Well, that didn't go very well. We launch a brand new affiliate advertising relationship with 1Vice.ag and we suddenly start tanking. It feels a little bit like our TSZ Insider Membership experience at the beginning of the NFL season. Perhaps the karmic universe simply wants us to subsist on the generous coffee donations of the gamblers out there who enjoy a good read but aren't necessarily attached to winning. Anyone out there like that? Yeah, me neither.
Those of you who have been around The Spread Zone or the world of sports betting long enough understand that there are great days and god-awful ones generally sandwiched around a majority of pars, birdies, and eagles. There's nothing we value more than integrity, and although a triple bogey last night has Marco and I reeling and slipping towards mediocrity, the show must go on.
NBA Playoffs Record to Date: 23-22 ATS
Top Confidence Picks: 7-5 ATS
Booooooo us. And boo disappointing showing by the Spurs and the Raptors. Yay awesome basketball games. I can't fault Rip City because...well, they're called Rip City - and I don't think there's a cooler/more ridiculous nickname in the NBA. If you like boring stories, Google the origins of Rip City and then come back and find out who we like in today's first three of FIVE (amazing) first round Game 7's.
NBA Game 7's
There are few events more exciting than Game 7's. Perhaps the single elimination of the March Madness or the later rounds of the World Cup rival the intensity but what separates Game 7's is the familiarity teams and coaches have with each other after playing every other day for almost two weeks. It is Game 7's where personnel from top to bottom really earn their paychecks. Which GM, coach, physical train, team therapist, water boy will be writing their ticket to the second round and which ones will be writing their resumes during the off-season? Which Pacers team will show up today and which team will pace the show in Los Angeles? We'll get to that in a minute.
Home Court Advantage
It should come as no surprise that home teams are 22-7 in the last 29 Game 7's. Not only is the atmosphere in the arenas inspiring and intimidating for the home and road teams respectively, in the current NBA format the higher seed with the better record is the one that hosts the deciding game. What is a little more surprising is the home team also owns a 19-10 ATS record in those games and the average line has had the home team favored by 6.1 points. Those numbers wouldn't make for a very Hollywood ending, but those are the facts. Late free throws push the margin up as the team trailing tries to comeback at all costs.
Those of you who have been around The Spread Zone or the world of sports betting long enough understand that there are great days and god-awful ones generally sandwiched around a majority of pars, birdies, and eagles. There's nothing we value more than integrity, and although a triple bogey last night has Marco and I reeling and slipping towards mediocrity, the show must go on.
NBA Playoffs Record to Date: 23-22 ATS
Top Confidence Picks: 7-5 ATS
Booooooo us. And boo disappointing showing by the Spurs and the Raptors. Yay awesome basketball games. I can't fault Rip City because...well, they're called Rip City - and I don't think there's a cooler/more ridiculous nickname in the NBA. If you like boring stories, Google the origins of Rip City and then come back and find out who we like in today's first three of FIVE (amazing) first round Game 7's.
NBA Game 7's
There are few events more exciting than Game 7's. Perhaps the single elimination of the March Madness or the later rounds of the World Cup rival the intensity but what separates Game 7's is the familiarity teams and coaches have with each other after playing every other day for almost two weeks. It is Game 7's where personnel from top to bottom really earn their paychecks. Which GM, coach, physical train, team therapist, water boy will be writing their ticket to the second round and which ones will be writing their resumes during the off-season? Which Pacers team will show up today and which team will pace the show in Los Angeles? We'll get to that in a minute.
Home Court Advantage
It should come as no surprise that home teams are 22-7 in the last 29 Game 7's. Not only is the atmosphere in the arenas inspiring and intimidating for the home and road teams respectively, in the current NBA format the higher seed with the better record is the one that hosts the deciding game. What is a little more surprising is the home team also owns a 19-10 ATS record in those games and the average line has had the home team favored by 6.1 points. Those numbers wouldn't make for a very Hollywood ending, but those are the facts. Late free throws push the margin up as the team trailing tries to comeback at all costs.
What is more interesting, however, is regardless of those late free throws, the average total in last 29 Game 7's sits at 186.8 points. Bettors fantasize about high-scoring match-ups and often bet the total higher, making the UNDER an advantage bet in these deciding games. Taking it even further, coming off a win in game 6 is actually a disadvantage for a game 7 match-up. Teams that won game 6 received an average of 1.7 points for the line and had a 12-17 ATS record. So there you have it. Losing game 6 and playing on your home court in game 7 of the NBA playoffs gives you the best advantage straight up and ATS to go along with a play on the under.
Now let's see if we can ignore all of that and make our picks for today's games. Just for fun and by virtue of the fact that I'm proctoring an exam right now and have three hours to kill, let's double down with some ATS and totals picks for today's games. Before that, here are a few
Daily Reminders
1. We love comments. If you have anything to say about our picks our posts our font choice, please light up the comments section even if it's just to say
Now let's see if we can ignore all of that and make our picks for today's games. Just for fun and by virtue of the fact that I'm proctoring an exam right now and have three hours to kill, let's double down with some ATS and totals picks for today's games. Before that, here are a few
Daily Reminders
1. We love comments. If you have anything to say about our picks our posts our font choice, please light up the comments section even if it's just to say
2. We love coffee. If you've done well with our picks or you just appreciate what we or you just want to buy our silence, please use the Coffee for Vinny and Marco button on the right.
3. Don't forget to check out our friends at 1Vice. We get our lines from them and we highly recommend them for your online sports betting action. They have terrific customer service, great sign up bonuses and free play, and fast payouts. They running a special on the Kentucky Derby as we speak. They were also kind enough to send us an odds page, which we've included at the bottom of The Spread Zone.
Okay, enough about us - let's get to today's games. Stats Schmats, we're rolling with the dogs today, but we do like the UNDERS in a couple of the match-ups. Here's our Game 7 breakdowns for today.
Atlanta Hawks (+6.5) over INDIANA PACERS: Without knowing which Indiana team is going to suit up, show up, or start this game, it's really hard to back them. If the Pacers couldn't rout the Hawks in eleven of the first twelve halves of this series, what makes us think they'll do it tonight? There's no doubt the Hawks choked in Game 6, but Indy hasn't been able to get any traction or momentum after wins in this series. The OVER is 16-5-1 in the last 22 meetings in Indiana, the underdog is 5-2-1 ATS in the last 8 meetings (probably mostly the Hawks), the road teams is 6-2-1 ATS in the last 9, and the Hawks only has one ATS loss in their last five visits to Indiana. The small, quick guard play of Atlanta continues to present problems for their defense, so we'll take the half dozen points or so and watch another thrilling NBA finish.
Picks: Hawks and the OVER
Picks: Grizzlies and the UNDER
Golden State Warriors (+7.5) over LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS: We were going to hedge our bets here and just take the UNDER, but we're loud, proud Warriors fans, and sometimes simply the online pick of a novice sports bettor and amateur blogger can tip the scales just enough for a team to lose by 6. Here's hoping we see an inspired performance by the Splash Brothers (we predict Thompson has the game of his life) and more outstanding defense from the Warriors who are not only 6-2 ATS in their last 8 as dogs, but are 7-3 ATS specifically in games when the other team is favored by 5.0 to 10.0 points.
Picks: Warriors and the UNDER
Top Confidence Picks: Golden State Warriors/Los Angeles Clippers UNDER 207.5 and the Memphis Grizzlies (+9.5)
Please, please - May the Spreads Be With Us All,
Vinny and Marco
Please, please - May the Spreads Be With Us All,
Vinny and Marco
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