NBA Basketball Betting: Best NBA Road Teams: November 21st 2008

Article Courtesy of Alex Smart, An Expert NBA Basketball Handicapper, Featured on Touthouse.com. If you are Betting on NBA Basketball Be Sure to Buy Alex Smart’s Expert NBA Picks.

1) Milwaukee Bucks (5-6, 8-3 ATS): NBA handicappers have made a bundle placing online wagers on the Bucks, especially on the road, where they are 5-1 ATS. Milwaukee has been somewhat of a surprise early this season, managing to stay afloat despite the absence of Olympian Michael Redd for an extended period of time.

Backup point guard Ramon Sessions has been awesome, averaging 16 points per game off the bench. And Milwaukee bettors can also thank Richard Jefferson for the hot start, as he’s putting in almost 19 points a night.

With Redd back up to speed and new head coach Scott Skiles getting the most out of his team on the defensive end, it’s still a good time to take advantage of online bookies before they adjust their NBA lines.

2) Atlanta Hawks (6-3, 6-2-1 ATS): The Hawks have cooled off after their blazing start to the season, but are still getting the job done in opposing arenas, covering the betting line 80 percent of the time. This comes despite the absence of star forward Josh Smith and a depleted bench.

Bettors beware, though: Atlanta has lost its past three games, and has started to look like the team NBA betting experts thought it was heading into the year. Smith is slated to return in about a week and should give the Hawks a big boost, but treading carefully might be a good idea until then.

3) Toronto Raptors (5-4, 5-4 ATS): While the Raptors have gotten off to a slow start at home, they have been cashing sports wagers for backers on the road. Toronto is 4-1 ATS away from home heading into Tuesday night, most recently covering against the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics in Beantown.

In fact, their only loss ATS on the road came against the aforementioned Atlanta Hawks, who were beating everyone early on. The Raptors’ early road success is even more impressive considering that Jermaine O’Neal has yet to look good. But a strained hamstring has caused stud point guard Jose Calderon to miss a game, and it is certainly something for prospective Toronto bettors to keep an eye on going forward.

4) Indiana Pacers (4-5, 5-4 ATS): Indiana is 3-1 on the road this season, and Danny Granger is easily the biggest reason for its success. The smooth forward is really coming into his own this season, averaging 23 points per game and looking unstoppable at times.

The addition of T.J. Ford has undoubtedly helped Granger and the rest of the Pacers; Ford is putting up 16 a night to go with six assists, and his unmatched quickness has been a perfect fit for head coach Jim O’Brien’s up-tempo style. Indiana could very well make a push for the basketball playoffs this season if Granger and Ford can help it remain successful on the road.

5) Detroit Pistons (7-3, 5-5 ATS): The bigger story here might be Detroit’s inability to cover the sports betting line at home, but that doesn’t take away from its success on the road; the Pistons are 5-2 ATS, including a 106-95 throttling of the previously unbeaten Los Angeles Lakers, who had looked like juggernauts until being humbled at home.

The transition from Chauncey Billups to Allen Iverson has been as seamless as Detroit fans could have hoped for, especially considering that Rodney Stuckey missed a few games due to injury right after the trade. But believe it or not, his return might mean some struggles in the near future as head coach Michael Curry figures out how to juggle his rotation.