BASKETBALL NBA ARTICLES

Things are looking up for the Brooklyn Nets entering the second half of the NBA season. They rid themselves of a guy who didn't want to play in Brooklyn in a trade that brought them former No. 1 overall draft pick Ben Simmons. A potential change to COVID mandates in New York could also allow Kyrie Irving to play home games. And just recently they won a bidding war on free agent Goran Dragic. Oh, and there's the return of Kevin Durant on the horizon giving the Nets plenty of reasons for optimism heading into the second half. A national television audience will get to see the new-look Nets battle the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks in primetime on Saturday.Saturday's game between the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks will air live on ABC with tip off at 8:30 p.m. ET from Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, WI. BookMaker.eu will have betting options for every game on the NBA schedule.... 

The Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers are battling for playoff positioning in the Western Conference. They’re just not where they hoped they’d be at the start of the season. At least the Clippers have an excuse being without their top two players. Kawhi Leonard hasn’t played a game while Paul George was shelved around Christmas. Still, the Clips hold a slight edge over the neighborly rivals and carry a five-game winning streak over LeBron and Co. into Friday’s showdown.... 

The Boston Celtics were one of the hottest teams in the NBA ahead of the All-Star break having won nine in a row and 11 of 12 before losing to Detroit in their final game of the first half. It’s been a wild season for the Celtics, who look to keep their recent stretch of strong play going with a visit to Atlantic Division rival Brooklyn Nets as both teams open the post-break portion of their schedule on Thursday. And speaking of wild how about the Nets? They’ll look much different in the second ... 

For the second straight year it’s Team LeBron vs. Team Durant in the NBA All-Star game with KD unable to participate due to injury. This is also the fifth year of the current format that has team captains selecting their roster through a schoolyard type draft. As leading vote-getters LeBron James and Kevin Durant were tabbed as captains. James has enjoyed plenty of success as captain in the current format picking the winning roster in each of the last four years. The captains picked their teams ... 

With one burden lifted and traded away, maybe the Philadelphia 76ers can now concentrate on playing basketball. Ben Simmons never played a game this season but he still impacted the Sixers. When the club came to the realization that he wouldn’t play for them ever again, they started to perform much better on the floor. Now with Simmons gone and James Harden coming over, Philly traded one headache for another. They are playing well with wins in eight of their last 11 games entering the week just ... 

It hasn’t been the best of times for New York’s basketball teams with the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks combining to win just one of 17 games ahead of their matchup on Wednesday night in the opener of an ESPN doubleheader. You don’t often see a championship favorite struggle the way the Nets have leading to a big change in their roster makeup. The Nets dropped their 11th consecutive game, 115-111 to Miami on Saturday after dealing James Harden in a major roster shakeup. They’re still in a be... 

The Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks are currently on opposite sides of the play-in tournament bracket. Boston is in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with a 31-25 record as of Friday morning, and they are a game behind the Toronto Raptors. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Hawks are two games under .500 and only have a one-game lead on Washington for the final postseason berth. With just one week left to go before the All-Star Break, both teams are looking to better their playoff position.... 

This is not the season that the Los Angeles Lakers were expecting after trading for Russell Westbrook. The Lakers were the Western Conference favorites after trading for the future Hall of Fame guard, but they have not lived up to the part with a 26-30 record that has them in ninth place in the conference. They are five games behind Denver for the No. 6 seed, and there’s a decent chance they don’t make the playoffs despite all their talent. The Golden State Warriors can continue to set them back... 

We will see a rematch of last summer’s NBA Finals on Thursday night in Phoenix when the Suns host the Milwaukee Bucks. Phoenix got out to a 2-0 series lead over Milwaukee at home, but those were the last two games that the Suns would win. Milwaukee went on to win the next four games to win the city its first NBA title in a half-century. These teams could be on a collision course to meet once again, as Phoenix currently leads the Western Conference and Milwaukee is in second place in the East.... 

The Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks are both playing a lot better after tough starts to the season. Atlanta has won eight of its last ten games coming into Friday night’s tilt with Toronto, while Dallas is 13-5 since New Year’s Eve. Trae Young and Luka Doncic are two of the brightest young stars in the league, and they will be forever linked after the draft day trade between these teams in 2018.
... 

It’s been a disappointing season for both the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers. Both teams made the playoffs last year, but both teams could miss the postseason in two months. The Knicks and Lakers currently have losing records, and... 

The NBA best Phoenix Suns open a four-game Eastern Conference road swing with the surging Atlanta Hawks in the first game of the NBA on TNT Thursday doubleheader. The Suns became the first team to win 40 games knocking off the Spurs on Sunday for their 10th straight victory. It’s their second double-digit winning streak of the season to go along with their team record 18-game run earlier in the season. The best road team in the Association, the Suns put their eight-game road winning streak on th... 

The NBA All-Star Teams were announced on Thursday night, and to no one’s surprise both the Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors are represented. Kevin Durant was the favorite to be named NBA MVP before suffering a sprained MCL that has sidelined him for the last two weeks, while Golden State was the only team that had two starters named to the All-Star Te... 

