Category Archives: NBA

Rockets, Warriors clear favorites on Wednesday NBA odds

If the oddsmakers are to be believed, we should have one half of the Western Conference semifinals set on Wednesday night with both the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors solid home favorites to finish their respective first-round series in five games. Always important to get a series over with as soon as possible to rest up and potentially avoid injury.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

In the first game, the Rockets are 8-point favorites over the Utah Jazz – Houston won the first two games of this series at home by 32 and 20 points, respectively. The Rockets were in position to finish off the Jazz in Game 4 on Monday night in Salt Lake City. A strong third quarter gave Houston a three-point lead entering the fourth. However, the Jazz started that quarter on a 15-1 run to take a lead they were never again in jeopardy of relinquishing.

Donovan Mitchell, who was one of the breakout stars of the 2018 playoffs as a rookie, had largely struggled in this series and did again for three quarters on Monday. The Jazz were outscored by 11 with him on the court. However, he had 19 fourth-quarter points (31 total) – outscoring the Rockets 19-12 by himself. Jae Crowder also played his best game of the series with 23 points, and Ricky Rubio had 18 points and 11 assists. Utah crushed the Rockets on the boards, 52-35, leading to a 17-3 edge in second-chance points.

Warriors headline Thursday NBA Playoff odds

We have three Game 3s in the NBA playoffs on Thursday night, with each series shifting venues.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The opener features the Eastern Conference third-seeded Philadelphia 76ers at the No. 6 Brooklyn Nets, who are 3.5-point underdogs. Philly didn’t play well in a 111-102 home loss in Game 1, but to a man the players said they weren’t concerned. The Sixers were up just one point at halftime of Game 2 but blew it open with an NBA playoff-record-tying 51-point third quarter on the way to a 145-123 victory.

Philadelphia shot 18-for-25 from the field in the quarter and 11-for-11 from the free-throw line. The 145 points overall were a franchise playoff record. Ben Simmons finished with a triple-double of 18 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, and Joel Embiid again played through a knee injury to finish with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Just one Nets starter had double-digit points: D’Angelo Russell with 16. Philadelphia is just 2-5 ATS in its past seven road games, however.

Wednesday NBA betting: Big favorites on the board

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

While there were a few upsets in the playoff openers around the NBA, the three teams hosting Game 2s of their first-round series on Wednesday night all won their first games with relative ease.

Wednesday’s opener features the Eastern Conference fifth-seeded Indiana Pacers at the No. 4 Boston Celtics, who are 7.5-point favorites. The Pacers were outscored in just one quarter in Game 1, but it was a 26-8 doozy in the third as Boston rallied for the 84-74 victory. Those eight points were a franchise-record low for the Pacers in any playoff quarter, and their 74 points were the fewest in the postseason since April 27, 2013, in Atlanta. Indiana’s regular-season low this year was 89 points.

Just one Indiana starter scored in double digits: Bojan Bogdanovic with 12. Indiana shot just 33.3 percent overall, 6-for-27 from deep and even missed nine of 21 free throws. Not like Boston was too much better in hitting 36.4 percent from the field. Kyrie Irving and Marcus Morris each led with 20 points. The Celtics have covered 10 of their past 12 first-round playoff games.

NBA playoffs betting preview: West & East odds

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Since 1984 when the NBA playoffs expanded to its current 16-team field, just five times has a No. 8 seed upset a No. 1 in the first round and not since 2012 when the Philadelphia 76ers upset the Chicago Bulls. That one deserves an asterisk because Bulls star Derrick Rose suffered a season-ending injury in Game 1. Oddsmakers don’t expect a similar upset in the first round this year because both top seeds are favored to win their conference title.

The Golden State Warriors are -375 favorites to win the Western Conference for a fifth straight season and open defense of their back-to-back NBA titles on Saturday against the No. 8 Los Angeles Clippers (+8000 to win West). That’s a matchup the Warriors probably wanted because while the Clippers won the first meeting of the two very early in the season, Golden State won the final three – the last two with ease. Dubs star Steph Curry left Tuesday’s game with a minor injury but is expected to be fine for Game 1.

Golden State could be on a crash course in the second round with the Houston Rockets (+600), who are seeded fourth and open Sunday against the No. 5 Utah Jazz (+2800). Of course, the Warriors and Rockets went seven full games in last year’s Western Conference Finals, and most believe Houston is the only team capable of dethroning the Dubs in the West.

IDSCA Offers Action on the 2019 NBA Playoffs, Beginning Saturday

IDSCA, a pay per head site, will offer players the opportunity to bet on the 2019 NBA Playoffs starting April 13. That is the start date for the playoffs, when the post-season tournament will begin, eventually ending with the crowning of a new champion.

