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Sports Marketwatch
NBA Edition
2/01/2008 4:59 PM EST
By The Team at SportsInsights.com
Welcome to this week's edition of the Sports Marketwatch – NBA
Edition, where the Team at SportsInsights gives sports fans
unprecedented insight into the NBA point-spread marketplace. If
you ever wanted to know what was really happening on the
sportsbook side, you now have an all-access pass with Sports
Marketplace! Initially, the NBA Edition of the Sports
Marketwatch will be a weekly column published on Friday,
normally by around 5PM, Eastern Time.
The staff at SportsInsights.com speaks directly with the line
managers at some of the sports betting industry’s largest
sportsbooks about which games the public is chasing and the
Sharps are pounding. We’ll take a look at what’s in store for
today’s NBA games.
Sports Marketplace – NBA Edition
Recapping Last Week’s NBA Action
The Sports Marketwatch under-performed in the NBA last week, but
we’re here for the long-haul, so keep your seat belts on.
Memphis stayed close but couldn’t quite cover; the Clippers got
trounced by the New Orleans machine.
2007-08 NBA Games to Watch: 2-8-0 = 20%
*Source: SportsInsights.com
NBA Sports Marketwatch 2/1/08 – Games to Watch
This is a relatively “light” Friday, with only 9 games being
played. A typical Friday night sees a dozen or more games.
LA Lakers vs. Toronto Raptors
This is an interesting game, brought to our attention by
SportsInsights’ “screens.” Many of SportsInsights’ tools focus
on “bad teams” needing to do “good things.” Some of our tools,
however, yield other games that might be more competitive. This
is one example.
Based on line movement and betting percentages, we see that
Smart Money is coming in on Toronto. The line has moved down
from Toronto -5.5 to -7 in some places – with the majority of
bets on the Lakers. As usual, we like to “Bet Against the
Public” and follow the smart money. There are still some -6.5’s
in some places.
Both Toronto and the Lakers are solid teams playing around .600
ball. The Raptors have been playing particularly well lately,
and there looks to be value with the Raptors -6.5 at home.
Toronto Raptors -6.5
New York Knicks vs. Portland Trail Blazers
This matchup between the Knicks and Trail Blazers gets the
attention of the odds makers. Our contacts tell us that the
“Public” is all over the Trail Blazers. SportsInsights’ betting
percentages verify this public consensus – with more than 3 out
of every 4 bets on Portland.
The line has actually crept down from Portland -8 to Portland
-7.5, indicating “big money” coming in on the Knicks. The Knicks
are definitely a “live dog” in this game, having won 5 of their
last 10. This might not seem like much, but this is a team that
had been winning less than 30% of their games! The line might
also be on the high side because Portland currently has one of
the best home records in the league. We don’t think Portland’s
18-5 record at home will continue. Take the side of the “big
money,” and the sportsbooks.
NY Knicks +7.5
So, here’s a wrap-up of SportsInsights.com analysis for this
week’s Games to Watch for the NBA.
Games to Watch (2-8-0)
Toronto Raptors -6.5
NY Knicks +7.5
It should be another exciting weekend in the sports marketplace.
Keep Sports Marketwatch picks handy and your browser pointed to
SportsInsights.com for the latest real-time updates, using our
exclusive Sports Investing tools.
We’ll be back next Friday with the new edition of the Sports
Marketwatch – NBA Edition.
Enjoy the games!
The Team at SportsInsights.com
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