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by Chad Rogers | April 23 2009

Here are sports betting tips for NBA bets in this year's NBA playoffs

NBA betting is in full swing, as the first round series start to win down. The NBA lines are set for tonight's games and it looks like the luck of the Irish that aided the Boston Celtics en route to the NBA championship last year appears to have left.

Entering the playoffs, the Celtics learned that star power forward Kevin Garnett could miss the entire postseason with a knee injury.

More recently, one-guard Rajon Rondo is listed as day-to-day with an ankle injury and PF Leon Powe will be lost for the rest of the year with a torn ACL and meniscus in his left knee.

While the Celtics were one of the more profitable teams in the regular season, at 43-39 ATS, as the sports betting community knows, they are 0-2 ATS thus far in the playoffs.

Fortunately, ATS records don't mean squat to Boston and they see themselves tied 1-1 in their playoff series with Chicago.

It will be a change of venue for Game 3 on Thursday however as the Celtics will leave the friendly confines of the TD Banknorth Garden and move to the United Center in the Windy City—online sportsbooks have Boston is listed as a 2.5-point underdog for Game 3 and the Total is set at 200.5.

While Boston has been profitable this season, the same cannot be said of its last 20 visits to Chicago as the Celtics are a paltry 7-13 ATS; the last 18 have seen 6 Overs, 11 Unders and 1 Push on the Total.

In addition, the Celtics' last eight away games in the month of April have yielded a 3-5 ATS record, however, in the team's last 13 road games on Thursday, it is 9-4 ATS.

SPORTSBETTING.COM is reporting the Boston Celtics receiving 68% of all the betting action on this game.

Like the Bulls and the Celtics, the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs see themselves knotted up at a game a piece in their Round 1 playoff series with the two teams owning 1-1 playoff records ATS.

San Antonio will make the intrastate trip to Dallas for Game 3 and sees itself listed as a 4-point road 'dog with the Total set at 189.5.

As far as ATS records go, the two teams have been fairly close with San Antonio holding the edge at 11-8-1 ATS.

As an underdog of 4-points or less, the Spurs are 5-1 ATS in their last six games and as a favorite of 4 or less, the Mavs have gone 7-1 on the Over/Under in their last eight.

While Dallas has done well in its last 20 Thursday home games with a record of 12-8, it has been atrocious against the line at 5-13-2 ATS.

On the opposite side of the coin, San Antonio is 10-10 ATS in its last 20 road games that fall on a Thursday.

In the last 15 Thursday meetings between the two in Dallas, the Spurs hold the edge with an ATS record of 9-5-1.

The Los Angeles Lakers had the best record in the Western Conference and the second-best record in the association overall next to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

With a 2-0 playoff series lead on the Utah Jazz, the Lakers could be on track to sweep their first-round opponent and are listed at +120 to do just that.

Heading into Game 3 in Utah, the Lakers see themselves listed as 1.5-point road faves with the Total set at 214.5.

While the Lakers are up 2-0 in the series, their performance in Salt Lake City has left bettors shaking their heads on more than one occasion.

In their last 20 in Utah, the Los Angeles Lakers are 8-11-1 ATS against the Jazz, furthermore, in the last 20 games when favored by 2-points or less, the Lake Show has gone 7-13 ATS.

While the Jazz have gone 8-2 SU in its last 10 home games, it is a completely different story against the line as they are 2-8 ATS in that time as well.

The Jazz do seem to hum along in their last 20 games when underdogs of 2-points or less however as they are 12-8 ATS and in Utah's last 9 home games on Thursday, it is 6-3 ATS and 2-7 O/U.

Good luck betting on all the NBA playoff games. SPORTSBETTING.COM has the NBA odds and the NBA lines up every day.

Author: Chad Rogers has been an avid follower and handicapper of North American sports for over 20 years and has written about sports and sports betting for the last decade. Chad specializes in articles focused on the NFL, NFL betting and overall "how-to" handicapping articles.