Two Great “Under” Bets in the NBA This Season

One of the best long-term bets you can make in basketball is to pick a team you think is going to be crummy and then bet the “under” on their season win totals. It isn’t a glamorous bet, but it is an effective one: perhaps more than any other sport, when a basketball team is bad, it’s really bad. A team like the Charlotte Bobcats, for instance, has almost no shot at winning more than 25 games. Sure, it’s fun to gamble on a team you like, or at least a team that wins, but the point of gambling is to make money. If you’re really serious about making moolah betting on sports, you should seriously consider putting down a chunk of change on a miserable NBA team. If nothing else, it makes the season entertaining down to the last game no matter what team you root for.

The 2012-13 NBA over/under win totals were released  last week, so let’s take a look at some of the best under bets in the league this season. Here are all the win totals, team by team, for the entire league. (All lines courtesy of Bovada sportsbook.)

Miami Heat: 61

Los Angeles Lakers: 59.5

Oklahoma City Thunder : 59.5

San Antonio Spurs: 53.5

Boston Celtics: 50.5

Indiana Pacers: 50.5

Los Angeles Clippers: 49.5

Denver Nuggets : 48.5

Chicago Bulls: 47.5

Memphis Grizzlies: 47.5

Philadelphia 76ers: 46.5

New York Knicks: 45.5

Dallas Mavericks: 44.5

Brooklyn Nets: 44.5

Atlanta Hawks: 42.5

Utah Jazz: 42.5

Minnesota Timberwolves: 39.5

Milwaukee Bucks: 35.5

Portland Trailblazers: 35.5

Golden State Warriors: 34.5

Phoenix Suns: 33.5

Cleveland Cavaliers: 31.5

Detroit Pistons: 31.5

Toronto Raptors: 31.5

Washington Wizards: 31.5

Houston Rockets: 30.5

Sacramento Kings: 30.5

New Orleans Hornets: 24.5

Orlando Magic: 23.5

Charlotte Bobcats: 22.5

Phoenix Suns Under 33.5 Wins

The Suns have been getting a lot of buzz as a sleeper team in the West this season, but I’m simply not buying it. When you lose the best player in the history of your franchise to a heated rival in your conference, there’s nowhere to go but down. Steve Nash has been almost singlehandedly keeping the Suns afloat for the past several seasons, and with his departure I think the Suns will be in full-blown rebuilding mode. They made some savvy moves in the offseason, including signing Luis Scola, but it won’t be enough to save them from being near the bottom of the barrel this year. Goran Dragic is a good point guard and Marcin Gortat is an underrated banger, but they’re merely complimentary pieces, not the building blocks of a contending franchise. The team also added Michael Beasley, an offensive black hole who sucks up possessions and has a questionable shot selection at best. All indications point to this team bottoming out. Take the under here.

Sacramento Kings Under 30.5 Wins

I actually like what the Kings are trying to do. By pairing Kansas star Thomas Robinson with DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings have two legit big men that could make life hell on opponents in the paint. Isiah Thomas is a burgeoning player, and Tyreke Evans is in the mix. Still, it’s tough to see just how this team is going to win. There is a real question of if fans will even show up this year, and doubts about the franchise’s future in the city of Sacramento itself. DeMarcus Cousins is seemingly one bad call away from doing something truly stupid on the court at any given time, and Evans, for all his athletic talent, still hasn’t quite figured out how to play in the NBA. This team is improving, but I’m not sure they’ll get the chance to show it this year. Take the under for the Kings.