Bet on Basketball

BET BASKETBALL — April 14

OKLAHOMA CITY at MINNESOTA
(Bet Basketball Line: Thunder -11.5 , Total 201.5) — In two games against the Oklahoma City Thunder this season, Kevin Love has scored 73 points and pulled down 26 rebounds. Now he is out of action with the after-effects of a concussion, and Minnesota finds itself in real trouble with Luke Ridnour going down with an injury, right behind that of Ricky Rubio. Minnesota’s running numbers include eight straight losses and 1-8-1 ATS in the last ten. Without a lot of leadership at point guard, the T-Wolves are lost, with or without Love, truth be told. So Oklahoma City, a team looking to wrap up the #1 seed, which is something they could really use, have an opportunity, not just to win their 12th straight meeting with this team, but to do some real damage. Take note - Minnesota is a subpar defensively, allowing 45% on the part of their opponents, giving the Thunder a chance to exploit them with two of the top scorers in the NBA (Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant).

BET BASKETBALL PLAY: OKLAHOMA CITY -11.5 **

(All information is for news matter only; All games are graded on a scale of 1-4 stars. Lines are subject to change)

BET BASKETBALL — April 4

L.A. LAKERS at L.A. CLIPPERS
(Bet Basketball Line: Clippers -3, Total 188) — From the pointspread standpoint, these appear to be two teams going in different directions. The Clippers are moving along quite well, winning six straight and covering five of those six. The Lakers have dropped seven consecutive games to the number. Inconsistent shooting has plagued the Lakers, and only in the last couple of games have they bounced back to find the range a little better. The Clippers have been a model of consistency when it comes to shooting accuracy, hitting the mark on 50% or more of their shots in five of their last six. Can they continue? Chris Paul is going to be a hard guy to stop; he scored 33 points the first time these teams met, but should be looking for some redemption tonight as he scored just five points in the last encounter, a 96-91 Laker win as Mike Brown’s team shot 50% from beyond the arc and got to the charity stripe 32 times, compared to just 14 for the Clips. Andrew Bynum is listed as questionable for this one, and that would be tough for the Lakers to sustain. The Lakers are 8-17 ATS on the road, and inasmuch as this is “road” game, this is not a game where they are likely to present value.

JAY’S BET BASKETBALL PLAY: L.A. CLIPPERS -3 **

(All information is for news matter only; All games are graded on a scale of 1-4 stars. Lines are subject to change)

BET BASKETBALL — March 30

CBI Championship - Game 3
WASHINGTON STATE at PITTSBURGH
(Bet Basketball Line: Pitt -7, Total 128) — When you look at the fact that Ashton Gibbs, who was Pitt’s leading scorer in the regular season, is likely to miss this game, you have to wonder how much of a factor it is, considering that he has been shooting at a lousy rate the last couple of games (just two of 15). He was a late scratch Wednesday, as Pittsburgh evened up this series but failed to cover. Is Gibbs’ absence a wash with Washington State missing 6′10″ forward Brock Motum? Maybe it is, but at least the Cougars were getting some consistent scoring out of Abe Lodwick, who was limited to two field goals in Game 2. The discernible edge Pitt has is in the rebounding department, as they did pull down eight offensive boards on Wednesday. We do expect that this can be a very competitive game, and we also know that Wazzu shoots threes a little better, as well as free throws. And Pitt, which hasn’t done a good job of getting the money at home (6-10 ATS), isn’t likely to have a throng at the Petersen Events Center (just 3,349 on Wednesday).

JAY’S BET BASKETBALL PLAY: WASHINGTON STATE +7 **

(All information is for news matter only; All games are graded on a scale of 1-4 stars. Lines are subject to change)

BET BASKETBALL — March 21

CHICAGO at TORONTO
(Bet Basketball Line: Bulls -7.5, Total 184) — Derrick Rose is likely to be missing this game with a groin injury. But the Bulls have gone 10-4 SU in the game he’s missed, so they are not necessarily lost without him. Some of it has to do with ball movement; the team is able to distribute the ball more and move the center of the offense away from him, and they have capable backups at point guard.

The Bulls truly turned up the defense in their last outing, holding the Orlando Magic to just 59 points on 35% shooting, making ten steals and forcing 18 turnovers. Toronto has shot well lately, but the Raptors don’t play defense, and that is why they are far from being an Eastern Conference playoff contender. This is the first game back after a five-game road trip, and they too it on the chin from the hot Knicks last night. Chicago is 17-8 ATS as a visitor.

JAY’S BET BASKETBALL PLAY: CHICAGO -7.5 **

(All information is for news matter only; All games are graded on a scale of 1-4 stars. Lines are subject to change)

BET BASKETBALL — March 17

CIT Tournament
DRAKE at RICE
(Bet Basketball Line: Rice-5 , Total 138.5) — Rice has been such an impressive performer at home this season, holding opponents to less than 40% shooting, and they have the man in the middle (Arsalan Kazemi) who may not be all that consistent on offense, but has pinned himself in the lane and taken away second shot opportunities on the part of the opponent (22 rebounds the last two games). And senior Connor Frizelle came up huge in the first-round CIT game against UL-Lafayette, with 18 points, hitting key free throws in the 66-63 win.

What can we say about Drake, except that they have not been a good pointspread performer all season on the road, logging just a 3-9 ATS record. And the shots were not falling in the opener, even at home (38% vs. North Dakota). In five of their last six as the outright visitor, the Bulldogs have been under 40%.

BET BASKETBALL PLAY: RICE -5 **

(All information is for news matter only; All games are graded on a scale of 1-4 stars. Lines are subject to change)