NBA Picks

NBA Betting Trends

NBA – December 20th

For just the third time since playing in the 2011 NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat are going to renew ties in NBA betting action, and it all takes place on Thursday night on TNT in the second half of the NBA doubleheader.

Miami is doing its job at 16-6, but the club is just a .500 team on the road over the course of the last month and a half. The team is doing tremendously well offensively, shooting 49.5 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from beyond the arc, both of which are the best marks in the league, and the end result is the fourth best tally in the NBA at 103.1 points per game. Of course, it’s all about the three amigos in the forefront of it all. F LeBron James is having another one of these crazy years with 25.2 points, 8.5 boards, and 6.9 assists per game, but the others have tailed off in production just a bit. Dwyane Wade is averaging 19.7 points, 4.4 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per game, while F Chris Bosh is good for 18.0 points and 7.9 boards per night. The emergence of G Ray Allen as a fourth option has really helped as well. Allen is knocking down 47% of his three-point shots, and as a result, he is scoring 11.9 points per game.

Dallas has some injury problems to contend with on Thursday night that stem much deeper than the fact that F Dirk Nowitzki still hasn’t suited this year. We know that reserve PG Derek Fisher won’t be suiting, and C Brendan Wright and F Elton Brand are probably going to sit as well. If that turns out to be the case, it’s going to take a lot of digging deep into the bench just to try to keep up with the Heat. There are still five double digit point scorers on the court that are going to be playing tons of minutes in this game, led by G OJ Mayo, who is averaging 20.6 points per game on the campaign. C Chris Kaman and F Shawn Marion will have their work cut out for them in the inside against Bosh and James respectively, while G Darren Collison will have to have a great game against Wade and/or Allen. The Mavericks have won and covered three straight games at home, but we have a real problem with this team defensively. The club is allowing 45.5 boards per game and 101.5 points per game, and those numbers are the reason that the team is still below .500 this year.

Prediction:

We do have to remember that the schedule has been tough for Dallas, and the team is 8-3 SU this year at home after all. We think that home court advantage is going to make the difference in terms of the cover for the Mavs, but we still think that in the end, the Heat are going to find a way to take this game with some clutch shooting. Miami 102 – Dallas 100