In 2018, IDSCA online bookie software also allowed players to bet on the NBA playoffs. Many players, as well as bookies, made quite a bit of money when the Golden State Warriors won another championship. Compared to last year, the field this year is more wide open. While some teams have separated themselves from the pack in terms of wins, there does not seem to be the clear, consensus favorite that there was a year ago.

“Anything can happen in the NBA this year. Sure, Golden State has to be a favorite, but that record says they aren’t as dominant as they used to be. This makes for a great opportunity for bookies and players. We’re excited to see the kind of money that our bookies are going to make during this playoff season,” said Julio Vargas, marketing manager of IDSCA.

In addition to the NBA playoffs, IDSCA also offers betting on the NHL playoffs, college basketball tournament, baseball season and more. The site also includes online casino games as well as the option to bet on horse racing.

For more information about the 2019 NBA playoffs, betting on basketball or to make a press inquiry, visit https://www.idsca.com/ or contact IDSCA at (866) 225-5437.

Tuesday NBA betting: Regular season winds down

It’s the penultimate night of the 2018/19 NBA regular season on Tuesday, with a few games that mean something and many more that don’t.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

For example, in the latter category we have the Golden State Warriors at New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers at Los Angeles Lakers. It’s the final game for both the Pelicans and Lakers as they play out the string on hugely disappointing seasons.

Their offseasons are intertwined because there’s no question that Tuesday will be the last game in a Pelicans uniform for Anthony Davis, although he’s surely not going to play. Davis hasn’t played since March 24 because of injury but really because the Pelicans are tanking and Davis doesn’t want to be there.

Tuesday NBA Odds: Marquee matchup in Oakland

Short four-game schedule around the NBA on Tuesday with TNT having a rare doubleheader on the night (no doubt to make up for losing a Thursday one to show NCAA Tournament games).

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The opener features Los Angeles Lakers at Oklahoma City Thunder, and NBA bettors no longer have to worry about whether LeBron James will play or not. He won’t, with the team convincing him to shut it down the rest of the way. Might as well considering losing out could increase the Lakers’ draft lottery odds … remote as they are.

James signed with the Lakers likely believing that Paul George would be his sidekick, but the Los Angeles native surprised many around the NBA by not even considering signing with the Lakers as a free agent last summer and re-upping long term with Oklahoma City. George is having his best season and will get some MVP votes, but the Thunder are wildly inconsistent – they are capable of beating anyone or losing to anyone, sometimes both within hours.

Wednesday NBA betting: Rockets/Warriors showdown

Incredibly rare for a team in the Steve Kerr era to sweep the Golden State Warriors in a regular-season series – much less a sweep of four games as no one has done that. It’s what the Houston Rockets, on an NBA-high nine-game winning streak overall, can do Wednesday night at home in the game of the night around the NBA and nationally televised by ESPN.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The Rockets have won by six points (without James Harden) and one point (in overtime) in Oakland this season and took the meeting in Houston way back on November 15, 107-86, behind 27 points from Harden. Golden State was without Steph Curry. That was the teams’ first meeting since last season’s Western Conference Finals. It would surprise no one if they met again there later this year, although Houston might end up on the side of the bracket where it may have to face the Warriors in the conference semifinals.

Kevin Durant left Sunday’s shocking upset loss to Phoenix with an ankle injury, and has been ruled out for Golden State for Wednesday night. The Warriors are 2-5 against the spread in the past seven meetings between the teams. Houston opened as a 2-point favorite.

Bucks, Thunder in action on Thursday NBA betting slate

We usually preview the two TNT games on Thursday in the NBA because those are the marquee matchups of the night with the national TV audience. This week, there’s nowhere else to go because the only two games on the entire schedule are the doubleheader: Indiana Pacers at Milwaukee Bucks, followed by Oklahoma City Thunder at Portland Trail Blazers.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The Bucks have the NBA’s best record and could win 60 games for the fifth time in franchise history and first since 1980-81. But, boy, do they seem to lose focus at times. How else can you explain Milwaukee getting swept this season by arguably the NBA’s worst team, the Phoenix Suns?

On November 23, the Bucks were 13.5-point home favorites and stunned 116-114 by the Suns on a last-second shot. That loss really isn’t explainable. However, the Bucks’ 114-105 loss at -13 in Phoenix on Monday perhaps is because it concluded a five-game road trip, the last four out west. Teams are always apt to be out of gas in the finale of a trip like that. Milwaukee became the last team in the NBA this season to lose consecutive games (also Saturday at Utah).

PointsBet Announces Early Payouts for All James Harden MVP Bets

Online bookmaker PointsBet announced this week that it has issued Early Payouts on all bets for James Harden as MVP of this year’s NBA season. The Early Payout comes nearly four months before the winner is officially announced in late June.

