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Can Mikhail Prokhorov turn the Nets around?
2010-06-25

With the exception of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, most of the other owners in the NBA stay out of the spotlight. However, it appears that Cuban may have to share some of the attention in the years to come. The new owner of the New Jersey Nets has generated a great deal of notice in recent weeks. Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov has brought a new dynamic to the NBA. It appears that he will do whatever it takes to turn the Nets franchise around. Prokhorov inherits a team that is coming off of one of the worst seasons in the history of the NBA. In the 2009-10 campaign, the Nets were on the verge of posting a dubious feat for a good portion of the year. The 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers set a mark of futility by posting a 9-73 record. The 2009-10 Nets dropped its first 18 contests of the season, and the NBA betting community closed the door on them. As the year progressed, things didn't get much better. After 70 games, New Jersey held a record of 7-63. The Nets were on the brink of a record that no team wanted to be associated with. The club was able to post a respectable 5-7 mark in the final 12 games of the year to avoid the 76ers record. Still, a 12-70 record has left the Nets with a lot of work to do heading into the 2010-11 season.

There are some glimmers of hope heading into the upcoming year for the Nets. New Jersey has a chance to build around one of the top young centers in the league. 22-year-old Brook Lopez was the lone bright spot for the Nets last season. In just his second year in the league, he averaged 19 points and 9 rebounds per outing. In the backcourt, point guard Devin Harris (17 points, 7 assists per game last season) is a solid performer. He will be looking to stay on the floor a little more often next year. Harris has missed 18 or more games in each of the last three seasons. The upcoming draft should provide some help for the club. In a deep draft, the Nets will have 3 of the first 31 selections. New Jersey will have the third overall choice in the draft. The Nets should be able to get an impact frontcourt performer to compliment Lopez. New Jersey will also have selections at spots 27 and 31. With his deep pockets, Prokhorov could be active in this summer's free agency period. He will likely make a strong run at league MVP LeBron James. If Prokhorov is unable to land James, there are several other big names available for the Nets to pursue.

After last year's disaster, the Nets will have a new coach prowling the sidelines this season. It appears that former Mavericks head coach Avery Johnson will be the club's choice. He took Dallas to the NBA Finals back in 2006. Fans of the Nets will be able to watch the club at a new arena in Brooklyn in two years. With Prokhorov's aggressive approach, New Jersey could be a factor in the Eastern Conference quicker than expected.

Are you ready for some NBA betting? Are you betting the Nets are going to turn it around in 2010-2011? Head over to www.sportsbook.com the king of NBA betting.

NBA: Atlanta at Milwaukee 7:00E ESPN
2010-04-30

Though the hip-hop generation of NBA players likely doesn’t include many U2 fans, a song comes to mind watching Atlanta and Milwaukee the last three games, “Desire”. Milwaukee has shown it, Atlanta hasn’t, thus the reason the Bucks have a chance to close out the first round series on Friday night at home. Sportsbook oddsmakers have other ideas though, making the downtrodden Hawks the favorites by 2-points.

The Bucks Game 5 performance in pulling the 91-87 upset as nine-point favorites was unremarkable, given the fact they shot 40.3 percent for the game, were outscored at the center position 25-4 and saw various players disappear for long stretches even when they were on the floor.

Yet, if one game defines a team and its coach, it was Game 5 for Milwaukee with their desire. Scott Skiles grinded away as a college and NBA player and his less-talented contingent played like he did his whole career. This Bucks team is 14-4 ATS in home games after playing as a road underdog this season and goes for the first real big surprise of the playoffs.

Atlanta showed what they were made of as Josh Smith, Al Horford, Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford all decided individually they were going to be “the man” and went about their business trying to take their defenders one on one with passing the ball be damned. Once again the Hawks proved they are not mature TEAM and that they lack heart. Peering ahead it is little wonder this team is 1-10 ATS revenging a home loss this season.

Sportsbook.com still has the more talent-laden Atlanta squad as two-point favorites, however it would take a large dosage of courage to back a team that is 1-10 SU and ATS on the playoff road the last three seasons. Milwaukee was the best spread team in the NBA this campaign and it is continuing in the playoffs. They are 20-6 ATS having covered the spread in three or more consecutive contests.

