Pay Per Head NBA Playoffs: NBA Races Come Down to the Wire
There are a lot of people following PPH basketball betting at WagerHome .com who think it would really be a shame if the Phoenix Suns can't make it to the playoffs.
After all, this is one of the league's big success story, as they won just 25 games last season and looked to have actually regressed, and have wound up winning 47 games heading into Monday's action.
Here is a team that would be tied for fourth place if it was in the East, ready to host an opening round playoff series, and they are likely to be on the outside looking in when all is said and done.
On Monday night they face off against the Memphis Grizzlies, who lead them by a game in the West standings, but even more importantly, have a tie-breaker advantage by virtue of having defeated Phoenix all three times they have played.
So even if Phoenix wins this game (they are a three-point NBA betting favorite at WagerHome), pulling even isn't enough. What they have to hope for after that is that they not only can beat Sacramento on Wednesday, but also that Dallas goes into Memphis and breaks the Grizzlies' 13-game home winning streak in the season finale. Then, and only then, will the Suns be a playoff team.
Interestingly enough for basketball bettors, Memphis also have a chance to finish in sixth place, because they are only a game behind the Golden State Warriors, so if they can win two in a row, they may have a chance to move up. Golden State had, well, a golden opportunity to preserve their chances to catch Portland for the #5 spot, but fell in overtime on Sunday night, despite 47 points from Stephen Curry. Meanwhile, the Blazers kept their own hopes alive to, yes, move up in the West pecking order, as they trailed the Houston Rockets by a half-game going into Monday's games.
The difference between being the #4 and #5 teams in the conference playoffs could be the difference between getting to the next step and not getting there, because those seeds play each other in the opening round, and the #4 seed will have more games at home.
Speaking of home court advantage, that is the hot topic right now in the Eastern Conference, as the overall lead in the standings has gone back and forth between the Miami Heat (the +160 favorite to win the NBA title at WagerHome) and Indiana Pacers (who are priced at +160 in the NBA futures odds). Both of them have slumped lately, and Indiana was absolute poison for PPH basketball bettors who had been putting money on them, as they have covered the NBA odds at WagerHome.com in just eight of their last 41 games.
It has been a season-long mission for the Pacers to snag the #1 spot in the East, because they truly believe that the Heat defeated them in the conference finals last season only because they had a home court advantage. So as WagerHome.com customers can imagine, there is a great deal of urgency. A game last Friday night resulted in a decisive 98-86 Miami win, which sent Indiana back to second place. But now the Pacers have regained the lead, albeit only slightly, after coming through with a clutch win over Oklahoma City on Sunday.
Indiana coach Frank Vogel was hoping that the controversial move of benching all five starters for a game last Wednesday against Milwaukee would have some sort of positive residual effect. That remains to be seen, but with their remaining game coming against Orlando, they can clinch the #1 seed in the East simply by winning, regardless of what Miami does against Washington and Philadelphia. That's because they will win the tie-breaker, due to having a better record within the conference.
Will that change the NBA futures at WagerHome? Obviously the Pacers think it would improve their chances.
- Ean Lamb, Gambling911.com
