fourth-worst defensive efficiency. The Suns will be missing Josh Jackson, Tyler Johnson and T.J. Warren tonight, so the scoring could be a lot harder to come by at that end of the floor. That, combined with the Wizards playing their second game in as many nights, has the system liking the under.

[10:35 p.m. EST] Los Angeles Lakers at Utah Jazz (-15/-1200 ML) – Total: 217.5

We had the under in the last Utah Jazz game, but absolutely bizarre circumstances from the Phoenix Suns (thanks guys!) prohibited us from getting the win on that bet. That’s alright, now the Jazz owes us one tonight. The Los Angeles Lakers played (and won) last night, but the key here is the absence of LeBron James. He won’t be playing certain games down the stretch, particularly on the back-end of back-to-backs, and that’ll certainly make this Lakers team a shell of themselves on the road in such a hostile Salt Lake City environment. Utah is in “all-business” mode heading towards the postseason, with a 7-1 record over its last eight games. Our system likes the under in this game, so expect the Jazz to hold the Lakers down with relative ease.

NBA Preview for Monday, March 25th

There are only four games on the NBA docket this evening but plenty of playoff implications on the line. In fact, six of the eight teams on tonight’s schedule have some level of urgency to get a win.

(7:05 p.m. EST) Philadelphia 76ers (-1.5) at Orlando Magic – Total: 219

To start the evening, the Philadelphia 76ers face the Orlando Magic. With the Eastern Conference playoff picture starting to take shape, the Magic are trying to make sure they’re not left out of the race. They currently find themselves one game behind the eighth-place Miami Heat, who will be waiting for Orlando and their monumental showdown tomorrow night. The Magic have gone 4-0 on their current five-game homestand, all against teams with a losing record (Cleveland, Atlanta, New Orleans, Memphis), while the 76ers have a stronghold on the three-seed in the East but did have their six-game winning streak snapped in Atlanta on Saturday night.

It’s interesting to note that the Sixers opened as 4.5-point favorites, but that spread has since plummeted three points down to 1.5 in favor of the visitors. Philly is 2-1 against Orlando this season, with the average margin being five points between the three games. 78 percent of public bets are on the Sixers tonight, perhaps giving some credence to the fact that the Magic have more motivation to win — Our system also thinks so.

(8:05 p.m. EST) Oklahoma City Thunder (-7) at Memphis Grizzlies – Total: 216.5

The Oklahoma City Thunder should be happy to see the Memphis Grizzlies on their schedule, considering they have been winners in nine of the last 10 meetings between the teams – 6-4 against the spread. However, OKC has failed to cover the spread in 12 of its last 16 games, while Memphis is 4-1 outright in its last five games, winning against top-flight teams like Portland, Utah, Orlando and Houston. Our system doesn’t have a specific lean for this game, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Memphis get up for a marquee opponent and keep it close.

(9:05 p.m. EST) Phoenix Suns at Utah Jazz (-15) – Total: 216

The Utah Jazz aren’t in serious jeopardy of losing of their playoff bid, but it would behoove them to keep on their winning ways against a hapless Phoenix Suns team that has the second-worst record in the NBA. And they should, as the Jazz have already defeated the Suns by 28 and 17 points in each of their first two meetings this season. The totals went under in each of those two games, and it’s worth noting that Jazz games have produced the under on totals in 10 of their last 14. Our system likes more of the same tonight, with Utah proving to be ultra-focused defensively on its home floor.

(10:05 p.m. EST) Brooklyn Nets at Portland Trail Blazers (-6.5) – Total: 222.5

This game between the Brooklyn Nets and Portland Trail Blazers could end up being the best one of the night when it’s all said and done. The Trail Blazers could clinch a playoff berth with a win, while the Nets are clinging on to one of the last spots in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Brooklyn has the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA and is currently in the midst of a daunting seven-game road trip that will end on Thursday in Philly. Luckily, the Nets had two full days off prior to tonight’s game.

One thing is for certain – both teams need this game. Sure, Portland will make the playoffs but holding on to home-court advantage for its first-round matchup looms large. Meanwhile, making the playoffs for Brooklyn would mean the world. After three years of losing records and not having control of their own draft pick, the Nets rebuild has certainly been fast-tracked quicker than anyone would have ever imagined. Expect both teams to come out crisp on offense and put up plenty of points.