For a change there is some good news on the horizon for the Los Angeles Lakers. The team is expecting to have Anthony Davis back in the lineup during their current six-game road trip and his presence could be a factor in slowing down scorching hot Joel Embiid when LA takes on the Philadelphia 76ers in the opening contest of TNT’s Thursday doubleheader. The Sixers jumped back into the thick of the Eastern Conference race with a recent seven-game winning streak. They closed last week knocking off ... 

Two of the top teams in the NBA conclude a home-and-home series on ESPN when the Phoenix Suns visit the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. The teams met for the first time this season on Monday in Arizona with that game being the second of a road back-to-back for the Jazz following Sunday’s loss to Golden State. Utah has fallen off the pace for the league’s best overall record by losing seven of nine while going 1-7-1 ATS. The Suns enter the week having won six straight and own the NBA’s best record at 36-... 

Two hot teams get together on Thursday in the first game of TNT’s NBA doubleheader. With a roster as close to complete as it’s been all season, the Dallas Mavericks are winning games. They knocked off Oklahoma City on MLK Day for their third straight success and ninth in 10 games. This is more what we expected from Dallas after last season ended in a first-round playoff failure. The NBA-best Phoenix Suns picked up where they left off last season and look like a strong contender to return to the ... 

The Los Angeles Clippers had perhaps their biggest win of the season just over a week ago, rallying from a huge second half deficit to beat the Denver Nuggets. The clubs square off again on Wednesday, this time in the Mile High City. If the previous two games are any indication we could be in for a close one. The teams split the first two meetings, both in LA, with the games decided by a total of five points. The Clips are trying to keep their heads above water while Paul George remains sidelined. They lost two straight after beating the Nuggets and are just 4-8 SU and 5-7 ATS in 12 games since George was shelved with an injury. ... 

No team understands just how long an NBA season is more than the Milwaukee Bucks. Going through the rigors of a regular season then dealing with four playoff rounds to win the title last season, the Bucks know you can’t always be at your best. So, their recent skid isn’t overly troubling, but should there be reason for concern? Following a sweep at the hands of the Charlotte Hornets, the Bucks dropped four of their last five games and visit the Atlanta Hawks on Monday in rematch of the Eastern C... 

We now understand better why Brad Stevens asked to be kicked upstairs to become President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics. Cause by the Celtics not having a roster built for a serious NBA Playoff run. New head coach Ime Udoka is a career NBA assistant after playing in the Association from 2003 through 2011 as a journeyman listed at the bottom of the roster. We are yet to know whether Udoka is up to running an NBA bench, but we know that he is outmanned in almost every matchup. Ph... 

It’s almost unfair that the team with the best record in the NBA only got stronger. The Golden State Warriors welcomed back Klay Thompson over the weekend after two years on the shelf with knee and Achilles injuries. If there was any thought that his return would disrupt what the Warriors have going on it didn’t. Besides, why would you not welcome back one of the top scorers in the game? Klay dropped 17 in his return and the Warriors stopped a two-game losing streak by beating Cleveland. In the ... 

The defending NBA champs against a team many believe will win the title this season headlines ESPN’s Friday doubleheader. Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks had their six-game winning streak stopped by Detroit of all teams on Monday night while the Nets lost their third straight on the same day. The teams will meet for the first time since opening night when the Bucks posted a 127-104 payout victory. Giannis dropped 32 points with 14 boards in that one. Both teams are near the top of ... 

Last year the Phoenix Suns were considered to be a fluke. Phoenix stunned the basketball betting world by winning the Western Conference championship. Many handicappers and NBA experts derided the Suns as a team that lucked into the 2021 NBA Finals. It was said that Phoenix backed into the Finals because injuries decimated the best clubs in the West. While it was true that the chalk did have their rosters wiped out, the Suns have nothing to apologize for. Indeed, they are proving their bona fide... 

It looks like the Dallas Mavericks will be closer to fielding a full team for their matchup on Wednesday with the Golden State Warriors. Three Mavs, including superstar Luka Doncic, were taken off the COVID list over the weekend and the club went out and defeated Oklahoma City on Sunday for its second straight win. Doncic had missed 10 games dealing with injuries and the virus and was a little rusty, but he should be in much better shape when the NBA leading Warriors make their first appearance ... 

While the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns battle for the top spot in the overall NBA standings, there is one team lurking close behind. The Utah Jazz, who posted the best record in the Association last season, are having another strong season but getting overlooked in the Western Conference. The Jazz are doing it at both ends of the floor leading the league with a plus-10.2 scoring margin, and they’ve been free from any COVID issues that have plagued most of the clubs. But that could change in a hurry. The contest between the Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz takes place at 9 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 1, 2022, from Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, UT and will air live on NBATV. BookMaker.eu will have odds for every game on the Saturday NBA schedule. ... 

When the NBA told teams that shifting game times for the Christmas Day schedule was a possibility I’m sure they had the Brooklyn Nets in mind. The Nets are scheduled to play the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, which would be their first game in a week since their previous three contests were postponed due to COVID and a lack of available players. Earlier in the week the Nets had 10 players in the league’s health and safety protocols, including Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving. The lea...