NBA Betting Preview: Cuban crisis to inspire victory over Washington?

Basketball / Nick Shiambouros / 06 March 2009 / Leave a Comment

Two teams may already be through but the competition is hotting up in the Eastern Conference for play-off home advantage. Meanwhile, will Mark Cuban's latest outburts inspire his players to a victory against Washington?

The Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers have become the first two teams to clinch playoff berths this season.

The Celtics had to dig very deep to fend off a resilient New Jersey team but held on 115-111 on Wednesday night. Boston are currently one game behind Cleveland in the Eastern Conference as the battle for home court advantage continues.

The Cavaliers, who are on fire at the moment, have the slight edge. They made it four wins in a row by crushing the Milwaukee Bucks 91-73 at home on Wednesday. The Cavaliers are now 25-1 on home soil and this may be significant if they manage to earn home court advantage in the post season.

Over in the Western Conference on Tuesday the Los Angeles Lakers maintained a comfortable 8.5 game advantage over the rest of the conference beating Memphis 99-89.

However, the big story in the West this week concerns the comments made by Dallas team owner Mark Cuban. The flamboyant self-made billionaire publicly ridiculed his team after they lost to the Oklahoma Thunder on Monday. Cuban said: "If each player can't take the personal initiative to make every game important and play like it, I don't see them being here next season".

Dallas are in eighth place and remain in with a fighting chance of making the playoffs. This game is hard enough to play as it is without having negative pressure put on the players by Cuban. I am sure he has even considered throwing on a shirt and picking himself to play.

This Saturday, Dallas is at home to Washington and I like the chances of the Mavericks with the handicap. Dirk Nowitski is the leader of this team and he will have plenty of help from Jason Terry and Josh Howard. The Washington Wizards are probably the worst team in the NBA and I am sure the Mavericks will put up a big score. Some Dallas players might not be around next year but while they are, they will play hard.

On Sunday, the Orlando Magic visit the Boston Celtics in the game of the week. I really think the Magic could cause an upset. The Celtics are missing the injured Kevin Garnett and as a result Paul Pierce has a higher workload. Dwight Howard and the Magic have a very good road record of 21-9 and they are playing at a very high level. Orlando are only four games behind Cleveland and have not given up hope of having the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Most people thought that Orlando could not sustain this level of play but they have silenced their critics. It is never easy to win in Boston but if they can withstand the early pressure from the Celtics they could give them plenty to think about.

Recommended wagers:

Sunday, Orlando, back in the outright market