Tip-time for tonight’s game is 7:00 PM ET, and the StatFox Power Line shows Milwaukee should be favored by 4-points.

NBA: Raptors invade Atlanta seeking playoff bid
2010-04-09

The Toronto Raptors find themselves in a difficult spot with just four games remaining in the NBA’s regular season. While tied with the Bulls for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference as of this morning, Toronto needs a win in a city it has struggled, Atlanta, all the while hoping to avoid looking ahead to Sunday’s showdown with Chicago. Making matters worse, Raptors star Chris Bosh could be sidelined for the rest of the season. Sportsbook.com has installed the host Hawks as 9-point favorites for Friday’s contest.

Three weeks ago, Bosh helped the Toronto Raptors take advantage of the absence of Atlanta Hawks leading scorer Joe Johnson. While Johnson might be out again Friday night in Atlanta, the Raptors won’t be able to rely on Bosh this time. Attempting to close in on the Eastern Conference’s final playoff berth, Toronto will try to overcome the loss of its leading scorer and rebounder and win in Atlanta for the first time in nearly 2 1/2 years.

Bosh made a 16-foot jumper with 2.1 seconds left in a 106-105 home victory over the Hawks on March 17, while Johnson sat with a strained Achilles’. That shot is one of the reasons Toronto (38-40, 35-41-2 ATS) is still battling Chicago for the eighth playoff spot in the East.

The Raptors will have to beat out the Bulls without Bosh, who’s expected to be sidelined for “weeks” while recovering from surgery to repair a facial fracture. The All-Star forward, whose averaging career bests of 24.0 points and 10.8 rebounds, suffered the injury when he took an inadvertent elbow from Cleveland forward Antawn Jamison in a 113-101 loss Tuesday.

The next night, Hedo Turkoglu bumped heads with Boston’s Tony Allen as Toronto dropped its third straight, 115-104. Turkoglu remains day-to-day after a CT scan showed no major injuries.

“When it rains it pours, I guess,” swingman Antoine Wright said. “We’re dropping like flies right now.” The spread losses are piling up as well with 4-14 ATS record after allowing 100 or more points.

Those injuries could hurt the Raptors, who are 6-13 ATS off SU loss, during a pivotal two-game stretch against the Hawks (49-29, 44-33-1 ATS) and Bulls, who visit Toronto on Sunday.

Heading to Atlanta doesn’t seem like a good way to begin as they’re winless in four trips (1-3 ATS) since a 100-88 victory Dec. 11, 2007. The Raptors, though, could have an opportunity to snap that skid if Johnson misses his fourth straight game with a sprained right thumb.

Before the loss in March, the Hawks had won four straight over Toronto with their leading scorer (21.2 ppg) in the lineup, including the first two meetings this season. In the previous matchup in Atlanta, they broke a Philips Arena scoring record with a 146-115 victory Dec. 2. Al Horford scored 24 points to lead nine Hawks players in double figures.

Atlanta, though, has scored 94.3 points per game - 7.3 below its season average - over its last nine contests, topping 100 just once. Despite those scoring struggles, the Hawks have won 10 straight at home (6-4 ATS), their longest streak since taking 20 straight from Nov. 12, 1996-Feb. 12, 1997.

Adding to that run would give Atlanta its first 50-win season since 1997-98 and also help in the race for the East’s No. 3 seed. The Hawks enter Friday tied with Boston with four games remaining for both clubs and they are 6-2 ATS if their opponent cracked the century mark in points in previous outing.

They’ll face a Raptors team that’s allowed at least 113 points in four straight games and an average of 108.7 during a 7-16 stretch. That could help the Hawks deliver a better performance than in Wednesday’s 90-88 loss at Detroit. Against a team that was missing five players, Atlanta blew a nine-point lead, getting outscored 25-16 in the fourth quarter.

Sportsbook.com released the Hawks as nine-point favorites with total of 202.5 in this battle of Eastern Conference clubs fighting for positioning in the playoffs. Atlanta is 14-4 ATS vs. Atlantic Division teams and 9-3 OVER off a spread loss.