James Harden (photo credit: Keith Allison)

All PointsBet customers who wagered on Harden to win the 2019 MVP award have received payouts at the odds they placed their bets on those specific markets.

“Our number one goal right now is to provide unmatched value to our customers,” said PointsBet US CEO, Johnny Aitken. “There are many operators in the New Jersey space, but PointsBet is the only one offering unique promotions like these. We want to prove that no one has the bettor’s back like we do, and this is just another example of that philosophy in action.”

This bettor-first initiative is just one of many seen by PointsBet customers since their launch in January, including their most recent NBA Early Payout, where all MoneyLine NBA wagers were paid out early if that team led at Halftime, even if they went on to lose the game. The promotion produced many “Double Payouts,” or scenarios where the team that is leading at halftime goes on to lose the game. In each of those instances, both sides of MoneyLine bets on the game are ultimately graded as winners for bettors.

For more information on PointsBet, Points Betting and how to sign up visit www.PointsBet.com.

Wednesday NBA odds: LeBron, Lakers host Nuggets

LeBron James has played in eight straight NBA Finals and hasn’t missed the postseason since his first two seasons in the league with the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, it’s looking more and more likely that LeBron’s first season with the Lakers will end on April 9 against Portland.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

ESPN’s Basketball Power Index gives the Lakers less than a one percent chance of reaching the playoffs. That number will shrink should Los Angeles lose at home to the Denver Nuggets in Wednesday’s marquee NBA game. There was some talk that the Lakers might add 10-time All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony (a buddy of LeBron’s) for the final six weeks or so of the season, but that has been put on hold with the team’s playoff chances so remote.

The Nuggets, meanwhile, are battling the Golden State Warriors for the top seed in the Western Conference. Denver and the Lakers split two early-season meetings, each winning at home. This is the finale between them as Los Angeles looks for its first season series win over the Nuggets since the 2011-12 season. The home team is on an eight-game cover streak in the series.

NBA Thursday odds: Thunder, Nuggets favorites

The NBA on TNT doubleheader this Thursday, the last day of February, is another good one as the Philadelphia 76ers visit the Oklahoma City Thunder in the opener, followed by Utah Jazz at Denver Nuggets in the nightcap.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Sixers-Thunder normally would showcase four All-Stars from the game earlier this month in Philly’s Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons along with Oklahoma City’s Paul George and Russell Westbrook, but Embiid will sit again with a sore knee. Why did the team even let Embiid play in the All-Star Game if he was having problems? He hasn’t played since and is not likely to until next week at the earliest.

The Sixers are legitimate Eastern Conference contenders with a healthy Embiid but not close without him. He’s averaging career highs in points (27.3), rebounds (13.5), assists (3.5), minutes (33.7) and free throw percentage (81.1). Always concerning when a big guy has knee issues, and Embiid hasn’t exactly been a bastion of health in his pro career.

PGA Tour open to gambling tie-ups; BetEasy inks NBA deal

Professional golf has rethought its no-gambling sponsorship stance, while the NBA has inked a down-under deal with The Stars Group.

On Tuesday, the PGA Tour announced that it had “revised” its sponsorship regulations to permit tie-ups with “gambling entities.” The Tour said gambling firms are now eligible to become Official Marketing Partners (OMP) for all six tours it oversees, and individual tournaments and players can pursue their own gambling deals, effective immediately.

However, while “larger casino companies” and daily fantasy sports (DFS) operators are welcome to pursue OMP deals, the same can’t be said for companies doing business in the US whose “primary purpose” is sports betting.

The Tour specifically cited “pure sportsbooks or bookmakers such as William Hill or Bet365” as examples of ineligible companies, although it noted that these types of operators can still pursue golf deals outside the US market.

Tuesday NBA Odds: Trio of Games on slate

It’s one of the quieter Tuesdays of the 2018-19 NBA season this week with just three games on the schedule – it’s sandwiched between very busy nights Monday and Wednesday.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The schedule opens with a rather meaningless game between the Orlando Magic and Knicks in New York as both teams are likely headed for the draft lottery again. This could be the worst Knicks team ever and is on pace to be, but that’s fine it just means a potentially better chance of landing the No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft and taking Duke’s Zion Williamson.

Orlando is still in the playoff hunt in the East, only because the bottom of the conference is terrible, but it would be a moderate upset should the Magic make it for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

Raptors, Thunder favored on Friday NBA odds

The best player in Toronto Raptors history is probably Chris Bosh, followed by Vince Carter and maybe current point guard Kyle Lowry. However, the franchise’s all-time points leader – among other categories – is DeMar DeRozan, and he makes his return to Toronto on Friday night for the first time since his stunning trade this summer to the San Antonio Spurs.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

In July, the Raptors sent their All-Star guard DeRozan along with young center Jakob Poeltl and a 2019 protected first-round pick to San Antonio for Spurs All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard, guard Danny Green and some cash. It might have been the rare trade to work out for both teams.

