Posted on 3/11/2008 4:49:49 PM

NBA Odds - World Without Wade

By BetUS Staff

NBA betting is a blast with superstars like Dwyane Wade to watch. But it can be even more profitable now that he’s out for the season.

Wade will log his second straight 51-game campaign for the Miami Heat, his surgically repaired left knee being the cause of both lengthy absences. The 2006 Finals MVP was scheduled this week for OssaTron shockwave therapy. He hopes to be ready for the Olympics this summer in Beijing. Pat Riley could just as easily have taken Wade out of the lineup sooner, with only the mildest whiff of tanking the season in the air. But Wade played until he could barely get out of bed – literally.

The version of the Heat we’ll see for the rest of the year promises to be one of the worst teams in the NBA. Shawn Marion is the lone superstar left standing; he’ll be surrounded by a skeleton crew after Dorrell Wright’s season-ending knee injury and the loss of Marcus Banks for at least a week with a hamstring problem. Udonis Haslem (ankle) and Earl Barron (knee) were also day-to-day at press time.

Bad as the Heat may be, the betting public often overreacts to a major injury like Wade’s, giving handicappers a prime opportunity to support a Miami team at bargain-basement prices. For example, the Heat opened as 3.5-point home faves for Monday’s matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers. The Wade announcement dropped Miami to a 2.5-point underdog. That’s a six-point swing. Yet the Heat are getting outscored by 6.4 points per 48 minutes that Wade is on the court. Replacement Daequan Cook, recently called up from the Iowa Energy of the D-League, is at minus-9.3 per 48. That’s a three-point drop from Wade, not six points.

As it turned out, the Clippers came from behind Monday to win 99-98, giving Miami back-to-back paydays for just the fifth time this season. The Heat can expect better results once Banks (minus-5.2/48) returns to the lineup. As a combo guard, he was a bust in Phoenix, but Banks cracked the 20-point mark twice for Miami before suffering his injury Saturday against Atlanta. As the “other” player in the Marion-Shaquille O’Neal trade, Banks should give the Heat added value when he returns from injury.

Miami’s next game is Wednesday at home against the New York Knicks. Tip-off for this matchup is at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time on MSG and SUN NET. Check the NBA odds section for the freshest lines on this matchup.

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