NBA Basketball Betting: Hottest Teams Against the Spread: Jan. 29th 2009

Below is a list of the NBA’s hottest teams to bet on against the spread (updated Jan. 29th 2009) according to Alex Smart, a professional basketball handicapper featured on Touthouse.com. If you are betting on the NBA this season be sure to check out Alex Smart’s NBA betting analysis each day at Touthouse.com.

1) Boston Celtics (37-9) (26-20 ATS) (5-0 ATS L/5 +$500): Think the defending champs had enough of their naysayers after dropping four in a row both SU and ATS from Jan. 4th to the 9th? Well, if you don’t, you better start thinking that way because Boston’s playing like the squad many believed would topple the 1996 Chicago Bulls’ record of 72-10.

The Celtics disposed of its four opponents last week and covered each game with ease. They outscored their opposition by a 104-87 combined average, which included a dominant two-game road performance in the state of Florida against Miami and Orlando. They also thrashed Dallas and Phoenix at home en route to an easy pair of home wins and covers.

They’ll close this week out with home games against Sacramento and Minnesota with a road game at Detroit sandwiched in between. They could very well improve their winning streaks both SU and ATS to 11 in a row before invading Philly early next week.

2) New York Knicks (19-25) (25-19 ATS) (5-0 ATS L/5 +$500): The Knicks got back into the good graces of their betting backers with a 4-1 SU and 5-0 ATS mark over the course of its L/5 games played. The winning streak all started with a MLK Day home win and cover against the Chicago Bulls.

They then went on to upend a discombobulated Phoenix Suns team as six-point home underdogs (109-104), and followed it up with a pasting of the Memphis Grizzlies (108-88) as 5.5-point home chalks. NY’s three-game winning streak came to a stop at Philly, 116-110, but it managed to cover for the fourth game in a row by sticking within the 7.5-point closing spread.

This week kicked off with a solid home win and cover as one-point home favorites against T-Mac and the Houston Rockets. They outscored their opponents by an average score of 108-102 over the five game stretch, and HC Mike D’Antoni has to be thrilled that his team is currently scoring more than they’re allowing. They’ll look to close the month out in style with a home game against Atlanta before making a brief one game stop in Indiana to take on the Pacers.

3) Charlotte Bobcats (19-26) (27-18 ATS) (4-1 ATS L/5 +$290) The Bobcats are just a half point away from being the NBA’s most lucrative investment over the L/18 days of NBA betting action. They went 2-2 SU & 3-1 ATS in its four games played last week, and picked up a shocking SU win and cover against the LA Lakers as lofty 11-point road underdogs their last time out.

Charlotte currently stands 6-2 SU and 7-1 ATS its L/8 overall contests, but it’ll have to go at it without leading scorer Gerald Wallace for an undetermined amount of time after he suffered a rib injury in the closing stages of the fourth quarter against the Lakers.

 They’ll close out the month of January on the road with stops in Portland, Denver, and Utah scheduled over the next six days, and will then have three days off before having to lace them up at home against Atlanta.