NBA Trends: Four Teams Start 6-1 Against The Spread

Posted on: November 3, 2022, 05:18h. 

Last updated on: November 10, 2022, 04:10h.

Pauly McGuire Read More

Expertise: Sports Betting, Sports.

The Milwaukee Bucks are the only undefeated team in the NBA with a 7-0 record, but they’re also among the premier betting teams in the league, with a 6-1 record against the spread. The Bucks join the Cleveland Cavs, Portland Trail Blazers, and Oklahoma City Thunder with a 6-1 ATS record.

The Cavs and Phoenix Suns started the new season 6-1 and share the NBA’s second-best record. The Trail Blazers jumped to a 4-0 record but lost two out of their last three games after Damian Lillard went down with a calf injury. Even at 5-2, the Trail Blazers have the second-best record in the Western Conference, trailing the Suns.

The Toronto Raptors are 5-3 overall but are 6-2 ATS. The Sacramento Kings and Suns also have a winning record with a 5-2 ATS clip. The Utah Jazz have the third-best record in the Western Conference at 6-3, their identical ATS record.

Bucks Now 7-0 Without Khris Middleton

The Bucks are on a mission to win a second NBA crown since they prevailed in the 2021 NBA Finals. They were knocked out of the playoffs in the 2022 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Boston Celtics because swingman Khris Middleton suffered an MCL knee injury.

Although Middleton’s knee has healed, he missed the start of the regular season while recovering from wrist surgery. Even without a starter and their second-best scorer, the Bucks have yet to lose a game this season, thanks to All-Star big man Giannis “Greek Freak” Antetokounmpo.

The Bucks are dominating teams with their defense. They only allow a league-low 102 points per game and kept three opponents below the century mark of 100 points. Overall, the Bucks held the opposition to a 42.3 shooting percentage from the floor, which is ranked #1 in the NBA. Opponents are only knocking down 34% of their attempts from the 3-point range.

The Bucks are still one of the weaker 3-point shooting teams in the NBA. They’re the fifth-worst team from deep with a 32.5% success rate, so they cannot wait for Middleton to return to the action. Even though the Bucks are not lighting it up from beyond the arc, they’re still the only unbeaten squad in the NBA, covering opponents with a 6-1 ATS clip.

Spida Time in Cleveland

It did not take long before newly-added Donovan ‘Spida’ Mitchell made an impact with the Cleveland Cavs, who lost just once in seven games. Since dropping the season opener by three points against the Toronto Raptors, the Cavs unleashed a six-game winning streak, including three overtime victories, including the Boston Celtics twice.

With Mitchell in the lineup at shooting guard, the Cavs average 117.1 points per game for the sixth-highest scoring offense in the NBA. The Cavs are the second-best 3-point shooting team in the league, with a 40.2% success rate. Mitchell leads the Cavs in scoring, averaging 31.1 points per game, and he’s sixth overall in the NBA.

The Cavs are the second-best 3-point shooting team in the NBA at 40.4%. Mitchell averages four made 3-pointers per game and is tied for fourth in the league while drilling 44% of his long-range attempts.

Head coach JB Bickerstaff has the Cavs working their tails off on defense. The Cavs allow 106.7 points per game for the fifth-best defense in the league.

The Cavs finally have guard Darius Garland back in the starting lineup after he sat out five games with a nasty eye injury that happened in the season opener. Even without Garland, Mitchell guided the Cavs to an impressive 6-1 ATS record.

Rip City Blazers 6-1 ATS

The Portland Trail Blazers are the surprise team in the Western Conference, with a new team rebuilt around Damian Lillard and emerging star Anfernee Simons. The backcourt duo averages 53 points per game this season.

Simons averages 22 points per game this season but increased his scoring output to 30.5 ppg in the two games that Lillard missed with a calf injury. Rookie Shaedon Sharpe, the seventh-overall pick from the 2022 NBA Draft, earned a promotion to the starting five during Lillard’s absence. Even without Lillard for a couple of games, the Trail Blazers improved to a 6-1 ATS record as one of the most profitable betting team in the NBA.

Because of a scheduling quirk, the Trail Blazers had just one game scheduled in eight days. Lillard hopes he can return to action just as the Trail Blazers embark on a six-game road trip. They have six games spread out over eight days, with a back-to-back series against the Phoenix Suns this weekend and a back-to-back next week against the Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nbgAPdUnu4

Four Wins in Row for OKC Thunder

Numerous NBA teams are potentially trying to tank to increase their odds of securing the draft rights to French superstar Victor Wembanyama. NBA insiders thought the Oklahoma City Thunder were a pro-tanking squad after they lost their first three games of the season. But the Thunder snapped off a four-game winning streak with impressive consecutive wins against the Los Angeles Clippers and a big win over the Dallas Mavs last weekend.

In six games this season, guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, aka “SGA,” leads the Thunder with 31.5 points, 6.8 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. During his last two games, Gilgeous-Alexander unleashed 72 points while shooting 67.5% from inside the 3-point line.

In his second season with the Thunder, Australian sensation Josh Giddey missed three games with a right ankle injury. Giddey averaged 12.5 points, 65 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game in the four games he appeared in.