Good bets on the NBA Divisional Winners

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I like one favorite and one dog. In the Atlantic, New Jersey came together after the Vince Carter trade last year, going 33-23 once he arrived. They should be even better this year, with a healthy Richard Jefferson plus a training camp and pre-season together to adjust. Boston and Philly did not improve, and are likely to go down slightly in the standings. NJ easily takes this IMO, and the odds should be even longer than -158.


In the Pacific, Phoenix was the obvious fav until Amare went down. Regardless, with Nash, they can still run and gun better than anyone in the league. Raja and James Jones have stepped up and are draining 3's, and Phoenix has looked nice in the pre-season. Yes, it's pre-season, but what I mean is that there is perhaps less dropoff here than most people think. With their running style, Phoenix is a better regular season team than playoff team, and they should still have a very good regular season record, although they are obviously not the favorites anymore.

The fav is now Sacramento, and the others are not close. Golden State, the Clippers, and the Lakers are all improved by a fair amount, but not enough. Sacramento had some additions, some subtractions, but largely looks to be a similar quality as last year, perhaps slightly improved. If Phoenix loses 10 more games than last year, and Sacramento marginally improves, Pho would still win the division. Yet Pho is +367. Underdog, but highly +EV play here.


Full odds from Pinnacle below:

Atlantic Division
Boston Celtics +717
New Jersey Nets -158
New York Knicks +611
Philadelphia 76ers +346
Toronto Raptors +3200

Central Division
Chicago Bulls +687
Cleveland Cavaliers +392
Detroit Pistons +192
Indiana Pacers +140
Milwaukee Bucks +2379

Southeast Division
Atlanta Hawks +5000
Charlotte Bobcats +5000
Miami Heat -1500
Orlando Magic +2500
Washington Wizards +955

Northwest Division
Denver Nuggets -162
Minnesota Timberwolves +339
Portland Trailblazers +3500
Seattle Supersonics +480
Utah Jazz +734

Pacific Division
Golden State Warriors +575
L.A. Clippers +1106
L.A. Lakers +1143
Phoenix Suns +367
Sacramento Kings -175

Southwest Division
Dallas Mavericks +374
Houston Rockets +423
Memphis Grizzlies +2703
New Orleans Hornets +7554
San Antonio Spurs -215

yea phoenix is a very good bet