Posted on
1/17/2008 7:29:36 PM
Basketball Betting – Thursday Night Action
By Dave Golokhov
Cleveland Cavaliers (20-18) @ San Antonio Spurs (25-11)
In a rematch of the 2007 NBA Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers face the team that pimp slapped them across the face in last season’s Championship round.
Cleveland will be looking for revenge and is steaming hot entering the matchup. They have won eight of their last 10 games.
The San Antonio Spurs are 19-3 at home this season but their overall 25-11 record is a little misleading. The Spurs are 18-2 against teams with a losing record while they are only 7-9 against teams above .500.
Cleveland has its work cut out, though. As a road underdog of 6.5 to nine points, they have won only once in seven tries this season. They are 2-19 straight up and 7-14 in their last 21 outings in that situation.
The Spurs are 11-1 at home against the Cavs since 1996.
NBA Free Pick: San Antonio -7
Utah Jazz (22-17) @ Denver Nuggets (22-15)
The Utah Jazz have won six of their last seven games and have covered three of their last four, but find themselves as small underdogs against the struggling Denver Nuggets.
With frontcourt injuries to Nene and Kenyon Martin, the Nuggets have been thin on the front lines, which has led to some inconsistency.
The Nuggets have lost three of their last four, including losses to the Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks. The good news is those losses were on the road and now they are back at home.
At The Pepsi Center, the Nuggets have won 15 of their 20 contests. That shouldn’t threaten the Jazz, who have won three of their last four contests there.
Utah is only 2-7 this year when posted as an underdog and has only covered once in six tries when playing a game on two days rest.
However, the Jazz do like to play in high scoring affairs. They are 7-3 ATS and 8-2 SU in a game where the total is posted at 210 or higher.
NBA Free Pick:Denver -2.5
Phoenix Suns (26-12) @ Los Angeles Lakers (26-11)
How important is Andrew Bynum to the Los Angeles Lakers triangle offense? In the next eight weeks, we are going to find out.
Earlier in the season, Head Coach Phil Jackson said that the Lakers success was contingent on the growth of their young center Bynum. Now that Bynum is out for the next eight weeks, we’ll see if Jackson was right.
The Lakers have become a dangerous team in the Western Conference. As a matter of fact, nobody has a better record in the West.
The emergence of Bynum has given the Lakers a dangerous inside-out game that they have lacked since the days of Shaquille O’Neal. Even the Phoenix Suns, who by many casual fans and pundits are considered to be the better squad the Lakers, sit a half-game behind the Lakers in the standings.
That can change on Thursday night as the Suns play at the Staples Center for the second time in three nights. The Suns fell 97-90 to the Clippers on Tuesday night.
The Suns have lost 22 of their last 31 games at the Staples Center against the Lakers, including a 122-115 loss on Christmas Day.
The Suns have lost their last two road games and have covered the spread only once in seven January games.
NBA Free Pick: Phoenix -1.5
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