LA Advances To Second Round Of NBA Playoffs

That's the LA Clippers, not the Lakers. They have just beaten the Denver Nuggets to win their playoff series, 4-1.

But guess who the next opponent might be? You guessed it. The Lakers. LA vs. LA. Think of the money that will be saved by no travel expenses. That, and every game will be like a home game, for both teams.

But first, the Lakers need to put away the Suns. Lakers currently lead that series, 3-1. Go Lakers.

Primer: Betting on the NBA

Primer: Betting on the NBA

For all you hardcore football junkies who don't bother checking out the NBA until after the Vince Lombardi Trophy has been handed out, you've come to the right place. Here's a quick primer on some injuries and betting stats you might want to know about before putting any money on Sunday's selection of NBA matchups.

Unless you've had your head buried in the sand since October you must know at least something about the current state of the NBA. But even if you know how good Detroit, San Antonio, and Dallas have been so far, or how bad the Knicks and Bobcats have been, it probably won't help you make hordes of cash betting the spread. Quickly, name the best team in the NBA against-the-spread (ATS) up to this point. If you said Detroit, Dallas, San Antonio, or Phoenix, then you're wrong. Miami? Nope. Indiana? Ha! Where have you been? Cleveland? Closer, but still no. Somewhat surprisingly, the best team ATS with a 26-21-2 mark are the Toronto Raptors. It's even more surprising when you compare that record to their 17-32 straight-up mark. So, if the Raptors have been a spread bettor's best friend, who has been emptying their wallets? Remember last year when Seattle emerged as a contender in the west? Well, it turns out that was a one-year thing as the Sonics are 19-30 straight up and a league worst 16-31-2 ATS. Some other team's ATS records that might come in handy on Sunday include:

Detroit - 40-8 SU, 24-23-1 ATS
Miami - 30-20 SU, 24-25-1 ATS
San Antonio - 38-10 SU, 22-24-2 ATS
Indiana - 24-22 SU, 23-20-3 ATS
Milwaukee - 25-23 SU, 25-21-2 ATS
New Jersey - 26-21 SU, 25-22 ATS
Washington - 24-23 SU, 18-26-3 ATS
L.A. Clippers - 29-18 SU, 25-21-1 ATS

Okay, so now you know which teams have been paying off and which have been robbing bettors blind, but you still need some more info before laying down your hard-earned cash. The NBA has been injury-central this season and big name players have not been spared. Everybody probably already knows the Suns have been without Amare Stoudemire all season, and he'll be sidelined until at least March. And if you didn't know, you do now.

The teams hardest hit by injuries that will be taking to the court on Sunday are Indiana and Charlotte. The Pacers were expected to contend this season, but after the Ron Artest show and a rash of injuries they have hit hard times. They're still in playoff contention, but their ranks have been considerably thinned. Currently watching from the bench are Jermaine O'Neal, Austin Croshere, and Jamaal Tinsley. O'Neal is still a long ways from returning, while Tinsley isn't expected back before the All-Star break. Croshere has suffered his second concussion of the season, and is being given as much time as he needs to clear the cobwebs. Don't expect him back in the lineup this weekend.

At least Charlotte didn't have any expectations on them coming into the season. The Bobcats have some talented players on their roster, but most of that talent has been wearing suits and ties during the game instead of uniforms. Charlotte has had to do without Emeka Okafor, Sean May, and Gerald Wallace for a number of weeks, and added Raymond Felton and Brevin Knight to the injured ranks on Friday night. Knight and Felton could possibly return Sunday, but the Bobcats are still missing a number of key pieces to the puzzle.

What other key injuries should you be aware of this weekend? Well, for starters be sure to check the status of Tim Duncan before placing any money on the Spurs. The big man missed a game earlier this week with the flu and there's no guarantee he'll be back to 100 percent versus the Pacers on Sunday.

The Los Angeles Clippers may not suck anymore, but they're still prone to injury. Corey Maggette has missed considerable time, but the Clippers have coped without him thanks to the play of veteran Sam Cassell. The years may be catching up with Cassell, though, as he was forced out with back spasms earlier in the week. Check his status before placing your bets.

Other ailing stars that could swing a betting line in your favor this weekend include Knicks guard Stephon Marbury, Hornets super rookie Chris Paul, Nuggets tandem Kenyon Martin and Carmello Anthony, and just-returned Jazz forward Carlos Boozer. If the lines look funny in any of these team's games, injuries may be the reason.
Check out your betting line now

BPR Power Rankings 1/4/2006

It's a new year, which means new Blogosphere Poll Rankings over at YAYsports! Be sure to check them out when they are posted tomorrow. Here's my ballot. If ya don't like it, post a comment and tell me why.

