NBA Playoff Picks 2010 NBA Odds and Predictions

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Everything seems to be back to normal in La-La Land, at least for the time being. While many were beginning to jump off the Los Angeles Lakers’ bandwagon prior to Tuesday’s Game 5, Kobe Bryant didn’t seem concerned about blowing a 2-0 series lead to the Oklahoma City Thunder. “Who said our backs are against the wall?” Bryant asked when questioned by the Los Angeles Times before Game 5. “It’s a 2-2 series. What the hell is going on around here?” Although the momentum seemed to be swinging in the Thunder’s direction, the Lakers showed the new kids on the playoff block who was in charge. While Kobe did have a solid game, he had modest point totals, going 4 of 9 from the field for 13 points but his teammates were there to contribute as well. Power forward Pau Gasol led the Lake Show with 25 points, center Andrew Bynum was close behind with 21 and the Lakers came away with a 111-87 win, covering as 6-point home favorites. The momentum seems to have swung again but who will be the victor when the two meet in Oklahoma City on Friday? Online sportsbooks have the Lakers as 1.5-point road ‘dogs with the Total is set at 195. Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Trends: The Lakers are a study of opposites in their last nine overall games against the Thunder, going 6-3 straight up but going 3-6 against the spread at the same time. In the Lakers’ last nine road games, they aren’t impressive either way, going 2-7 SU and 3-6 ATS and six of their last eight road games have gone Over while two have gone Under the Total. In the Purple and Gold’s last 20 games when listed as an underdog of 2-points or less, they are 14-6 both SU and ATS. SPORTSBETTING.com ’smanager, Brian Taylor, said the action in Game 5 favored the Lakers about 60-40, but so far the early action on Game 6 is tilted to the home team Thunder, with 63% of all the volume on the small favorite. Dallas vs. San Antonio Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban hasn’t been shy when expressing his hatred for the San Antonio Spurs and he must’ve been fuming prior to Game 5 of the series. The Mavs were down 3-1 in the series but managed to stay alive with a 103-81 victory on Tuesday night — covering as 5-point home faves. The Dallas Mavericks could take the series the distance with a win Thursday in San Antone; the Spurs are 3.5-point faves for that game and the Over/Under is at 191. In the Mavericks’ last 14 games on the road, they are 10-4 SU and 10-3-1 ATS. The Spurs are only 6-13-1 ATS in their last 20 games when hosting the Dallas Mavericks. The Spurs are also 10-2 SU and 9-2-1 ATS in their last 12 home games. Enjoy all the b-ball playoff action and check out NBA Odds

2010 NBA Playoff Picks and Odds – NBA Playoff Predictions

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Friday night serves up three more big NBA matchups, including the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs.

Who are your top 5 teams in each conference going into the year?

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Why the Los Angeles CLIPPERS will make the playoffs!

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the clippers have a very good team. they have camby to protect the paint. kaman is a good lo post player as well the have rookie blake griffin and young studs in gordon and thornton both ave around 15 ppg and they have a good shooting bench ricky davis and q richardson and young pg mike taylor but the main reason is baron davis he could be a top 5 point guard when healthy and is super clutch and they have a good coach in mike dunleavy whos been through it before

Who will be the coach of detriot

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Forgotten man Marion might be best suited with Cavs

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Kidd expected to return to Mavericks

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Hoopsworld.com is reporting that Jason Kidd is expected to notify the Mavericks on Monday that he is going to accept their contract offer and stay with Dallas. The Mavs are offering Kidd somewhere around $18 million more than the Knicks, which is probably the main reason for this decision. If Kidd does shun the Knicks, they will still desperately be looking for a point guard to run Mike D'Antoni's offense.

Kidd more likely to go with the New York Knicks

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If the Knicks are going to offer Kidd three years, which is what the Mavericks are offering, the chances of him going to New York look much better - even if the offer is for less money. Kidd would love to play for Mike D'Antoni and his kids live in New York. "I have a little leeway which will leave me in good position for next year," Walsh wrote to The Associated Press. "I know what it is but do not talk much about it."

Dirk all NBA first team?

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REALLY?

Nuggets vs Mavericks Game 6 tonight!! Will the Nuggets move on?

