At this point of the season the Miami Heat are playing for pride.  Most of their top players, including Dwayne Wade, are out for the season.  Even coach Pat Riley has left the coaching duties to an assistant as he goes and looks for potential draft picks.  You know it’s bad when there are 20 games left in the season and your coach is already planning next year.  The Detroit Pistons are in second place and appear to be the one team that can challenge the first place Boston Celtics in the playoffs.  That match would most likely take place in the Eastern Conference finals, and while that would be an amazing series, both teams have to get there first. 

The Pistons are actually skidding a little bit, with a record of only 6-4 in their last ten games.  Some pundits’ think that the team of the Pistons are just sort of bored waiting for the regular season to get done.  They have already solidified their place as the second seed, and they probably weren’t going to catch the Celtics, although for a while it was close.  The Pistons have been known to sort of coast down the stretch, as have other teams, so this isn’t anything shocking.  Most NBA experts still consider the Pistons a good bet to make a run for an NBA title, but it would be nice if they started playing a little better before the playoffs.

I am picking the Pistons to win this one in fairly easy fashion.  No surprise there.  The Heat are barely able to put a team together every night, with the injuries and everything, so they probably won’t be able to keep up with the Pistons. 

The Portland Trailblazers started the season off with a bang, even being near the top of the standings for a time.  However, the loss that occurred even before the start of the season of Greg Oden took away any inside game they might have had.  The nucleus for the team seems like it’s a good one, and if Oden lives up to his billing of the first pick in the NBA draft then the team can be one to reckon with for years.

The Warriors are one of the most exciting teams in the league.  They have a mostly young roster guided by one of the best point guards in the league, Baron Davis.  They are currently in the eight and final playoff position, with the Denver Nuggets chopping at their heels.  So far they have continued to play well, and look like they may be able to hold on to the position.  But in the tightly contested West, you never know.  The difference between the first and ninth place team has been just about six games the entire second half of the season.  As the Houston Rockets showed, one big stretch can take you from out of the playoffs, into it.

The Golden State Warriors are playing for more at this point in the season, and with every game meaning so much, I think they take this one, especially at home.  Davis appears to be playing healthy for the first time in years, and he is showing that he can lead a team in the playoffs, as he did last year against the number one seeded Dallas Mavericks.  No team is safe from the Warriors in the West.

NBA Betting

For the best NBA betting on the web, join Sportbet.com for all the action and none of the hassles! Our online sportsbook offers 24 hour sports betting lines on all major sporting events, so you can participate in sportsbook gambling anytime from anywhere through our secure online server. Make future bets, prop bets, parlays, straight bets, and many other types of sports bets.