BASKETBALL NBA ARTICLES

Just like they did in each of their first three NBA Playoff series, the Miami Heat won on the road stealing homecourt advantage from the Denver Nuggets. Miami rebounded from a sorry shooting display in Game 1, played strong defense on everybody but Nikola Jokic, and came away with a 111-108 win after Jamal Murray missed a potential game-tying three-pointer at the horn. Miami will host Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday with the series tied 1-1. Miami took care of a few things on Sunday snapping a 7-game overall losing streak to the Nuggets while handing them their first home setback this postseason. Underdogs virtually all this postseason the Heat are catching 2.5-points on the opening line. They’ve been a good bet as the underdog going 9-7 SU and 11-5 ATS. The Nuggets haven’t been nearly as good on the road as they are at home. They had a losing record during the regular year and are 4-3 this postseason, though they’ve won their last three away contests. ... 

Great players don’t stay down for long, and after a disappearing act from stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals, especially in the fourth quarter, the Boston Celtics need their leading scorers to step up. When the teams met in last year’s conference final the Celtics won three games on the home floor of the Miami Heat and they need a victory on Tuesday in Game 4 of the series. Stopping Jimmy Butler is a key to having success and something Bos... 

Great players don’t stay down for long, and after a disappearing act from stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals, especially in the fourth quarter, the Boston Celtics need their leading scorers to step up. When the teams met in last year’s conference final the Celtics won three games on the home floor of the Miami Heat and they need a victory on Tuesday in Game 4 of the series. Stopping Jimmy Butler is a key to having success and something Bos... 

Taking care of their own court is a top priority for the Boston Celtics as they tangle with the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday night inside TD Garden. Meeting for the third time in four years to determine the conference champion, the teams have created quite a rivalry. And as the only game on the NBA schedule there are plenty of betting options with same game parlays a popular way to go. As we get deeper into the NBA Playoffs sportsbooks up their game with a bigger prop bet menu to go along with the traditional betting options. Bets on players are way of staying in the game and with the games expected to be close we’ll see guys like Miami’s Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo and Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown on the floor for more minutes only increasing the likelihood of them putting up big numbers. ... 

A few months ago just reaching the NBA Playoffs seemed like a longshot for the Los Angeles Lakers. A few roster adjustments at the trade deadline put the Lakers on the right path and they’ve been one of the best since. Including their play-in tournament win over Minnesota the Lakers are 9-4 since the conclusion of the regular season and will face the best team in the Western Conference finals after knocking off the defending champion Golden State Warriors. The Denver Nuggets sat atop the standings most of the season finishing 10 games better than the Lakers and homecourt advantage could be huge. The Nuggets had the second-best home record in the NBA during the regular season and they are a perfect 6-0 at home during the postseason with five payouts. Both their wins over LA during the season came in Denver by double figures. The Lakers are catching 4.5-points on the opening line. ... 

The odds of winning a NBA Playoffs series when trailing three games to one are slim. However, the reigning champion Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks kept their chances alive by winning on Wednesday and will once again attempt to stave off elimination in their respective Game 6 on Friday, May 12. He had only four points in 20 minutes in Golden State’s 121-106 victory... 

The Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns will need to win on the road if they wish to advance in the 2023 NBA Playoffs. Both teams have a chance to do that on Tuesday, May 9 in Game 5 of their respective series with betting options for every game available at BookMaker. Boston had a glorious opportunity to take a stranglehold in their East semifinal with Philly instead fallin... 

The second-round of the NBA Playoffs continue on Friday, May 5 with a couple of pivotal Game 3s airing on ESPN. In the Eastern Conference the Boston Celtics look to regain homecourt advantage after a troubling Game 1 loss. Playing without league MVP Joel Embiid the Sixers stole one against the defending conference champs behind 45 points from James Harden. If Boston didn’t refocus after that setback they better do it soon since Embiid is ready to return. Many had the Phoenix Suns as a favorite to win the Western Conference following the acquisition of Kevin Durant. They may still advance but they’ll have to overcome a 2-0 series deficit to the Denver Nuggets. Since no team has ever won a series when losing the first three games, Friday’s contest can be tucked into the must-win category. ... 

The Golden State Warriors’ trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green don’t have many more playoff runs in them – at least as teammates. Lakers forward LeBron James has fewer runs with Father Time paying a visit. So, fittingly I suppose, the Warriors and Lakers meet in the second round of the NBA Playoffs with Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series ... 

With the other half of the Western Conference bracket settled for round 2 of the NBA Playoffs, the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers can advance with home wins in Game 6 on Friday, April 28. The teams took different routes to get to this point with the defending champs winning three in a row after dropping the first two games to the Sacramento Kings. The Lakers, m... 

With the NBA Playoffs in full swing three teams have a chance to join the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round by closing out their opening round series on Tuesday. The Minnesota Timberwolves avoided extinction and a sweep by knocking off the Nuggets at Target Center on Sunday breathing some life back into a club that dropped each of the first three games by at least nine ... 

