NBA - 507 Charlotte Bobcats @ 508 Washington Wizards
Projected Line: Washington by 15 points
There isn't a lot to talk about the Bobcats! They have lost their last nine games and they got crushed by the Thunder last night. Charlotte keeps repeating the same struggles game after game. They generally have a decent start, but they can't make in-game adjustments, they don't rebound well, they don't box out, they over-dribble and their shooting gets cold as ice as well. Charlotte is also struggling on rebounding by grabbing just 46% of the rebounds on their last 10 games! We aren't talking about a team like the Spurs, who have poor rebounding numbers because they don't attack the offensive glass. Charlotte is actually #20 in the league on offensive rebounding, but they are #30 in the league on defensive rebounding! By the way, they are regressing big time on the offensive rebounding numbers as well!
Defensively, Charlotte is a complete mess everywhere. Their perimeter defense is horrible, but their interior defense is being non-existent as well, especially since Byron Mullens returned to the lineup. By the way, remember when the Bobcats were a top defensive team on pick and roll ball handler plays earlier on the season? Well, they are already #19 in the league on that area as well, while allowing a ridiculous 0.93 PPP over their last 10 games! Washington's offense is terrible on 3pts shooting, especially without Bradley Beal. However, the Wizards will have a huge edge down low tonight with Nene Hilario and Emeka Okafor.
Charlotte's offense is based on pick and roll ball handlers and transitions, so when they can't do anything on these two areas, their offense struggles big time, as they are forced to get into isolations and spot ups with the shotclock expiring. The problem for the Bobcats is that Washington's defense is an elite unit in all these areas: #11 in pick and roll ball handler defense, #4 in transition defense, #4 in spot up defense and #4 in isolation defense!
Curiously, the Bobcats are 2-0 against Washington this season, so the Wizards will be fired up tonight to get revenge. Both games were played back in November, so they have nothing in common with tonight's match. John Wall was still injured and the Wizards used the following starting lineup in one of those games: Kevin Seraphin, Jan Vesely, Bradley Beal, Jordan Crawford and Shaun Livingson! This time, things will be much different, as Washington is a much more steadier team than they were back in November, where Coach Wittman just couldn't set the team's rotations.
I believe Charlotte is getting overrated by the sportsbooks, as they are much worse than the current line is showing. Therefore, I'll be taking Washington tonight.
Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 508 Washington Wizards (-11) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker
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