The home stretch of the NBA season starts this week with teams returning from the extended All-Star break, marking the unofficially second half of the schedule. With motivations shifting in these final months of the regular season, so will the betting returns.
While these teams we’re great bets against the NBA odds before the break, they have the potential to turn those returns around. Here are a few bad bets that could actually be good sports betting trends in the coming weeks.
Portland Trail Blazers (25-31 SU, 23-31-2 ATS)
The Blazers are fourth in the Northwest Division and well off the pace of the Nuggets, Jazz and even Thunder in the standings. Portland has no problems scoring the basketball but are among the worst in the league at defending it.
Injuries have taken their toll on the Trail Blazers, who have struggled to build that identity on both ends of the floor. However, Portland is crossing its fingers that talented big man Jusuf Nurkic will return soon after sitting out since last year with a broken leg. On top of that, the Blazers have a friendly schedule that sees them playing at home in 15 of their final 26 games. This team has an opportunity to build momentum and get healthy, which will equal ATS success in the second half of the schedule.
Sacramento Kings (21-33 SU, 26-27-1 ATS)
Life in the Pacific Division is hard. When you’re not fending off giants out of Los Angeles, you have the rest of the Western Conference to contend with. Sacramento finds itself near the bottom of the West but the ATS returns are more a reflection of this team. The Kings are almost breaking even against the NBA odds but have been a strong pointspread play on the road, going 16-12 ATS as visitors.
Sacramento has some backup on the way with injured forward Marvin Bagley III and center Alex Len expected to return from injury in March, and recent trade acquisition Jabari Parker expected to make his debut this week. That will bolster the Kings frontcourt which is in desperate need of scoring help. That boost in size and scoring could be all Sacramento needs to get over the hump for NBA bettors in the coming months.
Philadelphia 76ers (34-21 SU, 22-29-4 ATS)
The 76ers have underperformed in the first half of the season, coming out of the break sitting fifth in the Eastern Conference standings. Philadelphia continues to have chemistry issues on offense, scoring less than 109 points per game and posing little threat from 3-point range – a must have with true playoff contenders in today’s NBA.
The Sixers added some scoring depth and shooting range to their roster in trading for Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III, which helps lift a bench scoring less than 30 points per game and ranked 27th in the NBA. Covering at home hasn’t been an issue, where the 76ers are 15-10-2 ATS and outscoring opponents by an average margin of more than 10 pointer per contest. However, on the road, Philadelphia is losing by an average of five points per away game and has gone only 7-19-2 ATS as a visitor.
