Well its been over two weeks since Craig has released his Power Rankings for College Basketball. The Madness has officially begun and the upsets are only just starting. Not a ton of change at the top of Craig’s Power Rankings but the top 5 has had a few changes.
Love this time of year basically half way thru the NBA season and Craig is releasing his top 5 power rankings. Craig uses his power ranking to help him handicap and pick games daily. Below is Craig’s up to date top 5 power rankings in the NBA. One of Craig’s key handicapping tools the Power Rankings are ever changing. Lets take a look at Craig’s NBA power rankings.
The NBA post All-Star break begins tonight and we are focusing on three games with some good betting opportunities.
Charlotte Bobcats (+8.5) at Orlando Magic – 7 pm ET
The Orlando Magic (38-13, 34-17 ATS) are still learning about life after Jameer Nelson and are looking to return to earlier season form.
The Memphis Grizzlies are struggling again this season but they are backed by a powerful betting system tonight at the Philadelphia 76ers.
Memphis is 15-36, having fired coach Marc Iavaroni and bringing in retread Lionel Hollins, but they are on a roll of late.
Last season, the Memphis front office saw they were going nowhere and decided to start over.
The Phoenix Suns home woes have been gigantic as they get ready to host the Golden State Warriors on Friday night.
The Suns are 26-21 on the year, but they’re one of the rare NBA teams where their record is similar at home (13-10) and away (13-11). Phoenix has also been awful from a betting perspective at home, where their 7-16 ATS mark is one of the worst in the league.
The return of Milwaukee’s Richard Jefferson to New Jersey is just one reason for bettors to focus on tonight’s game.
Sportsbook.com has the Nets as 4 ½-point favorites with a Total of 195. This game starts at 7:30 pm ET on MSG Network. The Nets are 9-1 ATS in the last 10 meetings between the teams.
Cleveland Cavaliers center Zydrunas Illgauskas could return to the lineup on Thursday against the Orlando Magic and it could be the betting key.
The 7’3” big man has missed the last 12 games with an ankle injury and the team has gone just 7-5 against the spread. For the season, the Cavs are just 9-6 ATS with ‘Z’ out of the lineup.
The Los Angeles Lakers are flowing with confidence on a four-game winning streak but they may be a bad bet tonight.
Sportsbook.com has Los Angeles as 11-point favorites with a Total of 196, but they haven’t fared well as big chalk this year. Tip-off is set for 10:30pm ET.
L.A. thrashed San Antonio 99-85 as 7 ½-point favorites on Sunday. The contest was so lopsided, Kobe Bryant only got off the bench in the fourth quarter for timeouts.
The Detroit Pistons will be favorites when they host the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night, but bettors should have their eyes firmly on the Total.
The Pistons have gone Under the Total in seven out of their last nine games with one push. For the season, Detroit has gone Under the Total in 25 of 41 games.
And with Detroit’s second leading scorer, Richard Hamilton, coming off the bench now, bettors need to look closely at the point total for this 7 pm ET telecast on ESPN.
The Orlando Magic have been the most profitable team in the NBA and it hasn’t been a trick.
Orlando has covered eight of their last 10 games and bettors will be looking for more profits as they prepare to host the defending champion Boston Celtics on national television on Thursday night.
Four of the best teams in the NBA square off in a doubleheader on ESPN.
New Orleans at Cleveland
Sportsbook.com has lowered Cleveland down to three-point favorites because of injuries, though the Total has remained stable at 185.5. This is the opener on ESPN starting just after 8 pm ET.