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Mark Cuban apologizes to K-Mart & his mother

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Mavericks owner Mark Cuban apologized to Kenyon Martin and his mother in a blog entry on Tuesday. Cuban talked trash to K-Mart's mom after Game 3, and during Game 4 she was relentlessly heckled by Mavs' fans. "I know your family and friends didn't feel as comfortable as they should," Cuban said. "I apologize for that as well." Uncomfortable is an understatement -- there were separate incidents of harassment involving K-Mart's mother, his girlfriend, and even Carmelo Anthony's girlfriend. K-Mart, for his part, spent much of Game 4 cursing at Cuban, the media and Mavs fans. The series now shifts to Denver (Cuban isn't expected to attend Game 5) so hopefully cooler heads will prevail.

Kenyon Martin fined for hit on Dirk

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DENVER -- The NBA hit Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin with a $25,000 fine Monday and upgraded his Game 1 foul on Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki to a flagrant foul. With 5:57 to play in the first quarter of Sunday's Game 1, Martin was called for a technical foul after knocking Nowitzki to the ground with a hard bump along the baseline after Nowitzki made his first six shots from the floor. Nowitzki finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds but shot only 6-for-16 after the hot start. Denver pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 109-95 triumph to take a 1-0 series lead entering Tuesday night's Game 2 at the Pepsi Center. The flagrant foul is Martin's first of the postseason and, after the upgrade from a technical to a flagrant foul penalty 1, puts one point in Martin's playoff "account." Players who exceed three points receive an automatic suspension for the next game after the three-point barrier is surpassed. It's believed that Martin's history of hard fouls -- compared to Boston's Rajon Rondo, who escaped punishment for high-profile fouls in the Celtics' first-round series with Chicago -- led to a fine in addition to the reclassification of the foul. "I voiced our opinion [to the league] that we believe the fine was excessive," Nuggets vice president of player personnel Rex Chapman said Monday night. "With regard to other incidents that have taken place in these playoffs and some of those actions not [resulting in] a fine, we feel that fining K-Mart for this is a bit excessive and inconsistent. "But we're going to accept it and move on. I think that Dirk was off balance as he often is -- and he's one of the best actors in the game, too -- but that's part of the game." Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle complained after Game 1 about the free throw disparity, which was 36-13 in Denver's favor. Carlisle specifically protested the fact that Nowitzki earned only five trips to the line, one of them to shoot the technical called on Martin. "It's hard for me to believe," Carlisle said Sunday, "that we committed 29 fouls and they committed 19." Nuggets coach George Karl, meanwhile, applauded Martin's foul Monday afternoon before learning of the league's ruling. It was the first overt show of Game 1 physicality after a slow start from the Nuggets, whose active hands and aggression gradually wore the Mavs down, contributing to eight Dallas turnovers in the decisive fourth quarter alone to break open an 82-80 game. "It was good on film," Karl said of the foul after the Nuggets' brief between-games practice, adding that he didn't see the play in real time because he was preparing to make a substitution. Karl also volunteered to send tape of the series opener to the league office on the Mavs' behalf, insisting that "our philosophy on [Nowitzki] is not to foul him." "I think we did a hell of a job of not fouling him," Karl said. Although he conceded that Nowitzki might have absorbed some off-the-ball contact, Karl added: "But on his shots, I don't think he got fouled.'' Martin didn't speak with reporters in Denver on Monday but said Sunday after the win: "It was a foul. I don't think it was tech worthy, but it happens. You can't do nothing about it. It was just a foul."

Top 5 Point Guards in the league now.

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Who is a hotter team the Mavs or the Nuggets?

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Who's going to finish out on top in the West? 1-8?

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Please consider remaining schedules. Dont talk completely out of your a**.

Power Rankings: No illusions here -- Magic No. 1

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Power Rankings: Blazers break into top 5

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Power Rankings: Lakers rise, Celtics fall after first week

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Power Rankings: Celtics begin on top, back and ready for more

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Schedule highlights: Season opens with champs versus King James

