NBA Weekend Betting Preview: Bulls to the slaughter?

Basketball / Nick Shiambouros / 19 December 2008 / Leave a comment

Nick Shiambouros travels from East to West as he looks forward to a weekend of mouth-watering contests in both conferences...

The man nicknamed "the big ticket" certainly lived up to that billing with a brilliant display in the fourth quarter on Wednesday night against the Atlanta Hawks. I am of course referring to the great Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics who torched the Hawks with his patented jump hook late in the game.

It was a close game but the Celtics prevailed 88-85 in a pulsating affair in front of a packed house in Atlanta .Boston, who have now won 16 games in a row , host Chicago on Friday and the Bulls look like lambs to the slaughter. Dare I say it, the [1.09] on offer appears to be appropriate.

Over in the Western Conference the New Orleans Hornets moved in to second place behind the Lakers with a 91-84 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. Team leader Chris Paul is finally beginning to play at his best and he broke an NBA record on Wednesday with his 106th consecutive steal. Paul and his talented team will be a force come play-off time.

I'm looking forward to the Cleveland Cavaliers trip to Denver on Friday. It should be a very interesting affair and I will be taking Denver and the handicap points in this one. This is a huge game for both teams as they need to keep tabs on the Lakers and the Celtics in their respective conferences.

Cleveland have played much better at home than on the road and even with the great LeBron it won't be easy. The new duo of Carmello Anthony and Chauncey Billups have really clicked and between them lead the team in points, rebounds and assists.

The Cavaliers are coming off a big win against Minnesota but the Timberwolves are a poor outfit and the 93-70 score came as no surprise. Currently, Cleveland are trading at [1.62] in the win market which does not represent value against this rejuvenated Denver team.

On Saturday night the Orlando Magic take on the Los Angeles Lakers and I will be backing the Magic in both markets in this mouth-watering affair. The Magic have made us plenty of money over the last couple of weeks and will come in to the game believing they can take care of LA. Dwight Howard is in great form of late but the whole unit will have to be at their best to handle the Lakers.

I have recommended the Magic as a team to follow recently and they have exceeded all my expectations, particularly in close games when they have found a way to win. They are in third place in the Eastern Conference and only 4.5 games behind Boston.

The Lakers play the Heat on Friday and will make the short journey to Orlando on Saturday. They are playing very well at the moment but they had a scare against New York on Tuesday when they scraped past the Nicks 116-114.

I expect a low scoring affair on Saturday with the half court game of the Magic hopefully controlling the tempo so I will be backing the total under points in addition to the outright win.

Recommended Wagers:

Friday: Denver-Back with advertised handicap
Saturday:Orlando-Back with advertised handicap and outright market
Back total under points