NBA Basketball Picks for November 9th 2010
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Pick: Los Angeles Lakers -16.5
The Lakers should roll tonight en route to an 8-0 start, which would be the third time they accomplished that feat in team history. The Minnesota Timberwolves are in one word, “awful”. The Timberwolves are 1-6 this season, getting crushed by an average of 17.1 points/game. If you thought it couldn’t get any worse, you should see their numbers on the road. Minnesota lost by 20 at Memphis, 32 at Miami, 42 at Orlando and 26 at Houston. Doing the math, Minnesota is 0-4 SU & 0-4 ATS on the road this season while losing by 30.0 points/game. The Lakers are 11-0 in their last 11 meetings with Minnesota, so they are not prone to having letdowns against the Timberwolves. The Lakers are on a mission this season and have proven that they are 100% focused in the early going. Minnesota stands no chance of even being competitive tonight. Take the Lakers and lay the points. -Black Widow

Pick: Cavaliers vs. Nets Under 195
The New Jersey Nets will probably win a few more games this year than they did a year ago. But this is a team that more often than not struggles at the offensive end, and goes through a lot of droughts during a game. Their last four have seen them score less than 20 in a quarter on seven occasions, while averaging just 85 points per game. The cavaliers are off a pair of games that scored above their norm, but those numbers are unsustainable with the way the roster is presently constituted. The Cavs are 11-2 in their last 13 as a dog of under 5, and 5-1 to the UNDER after scoring 100 or more points. These teams have struggled to score vs. each other as the last eight meetings have seen six fall shy of the total. I like the UNDER in this one. -Wunderdog

Pick: Utah Jazz +10.5
This is the perfect example of an overinflated line. Miami is a double-digit favorite over a top team from the Western Conference and I feel it is unjustified. The Heat were favored by a point over the Jazz at Miami last year so the linesmakers are saying that the additions of LeBron James and Chris Bosh are worth nine points and that should not be the case. The Heat have a revenge game on deck against Boston up next. Utah got off to a slow start by losing its first two games but has since responded by going 3-1 over its last four contests. The biggest of the bunch was a 21-point win at Oklahoma Coty, a team many are saying can contend in the Western Conference. This is the first of a four-game trip for the Jazz with the first three consisting of games against the Heat. Magic and Hawks. Focus will be on display starting tonight. The Miami Herald had an interesting take on the Heat and that is the fact they have struggled against elite point guard, namely Rajon Rondo of Boston and Chris Paul of New Orleans. Tonight, they square off against arguably the best of the bunch in Deron Williams. Williams is averaging 20.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg and 9.0 apg this season. Both Rondo’s and Paul’s athleticism still caused problems for the Heat’s backcourt at times. The Jazz are 21-7-1 ATS in their last 29 games against the Eastern Conference and they are 21-10 ATS in their last 31 games after allowing 105 or more points in their previous game. Miami has owned this series by covering 10 of the last 11 meetings, but again, Utah has not seen a spread such as this one. 3* Utah Jazz -Matt Fargo (Handicapperspicks.com)

Pick: Portland Trailblazers -9.5
Off an embarrassing loss to the Lakers, expect the Blazers to take out their frustrations on an inferior Pistons team, which finds itself in a tough spot playing its first game on the West Coast this season. The fact that odds makers have set the over/under line so low at 188 tells us something. It tells us that a Detroit team only averaging 91.3 ppg on the road is going to have a tough time putting the ball in the basket. This really doesn’t come as a surprise considering the Pistons have been held to an average of 86.0 points while losing their last three in Portland. This line also tells us that it expects a strong defensive effort from Portland after it allowed 121 points to the Lakers. Consider that the Blazers are 14-4 ATS after a playing a game with a combined score of 215 points or more over the last 3 seasons, winning in this situation by an average score of 100.7 to 86.4. The Trail Blazers are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games following a S.U. loss and 16-5 ATS in their last 21 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game. Lay the points with Portland. -Jimmy Boyd