Home Teams Feast
It was a quiet five-game slate in the NBA as home teams dominated proceedings, going 4-1 straight up and 3-2 against the spread (ATS) on closing numbers. Let’s take a look at the scores and odds from the card.
The Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks gave us a potential playoff preview in an OT thriller at the Barclay Center as the visiting Bucks stole a 120-119 win.
The Nets led 108-99 with 2:50 left to play but simply couldn’t close the door on the reigning champions who were again led by a near superhuman performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Greek Freak finished with 44 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists on a night where he became Milwaukee’s career scoring leader.
Even with OT this game still managed to stay Under its full game total of 243½ points. The win also keeps the Bucks in the hunt for the top seed as we head into the final week of the regular season.
The Philadelphia 76ers’ hopes of snagging the top spot in the east were dealt a blow as they suffered a 102-94 loss as 9½ point road favorites over the Detroit Pistons.
It was a wire-to-wire cover for the Pistons, who despite trailing for the majority of the game never fell outside number. A 29-15 final quarter ultimately secured a huge win for the home team who remain the best ATS team in the NBA over the past month.
The loss leaves the Sixers 2½ games behind the Miami Heat for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Chicago Bulls pulled off the biggest comeback win of the night, which in turn left a sour taste in the mouth of LA Clipper’s bettors who saw their tickets go up in flames in OT.
The Clippers, who closed as 3½ point underdogs, led by as many as 16 points midway through the third quarter before ultimately coming undone down the stretch.
The Bulls closed regulation on a 15-6 run in the final 1:50 to incredibly give themselves a shot to win and cover on their home floor. A harsh foul call late allowed DeMar DeRozan the opportunity to complete the comeback with three free throws to close out the game, but he missed the final attempt, sending the game into OT.
A foul with three seconds left in OT pushed the ATS result in favor of the home team as well, with a pair of late free throws pushing this to a 135-130 final score for Chicago, which was great news for those who followed our NBA betting preview on this game.
The Utah Jazz snapped their five-game skid by comfortably taking care of the LA Lakers in their first game back home in over a fortnight.
No LeBron James or Anthony Davis meant the Lakers closed as 13½ point underdogs, a number they covered in their 122-109 loss. This was a fine example of early bettors benefitting from their market position though, with the Jazz opening as -12 point favorites on sportsbooks before being bet up to the closing number.
A 5-0 run from the Lakers in the final minute stole the cover for the road team, as a pair of missed free throws from Utah ultimately proved pivotal in deciding the ATS outcome here.
The Atlanta Hawks secured a 131-107 home win over the Cleveland Cavaliers as 6½ point favorites in the other remaining game on the slate. This one sailed over the full game total of 230½ points, which helped seal a 3-2 day in favor of Over bettors on the full slate.
