NBA Lines - Hot Under Teams

(RANK) (TEAM) (SU RECORD) (O/U RECORD) (O/U RECORD L/5 +$$)

1) Atlanta Hawks (18-10) (9-17 O/U) (0-5 O/U L/5 +$500): The Hawks have parlayed the league’s 20th ranked offense (96.4 PPG) with the league’s 6th ranked defense (93.9 PPG) to churn out an 18-10 overall mark good for 2nd in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. ‘Total’ bettors at BetUS Sportsbook have increased their bankrolls backing the ‘under’ in Atlanta’s games all season long. They currently hold a 9-17 sports betting O/U mark to the ‘under’ and that number increased this past week with all five of the Hawks’ games playing to the low side of the ‘total’. In fact, the ‘under’ is a solid 1-9 O/U in Atlanta’s L/10 games played. Their defense has been rock solid limiting opponents to a shade under 94 PPG mostly due in large part to their nasty FG% allowed. Atlanta’s opponents are shooting 44% shooting from the field good for the league’s 7th best ranking, and just 33% from beyond the arc good for the league’s 4th best ranking.

That said; their defense will be put to the test as their matched up against some of the highest scoring teams in the league in Chicago, Denver, Indiana, New Jersey, and Houston over the next five games…

2) New Orleans Hornets (16-8) (9-15 O/U) (0-5 O/U L/5 +$500): Chris Paul and the Hornets haven’t scored as much as they would have liked thus far (96.1 PPG), but their defense has been stifling limiting opponents to a paltry 91.8 PPG good for the 3rd best defensive ranking in the NBA. Going into the Christmas holiday, the ‘Under’ has cashed in for NBA bettors in the Hornets L/6 games. Not one of those six games even came close to going ‘over’ either. Their four game win streak was most recently snapped by the LA Lakers due in large part to the defenses inability to contain Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. LA was the first team to hit the 100-point plateau in NO’s L/9 overall games, but the game still fell 8.5-points under the BetUS closing ‘total’. With Houston boasting the same defensive prowess and better offense, and San Antonio’s offense getting healthier with every passing week, the Hornets will have to find a way to score some more points if they plan on continuing to compete in the rugged Southwest Division.

Some less than stellar defensive opponents are on the upcoming schedule, so hopefully CP3 and company can find their offensive stroke before they fall too far in the standings.

3) Denver Nuggets (18-11) (14-15 O/U) (4-1 O/U L/5 +$290): Yes, that’s right! The Denver Nuggets are on the list. Known more for an explosive offensive and a sieve of a defense, the Nuggets are quietly playing some solid defense for head coach George Karl. Maybe the defensive mentality became infused into the roster once Chauncey came over from Detroit? Either way, the Nuggets saw 4 of their L/5 games go under the closing ‘total’ to reel NBA betting under bettors in a nice $290 return. In fact, the ‘under’ has cashed in 7 of the Nuggets L/10 overall games. It didn’t accumulate too many wins since they went just 5-5 SU during that stretch, but it’s nice to finally see the Nuggets actually limiting its opponents on the defensive end of the court. Oddsmakers religiously released ‘totals’ in Nuggets games in the mid to high 200’s a season ago, but that has since changed as the man has caught on to the Nuggets propensity to finally ”D-up”.

Save for the game against NY this week; look for the Nuggets to find themselves in some defensive grind fests against Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Toronto….