Posted on
5/1/2008 6:42:21 PM
NBA Playoff Wagering - West opens up for Lakers
By BetUS Staff
The NBA online betting puzzle in the Western Conference got a lot simpler this week. The Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets were all eliminated, leaving five teams on the Western futures market.
Here are the odds at press time to win the West:
Los Angeles Lakers -120
San Antonio Spurs +230
New Orleans Hornets +350
Utah Jazz +500
Houston Rockets +5000
The Rockets are down three games to two to the Jazz, with Game 5 scheduled for Friday in Salt Lake City. Utah won the first two games in Houston, but this has been a different series since Rafer Alston returned in Game 3. His contributions (16.3 points, 5.3 assists per game) helped the Rockets take two of three, cashing in all three times and earning a split at the former Delta Center – where the Jazz had a 37-4 record (29-12 against the spread) in the regular season.
The Rox may have a fair amount of value here, but they’re long shots for three very good reasons. One, they have to beat the Jazz twice in Utah just to advance to the second round. Two, their next opponents would be Los Angeles. The Lakers are drawing big chalk after sweeping aside a very good Denver Nuggets squad that won 50 games during the regular season. And three, Houston will have to beat the winner of the Spurs-Hornets series to claim the Western crown.
While the Lakers made Denver look like a dog-and-pony show, New Orleans had little trouble bouncing the Mavs from the playoffs and costing coach Avery Johnson his job. Putting the Hornets and Lakers together makes you wonder why their prices are so different.
Los Angeles is playing at a very high level with the outside-inside combo of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. But the Hornets have their own outstanding team chemistry built around Chris Paul and Tyson Chandler. L.A. was the top seed in the West at 57-25 (47-33-1 ATS); New Orleans was just one game behind at 56-26 and a conference-best 50-30-2 ATS. Bryant may be the inevitable 2008 MVP, but Chris Paul is a more deserving candidate according to nearly every objective statistical criterion.
The difference in the NBA odds is that the Hornets have to beat the defending champion Spurs to get to the third round. However, Utah had a plus-6.9 point differential this year, while San Antonio was barely ahead of Houston and Dallas at plus-4.8. Chalk it up to the Spurs’ playoff mystique.
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