Toronto is 4-1-1 ATS in last six road encounters, but 9-23 ATS if last outing was double digit loss. The Raptors are 7-3 OVER after a spread defeat.

This matchup begins at 7:30 Eastern in local TV markets with the favorite 10-3 ATS.

The StatFox Power Line shows Atlanta by 9, almost as if oddsmakers simply looked at that number before releasing it.

NBA: Wild West set for Wild Finish
2009-04-07

After taking a complete day off, the NBA regular season resumes Tuesday with nine days left. With Dallas all but finishing off Phoenix on Sunday, the eight teams that will be in the playoffs are set. However, the order of how the competition will match up is as up for grabs as next year’s Clippers roster. Every night the rest of the way will feature intriguing betting opportunities. Be sure to stay on top of the LIVE ODDS, BETTING TRENDS, and GAME MATCHUP pages for all the latest key game info.

Four teams are legitimately still vying for second position in the Western Conference behind the Los Angeles Lakers. Western teams presently in slots four-thru-eight could be potentially reversed by the end of April 15. If the Kentucky Derby ends up having this sort of a finish in about a month, it should be quite a race.

The Mavericks (46-31, 37-40 ATS) will have a legitimate chance to avoid the Lakers in the first round. Dallas is 28-9 at home (16-21 ATS) and will host Utah and New Orleans in next two contests. The Jazz have been off-key most of the season on the road and the Hornets have injury issues that just won’t go away. The very next contest is return engagement at New Orleans, which is the Mavs last road encounter of the season. With aforementioned teams directly in front of them in the standings, a 3-0 start moves Dallas up with Minnesota and Houston due to come to American Airlines Arena.

Utah (47-30, 38-39 ATS) may have gained some confidence on the road with its win 108-94 win at New Orleans. That was just their second win in last eight road games, who have covered a mere three of last 13. Utah is not out of the woods by any stretch having road encounters with Dallas, San Antonio and the Lakers to close the season. They will have a couple of very winnable home games with Golden State and the Clippers, but how they perform on the road will determine their fate.
New Orleans (47-29, 33-42-1 ATS) has been a bad wager all year and it’s not about to get easier. Center Tyson Chandler hopes his left ankle will allow him to play next week and forward James Posey will be evaluated later for his bad elbow. Peja Stojakovic has been coming off the bench the last couple of games and could return to starting lineup after missing 15 games with bad back. That means Chris Paul and David West are playing 40+ minutes a game, being able to rest by not practicing. The Hornets still have six games left on the regular season docket and trail the division-leading Spurs by just two. They will need wins in next two tilts, at Miami and home to Phoenix. If that works out, they will have home and home with Dallas and road games against Houston and San Antonio. Not a very good situation for a team that is 14-22-1 ATS in the visitor’s uniforms.

The Portland Trailblazers (48-28, 40-35-1 ATS) have clinched their first playoff berth in six years and still could move up, however time is not on there side. Portland is pursuing Denver, trailing them by two games in the loss column. The Blazers have won seven of last 10, covering the spread eight times. Unfortunately, they are chasing Denver, who has won nine of 10. Portland has six games left on the schedule, compared to the Nuggets who have just four. The Blazers can’t make-up those games. Their best hope is to look to surpass Houston and gain the fourth seed, thus assuring home court for the first round. Portland stands at 31-7 and 23-14-1 ATS at the Rose Garden and has three home games and three road games remaining.

This year’s Denver (52-26, 44-33-1 ATS) squad is hardly recognizable. The Nuggets have never merited many points on the toughness scale. Always strong at home and weak to fair on the road, Denver was good enough to make the playoffs and not move forward. After losing five of first six in March, a familiar tone was being set, but quicker than a snow covered Rocky Mountain avalanche, coach George Karl’s club got white hot. The Nuggets have been punishing teams in being victorious 12 of 13 (9-4 ATS) times, winning nine times by 10 or more points. They will have two winnable home games to lock up the second seed, with difficult matches against the Lakers and Portland on the road.