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The NBA's 2008-09 schedule is out ... and you know what that means. An equally anticipated document has to go with it: ESPN.com's first rundown of must-see games for the coming season to immediately input into your electronic calendar of choice. Oct. 28: Opening Night An earlier-than-usual launch to the season starts with a tasty TNT doubleheader, leading off with the new champs from Boston hosting LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers on ring night and capped by Greg Oden's long-awaited NBA debut in Blazers at Lakers. Oct. 29: Opening Night (continued) Elton Brand makes his 76ers debut in the same game that Jermaine O'Neal makes his official Raptors debut: Toronto at Philadelphia. Furtherm ore:Michael Beasley makes his pro debut at Madison Square Garden (along with Dwyane Wade's official return from injury) in Heat at Knicks, Ron Artest makes his Rockets debut in Memphis at Houston, and Oklahoma City makes its debut as a full-time NBA city with a visit from the Milwaukee Bucks. And ... ESPN dishes its own doubleheader doozy: Phoenix at San Antonio to renew year after year of recent playoff pleasantries, followed by Lakers at Clippers in a fitting bow for the Clips' new Angeleno point guard: Baron Davis. Oct. 30: Houston at Dallas (TNT) The Mavericks are one of two teams (along with Charlotte) that must wait until Thursday for their opening game, giving Mavs fans more time to fret that the Rockets' acquisition of Ron Artest reduces Dallas to the third-best team in Texas. Oct. 31: San Antonio at Portland (ESPN) The best of the Halloween fare, at least in NBA terms, is unquestionably Oden matching up with Tim Duncan. Nov. 1: Washington at Detroit (NBA TV) The league is still sorting out its full 96-game NBA TV schedule, but Wizards-Pistons has been confirmed as the opener of NBA TV's maiden doubleheader, which concludes with a Portland-at-Phoenix nightcap. [+] EnlargeJesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images If Yao can stay healthy, this could be a preview of the 2009 Finals. Nov. 4: Boston at Houston You don't have to wait long for a look at the NBA's reigning threesome of doom (Garnett, Pierce and Allen) throwing down against the new trio on the block (McGrady, Yao and Artest). P.S. How much playing time will the twins get in Phoenix at New Jersey ... also known as Robin Lopez at Brook Lopez? Nov. 5: Charlotte at New York Larry Brown returns to Madison Square Garden with his (latest) new team. We'll spare you the dates on Larry's returns to Denver, New Jersey, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Indiana, Philly and Detroit. Nov. 6: Houston at Portland (TNT) Yao Ming and Oden go toe-to-toe for the first time. Health permitting, of course. Nov. 9: Houston at L.A. Lakers The denizens of Lakerland who so badly wanted to see Artest in purple and gold will get their first dose of torture early. In L.A.'s first Sunday home game of the season, actually. Nov. 10: Portland at Orlando Oden will have lined up against Shaquille O'Neal (Nov. 1), Yao and Dwight Howard in a span of 10 days by the time he gets through this one. Health permitting, of course. Nov. 12: Atlanta at Boston Are the Hawks and Celtics rivals now because of what happened in the first round of the playoffs? Better question: Shouldn't Olympiacos be required to swing through Atlanta as part of the usual October spree of exhibition games against top European clubs? Nov. 13: Dallas at Chicago (TNT) Mavs owner Mark Cuban could know by this point whether he has won the race to buy the Cubs, which would make this somewhat of a home game for him and certainly spice up his relationship with Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, since Reinsdorf owns the White Sox. Nov. 14: Detroit at L.A. Lakers (ESPN) What sort of reception awaits Kwame Brown at Staples Center? Just a hunch: If history is any guide, Kwame needn't expect (or want) any mention of a cake. On the undercard: Kareem Rush's Philadelphia 76ers visit brother Brandon Rush's Indiana Pacers. Nov. 18: Cleveland at New Jersey LeBron and Jay-Z! In the same building! Exactly one week before LeBron goes to MSG to hang with Spike Lee and the Knicks! Cavs fans will want to avoid online consumption of the New York tabloids for a good few days before Thanksgiving. Nov. 20: L.A. Lakers at Phoenix (TNT) Kobe, tell me how many times do you think you and Shaq will be asked about recent rapping exploits? Detroit at Boston, incidentally, isn't exactly a bland appetizer for TNT. Nov. 21: Boston at Minnesota A hamstring strain prevented KG from playing in his first visit to 'Sota as an ex-Wolf last February. Hard to see him missing two in row, though. In Philadelphia, meanwhile, Baron and Elton will be in the same building for the first time since they did not end up on the same team as so many of us expected. And over in Oklahoma City, New Orleans is in town to play the OKC TBAs for the first time, which makes