April 10th NBA – Latest Betting News and Tips
The NBA playoffs are around the corner, but what is happening in the league is mind-boggling.
Pre-Playoff Head Coaching Changes
As far back as last season and decades before that, NBA teams used late March and early April as a time to rest starting players before the playoffs or to prepare their squad to build momentum heading into the postseason playing well.
Those days are over. With nine games left in the regular season and the Grizzlies in the #6 slot in the West, they fired coach Taylor Jenkins. Fast forward nine days later, Denver, who is in a logjam for fourth place, also in the Western Conference, fired coach Mike Malone and is not bringing back GM Calvin Booth exactly one week before the first phase of the NBA Playoffs, when the Play-In games commence.
To say both firings are a shock is doing a disservice to a thesaurus. There are plenty of other words to choose, but if either
Memphis or Denver’s ownership believes this will accelerate their postseason chances, they are sadly mistaken.
The word in the Land of Barbeque is that ownership lost faith in Jenkins to be anything more than a 50ish-win coach and one who exits playoffs in April. Though the Grizzlies have a talented roster, many pieces on that roster were frequently injured the last three seasons. Jenkins can only play who’s healthy. While you can pick apart aspects of his coaching style, this has never been the most-talented squad in the West.
It’s well known that Malone and Booth have had quite a “civil war” since the middle of last season. When Denver ownership was willing to spend money on the bench, the Nuggets had the right mix of offensive and defensive players, and they won a championship. Because of contracts to one of the best starting five in the NBA, after winning the championship, Booth was instructed to find cheaper (younger) players to man the bench. Ownership wanted praise for spending for the one year, but profitability was more important than rings.
This made Malone unhappy, and he already had zero patience for younger players, as he publicly stated, “My job is to win and compete for championships having the best player in the league.”
Though the bench personnel was modestly improved this season, Malone still blamed Booth, and the two feuded. The worst part of this firing is that nobody won. Malone and Booth are out, Nikola Jokic becomes at least a co-head coach in decision-making, and the fans wonder what comes next.
Betting on Memphis or Denver to win a playoff series seems like a futile wager.
Western Conference Mashup
We have just a few days left in the NBA regular season. Things are mostly settled in the Eastern Conference, with the Play-In aspect to be sorted out to determine who will play at home next week.
Oklahoma City won the West, it feels like back in January, and Houston clinched the second seed this week. After that, it’s mayhem, looking like a NASCAR race with six cars within inches of each other charging to the finish line.
L.A. Lakers 48-31
L.A. Clippers 47-32
Denver 47-32
Golden State 47-32
Memphis 47-32
Minnesota 46-33
For the moment, the Clippers hold the tiebreaker for teams with 32 losses to secure the #4 seed, however, the Clips are two losses from potentially becoming the #8 seed. Here is who everyone has left to play.
Lakers – @Dallas, Houston and @ Portland
Clippers – Houston, @Sacramento and @ Golden State
Nuggets – @Sacramento, Memphis and @Houston
Warriors – Spurs, Blazers, and Clippers
Grizzlies – T-Wolves, @Nuggets, and Mavs
T-Wolves – @Memphis, @Nets and Jazz
With Houston locked in, the Clippers, Lakers, and Nuggets should be able to win their matchups. Sacramento is trying to hold on to the #9 seed and host Dallas in the Play-In, which could impact the Clips and Denver. Golden State is in a great position to move up with three home games, two of which are against weaker competition. And if Minnesota can knock off the Grizzlies on the road, they will have a shot at a 3-0 finish and could host a Play-In matchup or avoid it all together.
With so many massive spreads in April, we should have games where you can crunch the numbers to find winners. This should be a fascinating few days on the NBA hardwood for active basketball bettors.
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