San Antonio (49-27, 37-37-2 ATS) has done remarkably well to stay atop the Southwest Division. Tim Duncan battling achy knees and Manu Ginobili fighting the injury bug all season, but now is being shut down after doctor’s found stress fracture in the ankle. Somehow coach Greg Popovich and Tony Parker have kept them afloat all season. The Spurs will be playing a great deal of basketball trying to lock up the division and finish no worse than a third seed. They have six games remaining and should either be favored in all six or the slightest of underdogs on the road. How they react with the news about Ginobili is anybody’s guess.

Houston’s quest to find a way to win division continues, with the Rockets (49-28, 37-39-1 ATS) having five contests remaining. They should take down Sacramento and Golden State on the road, but it will be how they play at home against Orlando and New Orleans that will help determined what spot they have in the playoffs.

NBA bettors are going to have to make some very interesting decisions to finish the regular season, in choosing the teams out west.

NBA: Betting beyond the stars in Cavs and Magic (8:00 PM ET – TNT)
2009-01-29

Is it just yours truly or does it seem like there has interesting NBA games to watch this year? Maybe it was because we all had become so used to San Antonio, Dallas. Miami and Detroit for years, they were the one’s always on. Today at least the variety appears better, with more teams actually competing with a legitimate chance to represent their conference as champions come playoff time. Two such teams meet tonight approximately 90 miles from the site of the Super Bowl and should be a heck of battle.

Two of the biggest stars in the NBA stratosphere are LeBron James and Dwight Howard and they will collide tonight, however, each has proven like many before them, they can’t do it alone and now have other talented players rotating in their respective solar systems.

Cleveland (35-8, 29-14 ATS) has managed to survive two key injuries thanks to the depth they have on the roster. Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas has been recovering from a sprained left ankle and chipped bone and internet rumors have him returning tonight, though team reports are still suggesting he has soreness and couple more days would help. Fortunately, his backup Anderson Varejao has put up virtually the same numbers and the Cavs haven’t been hurt to bad.

Delonte West has been out with a fractured wrist, which seems to have motivated Mo Williams even more, who scored a career high 43 points two nights ago and just missed a triple double, adding 11 assists and eight rebounds in 117-110 win over Sacramento. In fact in that game an extremely rare occurrence happened. Williams and James each had a minimum of at least 23 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists. That is the first time that teammates has such numbers since Dec. 23, 1971, when Butch Beard (30 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists) and John Johnson (24 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists) did it for the Cavs at Atlanta. You can put Cleveland down for 9-1 ATS record after scoring 110 points or more this season.

Orlando (34-10, 30-14 ATS) could hardly be called one dimensional, even with Howard having another monster season. The Magic are the league’s top three-point shooting team, connecting on 40.2 percent from beyond the arc. Four regulars shoot at least 41.0 percent. Sharp shooter Rashard Lewis has the most treys in the NBA and Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu can also drain long bombs. Orlando’s ability to make deep shots opens up the lane area for Howard to work and if teams want to sag or double-team him in the post, he can just kick out pass to open shooter.
Orlando lit up Indiana 135-111 and they are 7-0 ATS after scoring 60 points or more in the first half last game this season. This prompted Indiana’s Danny Granger to call Orlando “the best team in the East.”

The oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com also like Orlando, making them a four-point home favorite with a total of 197. The Magic are 17-4 and 13-8 ATS at the Amway Arena and are 10-1 ATS when playing only their second game in five days. Cleveland has won four in a row and has been alternating spread wins and losses for last eight games and is coming off non-cover. The Cavs are 11-2 ATS after a game where they failed to cover the spread this season.

Over the last three seasons, Orlando is 5-2 and 6-1 ATS in their meetings, with five of seven playing Under the total. The latter instances could happen again with the Cavaliers 9-1 UNDER after scoring 60 points or more in the first half last game and the Magic 12-3 UNDER after allowing 100 points or more two straight games.
TNT is the televised provider starting at 8 Eastern.
StatFox Power Line – Orlando by 8

NBA: Houston Underdogs in Southwest Shootout
2008-10-30

The Houston Rockets’ season-opener wasn’t the championship blueprint they hope to follow this season, but it was a win. Now they’re hoping for another victory Thursday in Dallas, where the Mavericks kick off their season. Dallas is a 4-point favorite for this contest.

