Under Review Show – NBA Futures Betting and All-Star Weekend

By BetOnline February 15, 2020

0 Comments

It’s time to turn away from football for the foreseeable future. The NFL won’t be back until September, but there are plenty of sports to bet on to keep us occupied in the meantime. Betting on the NBA has become more and more popular as basketball has surpassed baseball as the second-most popular sport in the United States, and the Under Review podcast has you covered for the rest of the season.

Under Review Show–Betting NBA Futures and All-Star Game

The most important thing to keep in mind when betting on basketball is the value of information. Injuries, players sitting out, referee assignments, and other factors have a major impact on the lines, and you will see some big line moves in the hours before tipoff. That’s why it’s typically best to wait until shortly before tipoff to place your bet.

Betting on NBA futures can be profitable too, and the first futures bet our hosts discuss is Milwaukee to come out of the Eastern Conference at -150. The Bucks have been the best team in the NBA by far this season, but everyone is bearish on Milwaukee’s chances to win the conference at this price. There are other strong teams like Philadelphia, Toronto, Boston, Indiana, and Miami in the East, and the Bucks only have one superstar.

Giannis Antetokounmpo might win the MVP award for a second straight season, but the Bucks don’t have any superstars outside of the Greek Freak. Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton are nice role pieces, but they wilted in last year’s playoffs, and Milwaukee had a difficult time scoring as opponents clamped down on defense in the postseason. All the contenders in the East play very good defense, and any team that can limit Antetokounmpo can win the conference.

The Lakers and the Clippers are the big favorites in the Western Conference. The Lakers are currently +175 to win the West, while the Clippers are +190 to win the West, and the Under Review hosts believe that one of the teams in Los Angeles will make the NBA Finals. Although there is arguably some value in Denver and Utah at 9-1, there’s no doubt that the Lakers and Clippers are the most talented teams and have the brightest stars in the conference.

It’s All-Star Weekend, so there are other bets to make this week too. While betting on the All-Star Game is likely to be messy due to the somewhat convoluted nature of this year’s event, betting on the three-point contest, the slam dunk contest, and the skills competition all have value.

Newcomer Trae Young is +450 to win the three-point contest this year, and he is a solid pick at that price. Young has been a high-volume scorer since his time at Oklahoma, and he has tons of practice as he is averaging 9.4 3PA. Duncan Robinson and Davis Bertans are also good bets to win this contest as Damian Lillard had to pull out after suffering a groin injury on Wednesday night against Memphis.

The skills competition has become more and more popular every season, and there is some excellent value in two forwards. While guards won this event for the first 13 years of its existence, forwards have gone on to win three of the last four competitions as the bracket format has really helped the big men. Along those lines, Domantas Sabonis and Jayson Tatum have a great chance to win the event this year as they are both very athletic big men. Tatum won this event last year, so he is one of the favorites, while Sabonis has a much better chance than you’d think given his size.

The slam dunk contest has been rather underwhelming for most of the last decade, and it’s pretty tough to handicap given its intricacies. With that in mind, the best bet on the board is probably the biggest underdog in Dwight Howard. Howard is the only contestant that has won this event before, and the +500 odds on him to win the competition are nothing to sneeze at. Aaron Gordon is the favorite to win the event at +140, but Howard might be the value play.

As always, you can get in on the action at BetOnline by using the promo code ‘Review’ to earn an extra $25 on your deposit.