posted November 23, 2009 at 19:07 EST in NBA Free Picks
NBA Monday Night Parlay - Bucks vs. Spurs and Bulls vs. Trail Blazers
by Charles Jay
Tip-off: Milwaukee vs. San Antonio at 8:30 pm EST and Chicago vs. Portland at 10:00 pm EST
The Chicago Bulls, fresh off of a 112 to 93 loss to the Denver Nuggets, took a plane to Portland last night and will face the Trailblazers in a game where they are big time underdogs.
The Bulls are .500 for the season so far with a 6 and 6 straight-up record. All of their success has been due to the excellent play of point-guard Derrick Rose who leads the team in assists and is second on the team in points. Rose is going to have to be better than good against the Blazers and the awesome Brandon Roy.
Roy averages 20 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds per game and is considered one of the top players in the NBA right now.
In the night’s other terrific game on which to wager, the San Antonio Spurs, who broke a three game losing streak by beating the Washington Wizards 106 to 84 in their last game, welcome the surprising 8 and 3 Milwaukee Bucks.
Let’s take a look at both games.
Milwaukee Bucks vs. San Antonio Spurs
Tip-off: 8:30 pm EST
NBA Basketball Odds: San Antonio -9
Analysis: Manu Ginobili is hurt again. One of the Spurs’ top players is out indefinitely. What that means is that the scoring has fallen almost exclusively on Tony Parker and Richard Jefferson. In fact, Jefferson leads the Spurs in scoring average with a 15.4.
The Milwaukee Bucks are 8 and 3 so far this season because of the terrific Brandon Jennings. The rookie is everything the Bucks thought he would be when drafting him this year. He’s averaging over 25 points a game and cannot be stopped.
Once the Bucks get Michael Redd back they should be even better. Looking at Milwaukee’s roster, it appears that they are winning with smoke and mirrors, but numbers do not lie. The Bucks have beaten the Denver Nuggets and lost to the Dallas Mavericks in overtime already in 2009.
They’re getting 9 points against a tired San Antonio team. I have to take the points.
Chicago Bulls vs. Portland Trailblazers
Tip-off: 10:00 pm EST
NBA Basketball Odds: Portland -7 ½
Analysis: The Blazers are better than the Chicago Bulls, but that doesn’t mean that Chicago won’t come to play in this game.
Portland is only 4 and 3 in the NBA sports betting so far in 2009. They do have terrific players in almost every position, but did lose to an inferior team, Golden State, by 14 points two games ago. What that means is that the Blazers aren’t very good at home ATS and have a tendency to play down to their competition.
Once again, the Bulls’ fortunes in this game depend on Rose. If Rose comes to play, then forget it, the Bulls could beat the spread, but if he doesn’t, then Chicago could lose by 20 points or more.
This is a very difficult line to work with, 7 ½ points, but when in doubt, it’s always a good idea to take the points. After getting thumped by Denver on Sunday, the Bulls should come out and at least play respectably against a team they matchup up slightly better with. I’m going with Chicago.