In the much-anticipated Houston debut of Ron Artest, the Rockets defeated Memphis 82-71 on Wednesday night. Yao Ming had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Artest and Tracy McGrady scored 16 points apiece and Luis Scola added a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Houston won despite shooting 36.8 percent from the floor, getting outrebounded 49-44 and totaling more turnovers (12) than assists (10). “I’m actually glad this game was pretty close, so we won’t get ahead of ourselves and think we’ve arrived,” McGrady said. “I’ll take any win. But we’ve still got a long ways to go. We can see that we’re not there yet.” The Rockets are 7-3 ATS in their last ten games with no days off.

While many expect the Rockets to contend for the Western Conference title, it’s still uncertain how the Mavericks will respond to new coach Rick Carlisle. Carlisle, who has a 281-211 career record in six seasons with Detroit and Indiana, took over after Avery Johnson was fired on April 30 following the Mavericks’ first-round playoff loss to the New Orleans Hornets—the second straight season Dallas failed to reach the Western Conference semifinals.

“This is something that needed to happen,” said Johnson, who had a 194-70 regular-season record in three-plus seasons with the Mavericks. “There’s no animosity or bitterness. We all still really care about each other, but it was time to go in a different direction. … We didn’t win the championship, but if you look at the whole body of work that we put together over the last 3 1/2 years … we’ll put it up against anybody.”

Johnson led the Mavericks to their first NBA Finals appearance in 2006, but failed to close out the Miami Heat after taking a 2-0 series lead. The Mavericks won a franchise-best 67 games the following season, but No. 8 seed Golden State knocked them out in six games in the opening round of the playoffs.

Although it was a summer of reflecting upon a 51-31 season and another early playoff exit, second-team All-NBA selection Dirk Nowitzki is primed for his 11th season in Dallas, leading a team that is 39-18-1 ATS in the Southwest Division.

“Every coaching change brings fresh air,” the forward said. “It’s been fun so far. He wants us to still have the same attitude Avery had here—be a tough, physical team—we’re just trying to run a little more.”

Leading that push is Jason Kidd. After being acquired from New Jersey in February, the veteran point guard averaged 9.9 points and 9.5 assists in 29 regular-season games for Dallas. After getting thoroughly outplayed by Hornets counterpart Chris Paul in the playoffs, Kidd is thrilled at the chance of starting fresh with Carlisle’s offense.

“I’m excited about it because there’s so many different options and it puts guys in so many different places,” said Kidd, who is in the final year of a six-year, $103.6 million deal. “Reggie (Miller, who played for Carlisle in Indiana) said that Coach is going to put you in a place to be successful and that’s all you can ask for.”

During his introductory news conference in May, Carlisle promised to let Kidd attack with the ball, but added, “Having said all that about the offensive end, we’ve got to be passionate and vigilant about preserving what Avery did here in establishing the defensive end. This team didn’t get to the championship round until they really made a commitment defensively.” Dallas ranked sixth in the NBA last season with 95.9 points allowed per game, but gave up 102.8 per game in the playoffs.

Josh Howard will be a critical piece to Carlisle’s defensive strategy, that is, if he can stay out of trouble. Howard, who begins his sixth season after posting career highs in points (19.9) and rebounds (7.0) in 2007-08, was arrested this summer for drag racing in his hometown of Winston-Salem, N.C., then caused further controversy after being filmed during Allen Iverson’s July charity football game saying, “The Star-Spangled Banner is going on. I don’t celebrate this (expletive). I’m black.”

“He’s one of our really important guys, without question,” Carlisle said. “He’s a guy that’s going to have a lot of motivation to play well, too.”

Sportsbook.com has Dallas favored at home by four points with a total of 191. These Thursday night contests have favored one team and not the other. Houston is 24-8-3 ATS playing tonight, while the Mavs are unsatisfactory 7-19-1 ATS on Thursday’s.

McGrady had 31 points in Houston’s 113-98 road victory over the Mavericks on March 8, just the team’s second in its last 12 games at Dallas and their only cover in a dozen attempts (1-11-1 ATS).

This Southwest Division Texas showdown is the opener on TNT starting at 8:05 Eastern.

StatFox Power Line – Pick