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Saturday, November 1
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Pick 'n' Roll: Saturday's best NBA bets
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Miami Heat at Charlotte Bobcats (-2.5, 192)
The Heat will look for their first road victory of the season on Saturday night when they face a young Bobcats team that's struggling under new coach Larry Brown.
With star guard Dwyane Wade battling injuries and a roster in disarray for much of last season, the Heat - just two years removed from an NBA championship - lost a league-high 67 games to match the franchise worst set in 1988-89, the team's inaugural campaign.
They already look like a much different club this season after dominating Sacramento for a 103-77 win in their home opener on Friday night. Wade had 20 points and eight assists in just 27 minutes, while rookie Michael Beasley added 17 points and nine rebounds.
Miami can't be much worse than it was on the road last season. The Heat went 6-35 outside of South Florida, winning just two of their last 28 on the road to close the season. They lost twice at Charlotte by a combined 27 points, and they've now dropped five of their last six to the Bobcats after winning nine of their first 10 against the expansion team.
But the Bobcats (0-1) struggled in Brown's debut on Thursday, shooting 34 percent from the field and scoring only 33 points in the first half of a 96-79 loss at Cleveland.
Taking over his ninth NBA team, Brown appears to have one of his biggest challenges ahead as he looks to turn around a young franchise that went 32-50 last season and is a combined 109-220 in four-plus seasons of existence.
The Bobcats went 0-8 in the preseason, and Brown said Thursday that he doesn't think his team is ready.
"I'm not surprised with what's going on," Brown said. "The big people we're playing against seem to be more athletic and getting things done. A lot of our shots are tough shots. We're settling for long jumpers. When we do penetrate, we penetrate so deep, we get a lot of shots blocked. They penetrate and kick it out.
"We didn't expect it to be easy."
Pick: Miami
Dallas Mavericks at Minnesota Timberwolves (+4, 204)
The Mavericks look to bounce back from their season-opening loss as they try to win their ninth straight game over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.
Dallas lost to Houston 112-102 on Thursday in coach Rick Carlisle's Mavericks debut. Dallas opened the fourth quarter with a one-point lead, but allowed the Rockets to put away the game with a 16-2 run late in the period.
The Mavericks shot just 6-of-24 in the fourth, as top scorers Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard combined for three points on 1-of-6 shooting in the final 12 minutes."We will figure it out," Carlisle said. "You got to be careful about overreacting to one game."
Overall, the defense was not up to par for a team that was sixth in scoring defense (95.9 points per game) and fourth in defensive field goal percentage (44.3 percent) last season. Dallas allowed Houston to make 7-of-14 shots from 3-point range and score 38 points in the paint.
"We put up enough points but we didn't stop anybody," said Jason Kidd, who had seven points, seven rebounds and 12 assists. "This was a lesson learned."
While the defense failed to stop the Rockets, Carlisle's up-tempo offense flourished. The Mavericks scored 37 fast-break points Thursday after scoring more than 33 in transition just once last season.
"It was fun," Howard said. "Guys got out and ran. We just got to get the ball to J-Kidd and he will take care of the rest."
The Mavericks have won eight straight over the Timberwolves by an average of 12.4 points since a 91-78 loss on Jan. 4, 2006. Dallas has also won six of its last seven games at the Target Center.
Minnesota opened the 2008-09 season with a 98-96 win over Sacramento on Wednesday - an encouraging start for a team that opened last season 5-34.
Pick: Dallas
Saturday, November 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pick 'n' Roll: Saturday's best NBA bets
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miami Heat at Charlotte Bobcats (-2.5, 192)
The Heat will look for their first road victory of the season on Saturday night when they face a young Bobcats team that's struggling under new coach Larry Brown.
With star guard Dwyane Wade battling injuries and a roster in disarray for much of last season, the Heat - just two years removed from an NBA championship - lost a league-high 67 games to match the franchise worst set in 1988-89, the team's inaugural campaign.
They already look like a much different club this season after dominating Sacramento for a 103-77 win in their home opener on Friday night. Wade had 20 points and eight assists in just 27 minutes, while rookie Michael Beasley added 17 points and nine rebounds.
Miami can't be much worse than it was on the road last season. The Heat went 6-35 outside of South Florida, winning just two of their last 28 on the road to close the season. They lost twice at Charlotte by a combined 27 points, and they've now dropped five of their last six to the Bobcats after winning nine of their first 10 against the expansion team.
But the Bobcats (0-1) struggled in Brown's debut on Thursday, shooting 34 percent from the field and scoring only 33 points in the first half of a 96-79 loss at Cleveland.
Taking over his ninth NBA team, Brown appears to have one of his biggest challenges ahead as he looks to turn around a young franchise that went 32-50 last season and is a combined 109-220 in four-plus seasons of existence.
The Bobcats went 0-8 in the preseason, and Brown said Thursday that he doesn't think his team is ready.
"I'm not surprised with what's going on," Brown said. "The big people we're playing against seem to be more athletic and getting things done. A lot of our shots are tough shots. We're settling for long jumpers. When we do penetrate, we penetrate so deep, we get a lot of shots blocked. They penetrate and kick it out.
"We didn't expect it to be easy."
Pick: Miami
Dallas Mavericks at Minnesota Timberwolves (+4, 204)
The Mavericks look to bounce back from their season-opening loss as they try to win their ninth straight game over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.
Dallas lost to Houston 112-102 on Thursday in coach Rick Carlisle's Mavericks debut. Dallas opened the fourth quarter with a one-point lead, but allowed the Rockets to put away the game with a 16-2 run late in the period.
The Mavericks shot just 6-of-24 in the fourth, as top scorers Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard combined for three points on 1-of-6 shooting in the final 12 minutes."We will figure it out," Carlisle said. "You got to be careful about overreacting to one game."
Overall, the defense was not up to par for a team that was sixth in scoring defense (95.9 points per game) and fourth in defensive field goal percentage (44.3 percent) last season. Dallas allowed Houston to make 7-of-14 shots from 3-point range and score 38 points in the paint.
"We put up enough points but we didn't stop anybody," said Jason Kidd, who had seven points, seven rebounds and 12 assists. "This was a lesson learned."
While the defense failed to stop the Rockets, Carlisle's up-tempo offense flourished. The Mavericks scored 37 fast-break points Thursday after scoring more than 33 in transition just once last season.
"It was fun," Howard said. "Guys got out and ran. We just got to get the ball to J-Kidd and he will take care of the rest."
The Mavericks have won eight straight over the Timberwolves by an average of 12.4 points since a 91-78 loss on Jan. 4, 2006. Dallas has also won six of its last seven games at the Target Center.
Minnesota opened the 2008-09 season with a 98-96 win over Sacramento on Wednesday - an encouraging start for a team that opened last season 5-34.
Pick: Dallas
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