Leonard is the better overall player and is playing at an MVP level as he has the Raptors battling for the NBA’s best record. Green is also having a good year. DeRozan is having his probably best overall season and has San Antonio currently seventh in the West – still better than many projected following the trade.

Thursday NBA Odds: Bucks, Rockets favorites

One of the longest sports weeks of the year for bettors is the week the NBA is on its All-Star break, but that ends Thursday night as the Association returns with a six-game schedule.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Per usual, TNT has the marquee doubleheader Thursday and that tips off with a potential Eastern Conference playoff preview between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, who opened as 5.5-point favorites. Boston comes out of the break sitting fourth in the East but tied with Philadelphia with a 37-21 record. Milwaukee leads the East at 43-14 – one game ahead of the Toronto Raptors – and is the current betting favorite to claim the conference title.

Let’s just say for the sake of argument that the Bucks do finish first and the Celtics fourth. That means, presuming chalk held in every first-round playoff series they would meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals. They met in the first round last year and the Celtics prevailed in seven games – the home team winning all seven.

NBA didn’t want to find match fixing in Donaghy scandal

If Tim Donaghy was working an NBA game between 2003 and 2007, there’s a good chance the fix was in. That’s the takeaway from ESPN’s two year investigative article, “How former ref Tim Donaghy conspired to fix NBA games.”

The article is a fascinating deep dive into the entire history of the Tim Donaghy scandal. It covers how the referee slowly progressed from an honest official, to one playing in the gray areas of NBA betting rules, to when he started flat out betting on games he himself was betting on.

There are two fairly significant revelations the article gets to that either weren’t obvious before, or were barely covered by the media. The first is the initial discovery by sports book traders that the games were being bet on, and their attempt to capitalize on the action rather than stamp down on it. The second is the potential cover-up by the NBA of suspected match fixing. Both issues raise significant questions about the integrity of the league, and where it now stands that sports betting is spreading across America.

Regarding the first discovery, the article discussed a group nicknamed The Animals, who first discovered the odd betting pattern on Donaghy games in 2003. Rather than shut down the action and report it to authorities, the group began betting the patterns themselves, potentially raking in hundreds of millions. The key was to do it without alerting other books. They bet enough to get rich, but not super rich. As the article puts it:

NBA Championship odds: stretch run update

Before looking at the updated odds to win the NBA championship, let’s make one thing clear: The All-Star break is nowhere close to the halfway point of the 82-game regular season. That was passed weeks ago.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns have all played 59 games. Every team in the league has played at least 56. So, when the league returns to action on Thursday it’s not the second half of the season but closer to the stretch run.

Of the teams listed above, only the Raptors are legitimate title contenders and they are +750 second-favorites behind the Golden State Warriors (-230), who have been heavily favored since the day after the 2018 NBA Finals concluded and will continue to be barring injury to someone like Steph Curry or Kevin Durant.

NBA All-Star Weekend: 3-point odds, Slam Dunk odds

The Charlotte Hornets, owned by a guy by the name of Michael Jordan, were supposed to host the 2017 NBA All-Star Game, but the league pulled it in July 2016 because of a North Carolina newly-passed law that limited discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the state. However, in May 2017 the NBA awarded the game back to Charlotte for this season after North Carolina rescinded that 2016 law.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Per usual, the All-Star festivities start Saturday night with the 3-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest – the Slam Dunk Contest used to overshadow the All-Star Game itself with legendary performances from the likes of Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Vince Carter and others. However, the league’s biggest stars now avoid this contest for whatever reason. It has become less about dunking than using props, etc.

The biggest of the four names this year is New York Knicks guard Dennis Smith Jr., who is the +200 favorite after finishing third last season. He’s joined by second-year Atlanta Hawk John Collins (+225) and rookies Miles Bridges (+225) of the Hornets and Hamidou Diallo (+400) of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Wednesday NBA odds: Bulls, Bucks favorites

Wednesday is the last full night of NBA action before the All-Star break with 20 of the league’s 30 teams in action. All but six teams around the league are then off for the week-long break.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Post-break, it’s important to know which teams are trying and which are flat-out tanking in an effort to get as many ping-pong balls as possible in the NBA Draft lottery. Remember, the team with the worst record no longer has the highest percentage of landing the top pick. Instead, the teams with the three worst records all have an equal chance.

The Memphis Grizzlies visit the Chicago Bulls in one Wednesday game, the second of a back-to-back for the Grizzlies. There’s zero doubt both these teams are in full tank mode so a win here could be detrimental. It’s the first meeting between the clubs. Memphis has covered just two of its past 12 in the second of a back-to-back, and is a 1.5-point betting underdog.