NBA Predictions: 5 Burning Questions Week 16

The NBA betting season starts its second half on Tuesday, and before the men of the pro hardwood come back from their short break, BetUS Sportsbook poses five burning questions for the week ahead.

1: Will the moves that the Mavericks made this weekend pay dividends?

Immediately, the answer is probably not. It's going to take awhile for Gs Jason Kidd and Jason Terry to get used to having F Caron Butler in the post. There seemed to be a real chemistry with the inside/outside game between F Dirk Nowitzki and the departed F Josh Howard, and though Butler is certainly a better ballplayer than Howard is at this point in their careers, it's going to take a few games of getting used to before the Mavs can compete with the best in the West.

2: Can the C's get back on track on the West Coast right off of the break? For HC

Doc Rivers' sake, this had better be a resounding yes! Boston was slumping big time heading into the All-Star Break. They lost five of their L/8 SU and went just 2-7-1 ATS in their L/10 before getting the brief hiatus. The good news is that this team is a far better ATS squad on the road (13-13) than it is at home (6-17-1), but with the Raptors now just four games behind, those trips to LA, Portland, and Denver really look treacherous.

3: If the Cavs do trade for F Amare Stoudemire, are they the best team in the NBA bar none?

Without a doubt, if you can put NBA betting fanatics, if it does happen, it's probably not translating into covers. The Cavs are going to be overvalued on a nightly basis with so much star power on the court at the same time, and Stoudemire's lack of defensive presence may only hurt the chemistry that HC Mike Brown has built up through the years.

4: Even though the Raptors are in it, are they going to move F Chris Bosh?

One thing is for certain, and that's that Bosh's play over these last few weeks has certainly upped the trade ante quite a bit for anyone in his sweepstakes. Toronto knows that it isn't going be able to resign Bosh in the offseason, so its options are either to try to get something for him now or to play out the year and hope that it can win it all. Even though the Dinos have won eight out of nine, they're probably not championship material. Still, Bosh probably isn't going anywhere unless disaster strikes right out of the break in the form of losses to teams like Jersey and Washington.

5: Will the Nets really challenge the '72 Sixers for the worst record in NBA history?

Really, where is this team finding five more wins from? There might be a win somewhere in this stretch of games with Miami, Toronto, Memphis, Portland, Washington, Cleveland, and Orlando come to town, but it's hard picturing more than maybe just one or two victories. There's still a Midwest swing on the horizon as well. Sorry Philly. Your team isn't going to be holding the record for futility in this league for much longer.

Sign up now and get FULL access to all of BetUS features!