Up to NBA Betting Trends

posted February 27, 2008 at 18:35 in NBA Betting Trends

I’ve been wondering nearly all season whether the Denver Nuggets, (33-23 SU, 28-28 ATS, 30-26 O/U) would step up at some point this season and reveal whether they are true title contenders in the western conference or just another high-scoring team that doesn’t know how to buckle down when it counts.

After watching the Nuggets’ in each of their last three contests, all losses, including a 98-83 defeat at the hands of the Detroit Pistons on Monday, the question seems to be answered pretty accurately.

The extremely young Seattle Super Sonics, (15-40 SU, 27-27-1 ATS, 21-34 O/U), have nowhere near the straight up record that the Nuggets do but have been excused from being bashed because of the franchise’s plan to turn things around in the next couple of seasons behind first round draft picks Kevin Durant and Jeff Green.

Now, the Sonics are looking to hand the Nuggets, who are languishing in ninth place in the western conference standings, their fourth consecutive defeat.

"Right now we are not playing with a sense of urgency," Nuggets forward Eduardo Najera said after Monday's loss to Detroit. "Everybody should know we are in ninth place, and it's going to be really tough down the stretch, we've got to take care of business at home and on the road. We have to realize we are in a hunt, and we've got to come out and be ready to play every single night."

The Sonics have dropped two straight, including a 105-99 loss to the Golden State Warriors last night.

"We get upset with ourselves, but we never put our heads down," said Durant, who scored 21 points against the Warriors. "I think we come out and play hard, and if you've seen our last game, there was a big difference between what we did then and today, so we've got to keep building.

The Nuggets, who are just 5-5 in their last ten games are an even worse 4-6 against the spread over the same span while Seattle has managed to go 6-4 against the spread in its last ten and 4-1 against the spread in their last five games.

Here is a look at tonight’s key trends, followed by my analysis and NBA Betting Free Picks.

The Nuggets are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 road games vs. a team with a home winning percentage of less than .400.

The Nuggets are 5-2 ATS in their last seven games vs. a team with a losing S.U. record.

The SuperSonics are 9-2 ATS in their last eleven vs. Western Conference.

The SuperSonics are 5-2 ATS in their last seven games overall.

The Over is 4-0 in Nuggets last four games vs. a team with a winning percentage below .400.

The Under is 8-0 in SuperSonics last eight vs. NBA Northwest.

The Favorite is 7-1 ATS in the last eight meetings.

The Nuggets are 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings in Seattle.

Analysis: While I don’t have much faith in the Nuggets’ ability to beat any opf the western conference powers come playoff time, something tells me they’re going to bounce back in a big way against the Sonics tonight. Take the Nuggets to break out of their three-game doldrums with a big win tonight.

NBA Free Picks: Denver -8½ Points/Over 212 Total Points

10:05 PM EST NBA Betting Odds

Denver Nuggets -8½ -110

Seattle Supersonics +8½ -110

Over 212 -110

Under 212 -110

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