NBA 2015 - 2016 season picks

[paul8209]

NBA Orlando Magic - Chicago Bulls

Recommendation: UNDER 210

Odds: 1.909

Bookmaker: Pinnaclesports / Sportmarket


Things are not looking good for Bulls at the moment but they put them in this bad position on their own. Chicago lost both home-and-home series with out-of-picture Knicks and the worst thing was the performance. Pau Gasol is healing a lingering injury and his missing is crucial; he remains questionable for tonight. Jimmy Butler still can’t rediscover his shooting touch after the injury and it seems that this will be his task for the next season, missing the play-offs now like a serious threat. In these circumstances Bulls should turn to their tested weapon, the defense. Winning tonight’s game in Orlando is a must, otherwise they can say farewell to post season right away.

Orlando have been pretty pathetic but they’re in off-season mode already. Oladipo will probably miss tonight’s game again and he’s one of their leading scorers.

Teams have not passed this total line in 5 of their last 6 meetings, including both previous games so far this season. That’s why this line seems a bit on the high side for me, even if Orlando is playing without pressure and target to achieve. Bulls are still deserved favourites to win it but I doubt it will be an easy one, something like 95-100 sound good enough J

from Basketball Service Newsletter

[paul8209]

NBA Cleveland Cavaliers - Houston Rockets

Recommendation: Cavs ML

Odds: 1.833

Bookmaker: Pinnaclesports / Sportmarket


LeBron will be given a rest tonight and this is why we have so low spread on Cleveland at home against a mediocre team like Houston. Cavs have more than enough quality in their roster to win this without LBJ of course; the question is will they be motivated enough? I think yes, as Tyronn Lue won’t be completely happy until they secure the first seed mathematically. Plus, Kevin Love and Kyrie will want to show they can be superstars on their own and not be held by the hand from the King all the way. Kyrie especially should be extra fired up because of the yellow gossips of his girlfriend dumping him, this must be really irritating for him at this important stage of the season, true or false. This is the perfect moment he proves his critics wrong.

Houston will scramble with Dallas and Utah for the last 2 remaining play-off spots till the very end of the regular season most probably. Rockets have proved on many occasions they terribly need a real leader and not just 2 stars fighting with each other and caring for their personal stats mainly. This is the decisive time of the season and Rockets mostly fail lately. They have won only 4 games in their last 10 (1 in the last 5!). The last one in Indiana was a close one really but just showed once again Rockets are not gritty enough this season. The only factor that worries me a bit is Marcus Beasley. He is very reliable on the offensive end and really brings a spark from the bench. Cleveland second unit is overall better though, quite naturally. Houston’s defensive attitude is the usual failure cause anyway, so I’m pretty confident in the home win here.

from Basketball Service Newsletter

[paul8209]

NBA: Utah Jazz - San Antonio Spurs

Recommendation: OVER 183

Odds: 2.00

Bookmaker: Pinnaclesports / Sportmarket


Utah are a top defensive team beyond any doubt. They’ve put another great run lately in their quest to catch the last play-off train, holding teams to under 90 points in their last 10 games or so. The only small problem is San Antonio is one of the teams Jazz can’t really slow down, but this could be said about many other NBA teams anyway.

This is the 4th and final game in the season series. Spurs have won all 3 so far and a clean sweep is on the cards, regardless of the fact that Jazz are in greater need. Both games in San Antonio have gone comfortably over this line (198 and 221 points) and only the first meeting here was a defensive battle (96-78 for Sours). I’m inclined to believe exactly that game was a blip out of the trend though, as Jazz still weren’t able to contain Spurs. Tonight they just have to gamble and give everything they got for the win. Winning would mean scoring at least 95 points though, and this is the optimistic scenario!

Popovich hasn’t announced yet any players to be given a full rest tonight, but it’s not excluded he changes his mind. I expect Spurs’ Big 3 plus Kahwi to play limited minutes in all cases though, as the win here brings very small value for them as it’s a road game and doesn’t mess with their unbeaten home games record. I like San Antonio bench a lot, it’s a bit stating the obvious their bench is one of the two best in the league (along with GSW one of course). Second unit don’t play as tough defense as the starters really (completely in line with our target tonight) but still remain remarkably effective on the offensive end.

A home win wouldn’t be a total shock in these conditions, but the spread is on the low side (+3, + 4 points). I can easily see more scenarios ending with a road win, something in the range of 100-95 for SA

from Basketball Service Newsletter

[paul8209]

NBA Philadelphia 76ers - New York Knicks

Recommendation: OVER 204

Odds: 1.892

Bookmaker: Pinnaclesports / Sportmarket


It’s a friendly game basically so I don’t see any of the teams playing hard defense. They can’t play good D anyway, even more so now, without a real incentive

Sixers should be slightly more motivated to win here in order to record a mini winning streak of 2 games, something they haven’t succeed to do so far through this season. They also have a new general manager, so a win would be a proper start for the young Colangelo. Philly are guaranteed to finish as the worst team in the league, the tanking job is done long ago. Carl Landry and Canaan found a good shooting form in the last games and I guess they will carry the scoring load again.

New York will probably miss Porzingis again and this is kinda good for the OVER chances as Carmelo is way the better and faster shooter of course, and I prefer him having unlimited shot attempts against a broken Philly defense. Knicks young players will probably get extended minutes again, so more running and easy points off Sixers numerous turnovers hopefully.

I still think Philly has slightly better chance to edge this. The spread is only 3 points in their favor though, not enough to instill a huge confidence in a team with only 10 wins so far. Something like 110-105 (in any direction) sounds about right here.

from Basketball Service Newsletter

[food123]

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