NBA Weekend Matches Recap: Crowded West Stay Chaotic
Irving Trade Biggest Weekend Talking Point
Playoff Race Getting Tense in the West
It was a wild weekend for Western Conference teams as the crowded playoff picture becomes more chaotic following big wins and bigger trades. Let’s take a look at the NBA Weekend Matches Recaps to see what went on around the league.
The Dallas Mavericks dropped back to the #6 seed in the West following a 119-113 road loss to the Golden State Warriors. The Mavs were heavily undermanned in that game and closed as 10.5-point underdogs.
The Warriors comfortably controlled the game and led by as many as 23 points, but the team scored just three points in the final 5:28 of the game to allow Dallas to cover the spread.
This game was of little significance in the grand scheme of things for both teams with news the the Mavs have acquired Kyrie Irving and that the Warriors have lost Steph Curry to a knee ligament injury ultimately overshadowing anything that came from the on court matchup.
Both teams may well be trending in opposite directions for the coming weeks now as the Mavs finally get a superstar to pair alongside Luka Doncic, while the Warriors again look to tread water in the absence of their superstar scorer.
The New Orleans Pelicans had one of the biggest on-court weekends in the West as they snapped a 10-game skid by beating the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings on back-to-back nights.
The Pelicans secured a 131-126 win over the Lakers as 1.0-point home favorites before beating the Kings 136-104 as 2.0-point home underdogs. Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas sat out the second game for the Pelicans and the win certainly signals a push in the right direction for the team who had dropped out of the playoff picture after sitting atop the Western Conference just a month ago.
The Denver Nuggets split their weekend back-to-back as they endured a busy NBA injury report that went for and against them. Coach Mike Malone opted to punt their road game in Minnesota and criticized the league for their scheduling.
The Nuggets were 128-108 winners over the Trae Young-less Atlanta Hawks as 10.0-point favorites, but ran out 128-98 losers against the Minnesota Timberwolves on a night where Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope failed to even make the trip for a game that tipped-off 22 hours after their previous outing.
That loss did little to alter the NBA standings in the West for them however, with the Nuggets now 4.5 games clear of the Memphis Grizzlies for the #1 seed following the Grizzlies’ home loss to Toronto.
It’s now nine losses in their last 10 games for Memphis who went down 106-103 to the Raptors. The Grizzlies closed as 1.5-point favorites despite being without Ja Morant, Dillon Brooks or Steven Adams from their rotation.
The Phoenix Suns and OKC Thunder both secured important wins over the tanking Detroit Pistons and the Houston Rockets respectively to keep their playoff chase going. Both teams comfortably covered their respective spreads as well in comfortable wire-to-wire wins.
Bucks, Knicks Biggest Winners in the East
The Milwaukee Bucks continue their assault on the league as they took care of the Miami Heat 123-115 in front of their home fans.
The Bucks closed as 6.0-point favorites and are now riding a league-best six game win streak as they prepare for their upcoming West coast road trip. The team is also 6-3 ATS in their last nine outings and are now just 1.0 games behind the Boston Celtics for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
The New York Knicks went 1-1 on their weekend back-to-back, losing in OT to the LA Clippers before securing a big home win over division rivals Philadelphia.
The Clippers eventually covered the -2.5 point spread in a 134-128 OT win in Madison Square Garden but they needed a buzzer beater 3-pointer from Nic Batum to force OT after throwing away a 17-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Knicks did get redemption Sunday night though as they again fought back from a 21-point deficit to this time secure a 108-97 win as 4.5-point underdogs.
The Cleveland Cavaliers secured a 122-103 road win over the Indiana Pacers to keep their push for a top four spot in the East on course as they covered the 4.5-point spread despite the market pushing aggressively in favor of the home team.
Two Extremes for Totals Bettors
The weekend saw Overs and Unders bettors flip-flop results in dominant ways as the market ultimately fell close to 50% once again over the full weekend.
Saturday saw the Overs go 8-1 (88.9%) as teams exploded offensively with the average game finishing at 233.7 points. We also saw 12 of the 18 teams score 120 points or more.
Meanwhile, the Sunday slate proved to be an entirely different night of NBA. The Unders went 5-1 (83.3%) as a late game blowout in New Orleans and Sacramento was the only one to clear the market total.
Full game totals are now 407-390 to the Overs (51.1%) as the market continues to perform in a hyper efficient way to date.
That’s all for our NBA Weekend Matches Recap. Be sure to check back for more previews, analysis and reaction to the NBA season.
For NBA betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