Don’t look now but the defending champion Golden State Warriors got hot at the right time improving their odds of winning the Western Conference and returning to the NBA Finals for the seventh time in nine seasons. The Dubs won their final three regular season games with the offense getting tuned up for the playoffs. They scorched Portland for 55 first quarter points in a 157-101 rout in the finale and averaged over 137 points during the winning streak. More impressively was the fact that they w... 

Six teams in the NBA finished the regular season with more than 50 wins and four of them reside in the Eastern Conference. After losing the Finals last season to Golden State, the Boston Celtics made sure they’d have another crack at winning the O’Brien Trophy by holding down the best record in the league for most of the season. A late surge by the Bucks, however, moved them ahead of everyone and into the position of NBA champion favorite. With the top four clubs each having at least 51 wins, od... 

The final day of the NBA regular season is upon us with all 30 teams in action on Sunday, April 9 giving us a bonanza of NBA parlay options. And right now I’m feeling good since last weekend was delightful cashing a three-team parlay. It’s at times like this that you don’t want the season to end. The winning ticket didn’t make up for the many weeks of losses, but it sure helps. I... 

Well, the betting gods met me at the front door after I hit a three-team NBA parlay a few weeks ago. I haven’t come close to replicating that and I’m running out of time with the regular season concluding this weekend. You have to consider how teams locked into a playoff spot are going to handle the remaining few games. Will they rest players ahead of the postseason or keep them ... 

After what we saw on Sunday night, it might be best to back off of big favorites for a while. For the first time in over three decades, two teams that were underdogs of 15 points or more by the NBA betting odds won outright. The San Antonio Spurs knocked off the Sacramento Kings in overtime as a 16-point underdog, and the Portland Trail Blazers edged the Minnesota Timberwolves de... 

If you went against my picks last week you’d still having a losing parlay card, but at least the record would better. That’s a small consolation since all bets on a single ticket have to win. I lost all my winnings from the successful three-team parlay a few weeks ago so I guess it’s time to replenish the coffers. As we roll into the final month of the NBA regular season there is... 

Let’s just say I wasn’t at my best last week with the NBA parlay picks. On my six total wagers I won just twice and needless to say that won’t get it done. It’s hard enough winning a single NBA wager let alone a multi-team parlay, but when it happens it’s worth it since sportsbooks offer sweet odds. There is time remaining on the NBA slate to pick up the pace and hit another winn... 

It was nice to hit another NBA Parlay over the weekend as both the Atlanta Hawks and Denver Nuggets won at home by double digits. Atlanta gave us a little scare as the Hawks didn’t cover the NBA betting line by much despite scoring 143 points in their win over the Indiana Pacers. However, Denver represented no such worries as the Nuggets cruised to a big win against the Milwaukee... 

I guess it’s a good thing I hit a three-team NBA parlay a little bit ago because my picks have failed to connect recently. We still have a few weeks left in the regular season providing more opportunities to cash that winning ticket with a good slate of games to choose from on Sunday, March 26. Now, to be clear I failed in that I didn’t hit a multi-team parlay and as you know all... 

I managed to hit the first leg of my NBA Parlay for Wednesday, but I came up a little short on the back end. The Philadelphia 76ers continue to beat down any non-elite team, and they hammered the Chicago Bulls 116-91 last night. Philadelphia started the game on a 17-0 run and never looked back, as the Sixers were up by 28 points at halftime. That led to Joel Embiid playing just 1... 

The follow up to my three-team winner wasn’t as successful proving again that winning a multi-wager NBA parlay isn’t easy. But when that ticket does hit, it’s well worth it since sportsbooks offer attractive odds. I didn’t come close to winning, which is better than suffering a bad beat to ruin your ticket, I guess. Atlanta and Golden State scored a lot of points in last Friday’s... 

Every team in the NBA has now played at least 70 games, so the playoff picture is becoming a little more settled than it was at this time last week. The Portland Trail Blazers are now virtually out of contention after losing six straight games, making the postseason race in the Western Conference a little less crowded. However, just four games continue to separate the No. 4 seed ... 

I followed up my three-team parlay winner last Friday with a dud on Sunday winning only one of three wagers, once again proving how difficult it is to hit a multi-team winner. And that’s why sportsbooks offer attractive odds on parlays. That doesn’t prevent me from continuing my quest to back another winner and the slate of games on the NBA schedule for Sunday, March 19 offers plenty of betting options. Last week I backed Denver in a matchup with the Brooklyn Nets expecting the Western Conference leaders to continue their homecourt dominance. It was an informed enough wager that looked like a solid one at the time since the Nuggets have the best home record in the NBA. Not only did they fail to cover the 9-point spread the Nuggets lost the game. Denver also lost two nights later at Toronto starting their 5-game Eastern Conference road trip with a fourth straight setback and five consecutive ATS losses. I’m still not sure about Brooklyn after their roster transformation so I’ll stay away from the rematch. It’s a good thing there are plenty of other games. ... 

It’s getting pretty frustrating to go 1-1 with my NBA Parlay Picks. The Sacramento Kings went on the road and took care of business against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night. De’Aaron Fox came up big in the closing minutes, but the Kings had taken a lead into the fourth quarter. However, the Cleveland Cavaliers failed to cover the number against the Philadelphia 76ers. Joel Emb...