1. Detroit
2. San Antonio
3. Dallas
4. Memphis
5. Phoenix
6. Miami
7. Cleveland
8. Minnesota
9. Indiana
10. New Jersey
11. Denver
12. LA Clippers
13. Philadelphia
14. Utah
15. Golden State
16. Milwaukee
17. LA Lakers
18. Washington
19. Boston
20. Chicago
21. Sacramento
22. Seattle
23. Orlando
24. New Orleans
25. Houston
26. Charlotte
27. New York
28. Portland
29. Toronto
30. Atlanta

And be sure to check out my NBA Blog over at The Sporting News.

Two Rounds Down, Two Rounds to Go

The Dallas Mavericks have pulled off one of the toughest feats in the NBA: winning a game seven on the road--and they did it against the defending NBA champions on a night when three-time Finals MVP Tim Duncan scored a playoff career high 41 points with 15 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots. Dirk Nowitzki countered with 37 points and 15 rebounds and he saved Dallas' season with a three point play with 21 seconds left in regulation to tie the game, ultimately sending the contest to overtime after Duncan and Manu Ginobili each missed shots before the buzzer. The Spurs spent a lot of energy coming back from a 20 point deficit and seemed a step slow in the extra session as the Mavericks outscored them 15-7 en route to a 119-111 win. Duncan shot just 1-7 from the field in the overtime after being nearly unstoppable (11-17 field goal shooting) in the first four quarters. How tough is it to win a game seven on the road? Coming into this season, road teams were just 17-75 in game sevens in NBA history. Prior to Dallas' win, home teams in game sevens in the 2006 playoffs won easily even though the series themselves were tightly contested during the first six games: the Phoenix Suns routed the L.A. Lakers 121-90 in round one and the Detroit Pistons crushed the Cleveland Cavaliers 79-61 in round two. In the second game of Monday night's doubleheader, the Suns cruised to a 127-107 victory over the L.A. Clippers; that was yet another hard fought series that concluded with the home team winning the seventh game without much difficulty. Most of the teams that won game sevens on the road in previous seasons proved to be serious championship contenders. Dallas certainly must be viewed in that light as well.

So far, I have correctly predicted the outcome of 9 of the 12 playoff series. My three misses are picking the Lakers over the Suns, the Nets over the Heat and the Spurs over the Mavericks. The Lakers and Spurs lost in game seven, as noted above. I wrote that San Antonio "is just thismuch better than Dallas" but it turned out that Dallas is thismuch better than San Antonio. The Nets went down in five games; they provided a tantalizing taste of why I picked them to beat Miami by taking a commanding first half lead against the Heat in game one. The Nets held on to win that game despite losing Richard Jefferson to a sprained ankle but they did not play that well again the rest of the series. Jefferson returned to action but was not the same player until game five. Meanwhile, versatile veteran Cliff Robinson got suspended for violating the NBA's substance abuse policy and Nenad Krstic, who showed so much promise during the season, mysteriously lost his shooting touch after connecting on more than half of his shots during the regular season and the first round. Regardless of these circumstances, I can't offer any excuses--I was wrong about those three series; while they could have perhaps gone the other way, the same thing could also be said about some of the series that I got right.

This year's playoffs have featured some very exciting action, several overtime games and some spectacular individual performances. We have "witnessed" LeBron James' playoff debut and in less than a month we will crown a new champion. Both of my projected finalists--San Antonio and New Jersey--have been eliminated. Now I expect to see Dallas and Detroit in the NBA Finals. I previously posted my thoughts about the Eastern Conference Finals rematch between Detroit and Miami and I will address the Western Conference Finals battle between Dallas and Phoenix in my next post.

The Clippers

Raise your hands, everyone, who saw that last game's score coming. IN PHOENIX no less.

So tonight, we see if something dramatic is really happening in this series. But then,perhaps we should not be surprised. Phoenix struggled to get by the Lakers and the Clippers are a damned sight better than the Kobes. I would like to see the Suns win tonight as I do enjoy our good Canadian boy Mr. Nash, but it would not suprise me a bit if the Clipps continue to give the Phoenix everything they handle and more.

In fact you can get the boys from LA at -120 on the series line right now at BetBug and that is surely not the worst bet ever seen.

The Clippers

The St. Louis Local Organizing Committee will be hosting the 2005 NCAA Final Four at the Edward Jones Dome on April 2 and 4, 2005. The committee is a partnership between the Missouri Valley Conference, St. Louis University, the St. Louis Convention and Visitor's Commission, and the St. Louis Sports Commission.

The City of St. Louis, which is hosting it's third Final Four in 2005 has played a prominent role in the development of the NCAA Division Men's Championship. In 1973, Bill Walton and UCLA met Memphis at the old St. Louis Arena in the first ever Monday primetime national championship game.

Here's a list of FREE activities that will be taking place on Laclede's Landing throughout the four-day Championship Weekend, April 1-4, 2005: