NBA Free Premium Play 05/13: Washington Wizards @ Indiana Pacers

Washington  at Indiana

NBA - 733 Washington Wizards @ 734 Indiana Pacers Play #1 & #2 We are dealing w/ a “different” Pacers’ team now that Roy Hibbert is playing major minutes and more importantly, he’s confident and helping the team in both ends of the floor. IND’s offense is still having some natural problems to hit their outside shots and generate good looks off good ball movement. They had the nice mark of 10-22 (45.5%) from 3pts but note that Paul George went 7-10 3pts vs. 3-12 from the rest of the team. However, the biggest impact has been made in defense & rebounding! After dominating the glass in the first 3 games of the series w/ 61%, 56.7% & 55.3% reb/rate%, the Wizards were outrebounded in the last game as IND had 52.6% reb/rate%! Also, despite scoring 44 points in the paint in G4, the Wizards went only 17-33 FG (just 51.5%!)! Hibbert’s presence down low has been huge for IND’s perimeter players… after hitting 10-16 from 3pts in G1, the Wizards are hitting 14-52 – 27% clip in L3 games! The Wizards were able to score 55 points in the first half of G4 mostly because of the “work” of their veteran 2nd unit w/ Miller, Gooden and Harrington. After Washington shot 54 percent in the first half, helped by 18 fast break points, they shot just 35 percent in the second half with zero fast break points. The problem is that the Wizards just won’t defeat the Pacers by giving big minutes to those players! WAS’s starting lineup is clearly lacking the proper confidence on the offensive end vs. IND’s elite defense. John Wall is hesitating while Nene + Gortat have been clearly outplayed by West + Hibbert! I expect the Pacers to close out the series tonight via their defensive dominance. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 733/734 Under 181.5 @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 734 Indiana Pacers (-5.5) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

NBA Free Premium Play 05/07: Washington Wizards @ Indiana Pacers

Washington  at Indiana

NBA - 709 Washington Wizards @ 710 Indiana Pacers Play #1 We lost w/ the Under by 14 points in the first game of this series, but note that w/ less than a minute to go, the score was 94-84 (178 points) and then the Pacers hit 4 three pointers while the Wizards went 8 for 8 from the FT line! For tonight’s contest the biggest adjustment will be made from IND regarding Roy Hibbert: "I have to get (Hibbert) some looks to get him going some," Vogel said. "Everyone has to understand, he wasn't 0 for 11 last night, he was 0 for 2. He's the fifth option in our starting five offense." Honestly, I don’t think that Hibbert will have a big impact on the offensive end in this series, but w/ the Pacers being focused to feed him down low, I expect IND to play @ slower pace tonight. According to my numbers, the Pace factor of G1 was 94.8 – way above my expectations. The biggest problem for the Pacers in G1 (apart from letting WAS to hit 10-16 from 3pts) was their inability to get rebounds. WAS had a remarkable 61% reb/rate w/ 17 offensive boards! Drew Gooden alone had more offensive rebounds vs. entire IND team! This is where Hibbert could really make a difference because when he is out, most likely Luis Scola will get his minutes – not a good thing for IND regarding this “issue”. On the other side, IND’s offensive problems are real against a Wizards’ defense that is coming from a great defensive series vs. CHI in the first round. Note that the Pacers scored only 20 points in the paint! Because of the high scoring outcome in G1, we are getting 187 points – good enough for me to make a play w/ the Under in here. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 709/710 Under 187 @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

NBA Free Premium Play 05/05: Washington Wizards @ Indiana Pacers

Washington  at Indiana

NBA - 701 Washington Wizards @ 702 Indiana Pacers Play #1 I had a small lean w/ WAS in this first game of the series but I really don’t like their “spot” for tonight’s contest, especially because I expect them to be a bit “rusty” on the offensive end. WAS’s defensive game plan won’t change anything from facing the Bulls in the first round and now facing the Pacers. They will be focused in slowing down IND’s frontcourt while they did a great job in doing that vs. CHI’s frontcourt unit. The Pacers won the last 2 games vs. ATL, but note that they still struggled to hit outside shots w/ 6-20 & 3-18 from 3pts land, so we are not dealing w/ a confident shooting team right now. On the other side, the Pacers’ defense has now a more favorable matchup when compared to the Hawks. Roy Hibbert can play regular minutes as the Wizards will play w/ traditional 2 post players w/ Nene & Gortat and so, IND’s defense will improve a bit in this series. Nevertheless, note that the Pacers’ adjusted quite well in the last 2 games of the series vs. ATL as they have allowed 88 and 80 points in those 2 points. WAS had 5 days off to rest and prepare tonight’s contest…. They are a “pure” jump shooting so having so much time off could work against them tonight as well. My fair line in this contest is 180 points and so, we are getting some nice value w/ the Under in here. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 701/702 Under 184 @ -110 / 1.91 on Betonline

NBA Free Premium Play 04/05: Chicago Bulls @ Washington Wizards

Chicago  at Washington

NBA - 803 Chicago Bulls @ 804 Washington Wizards Play #3 The Wizards are coming from a nice win vs. the Knicks last night. They benefited from the fact that Carmelo Anthony wasn’t healthy, but really, the Knicks were a favorable matchup for them: 1) WAS’s poor and “soft” interior defense wasn’t exposed by a NYK team that is a basically a jump shooting team – NYK scored just 22 points in the paint and actually, when Stoudemire was attacking WAS’s big men, it was the best NYK' moment of the game; 2) NYK’s slow footed and bad overall perimeter defense was a great matchup for WAS’s lightning quick guards Wall & Beal - Not coincidently, Wall and Beal combined to hit 20-36 from the field! Well… from facing the NYK’s lack of inside game and physicality of their frontcourt, WAS will have to deal tonight w/ CHI’s frontcourt and this could be a “shock” for them! Also, the Bulls’ perimeter defense just can’t be compared to NYK’s perimeter defense, so I expect CHI to give a lot of problems to WAS in here. CHI will use their frontcourt to set up their offense… they have lost the first 2 games of the series so far in this season but note that in both games, Nene Hilario was healthy and played +35minutes! It’s one thing to have Nene on the frontcourt vs. having Booker, Harrington and/or Gooden and so, I think that we are catching the Bulls in a better spot in this contest. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 803 Chicago Bulls (+2.5) @ -110 / 1.91 on 5 Dimes

NBA Free Premium Play 03/20: Washington Wizards @ Portland Trail Blazers

Washington  at Portland

NBA - 705 Washington Wizards @ 706 Portland Trail Blazers ***FREE Premium Play*** In this contest we have two teams that are coming from OT games and so, a potential physical letdown isn’t out of sight in my opinion. We are dealing w/ two teams that basically are jump shooting teams w/ few to little presence down low. LMA is OUT for POR while Nene Hilario will miss the game as well. POR is averaging just 37.8 pts per game in L8 games and coincidently, the Wizards are averaging the exact same number in L8 games. With both teams primed to attempt a ton of outside jumpers, note that both WAS and POR are defending pretty well from 3pts in L10 games, WAS is allowing 35.7% (ranked #11 in the league during this stretch) while POR is allowing 34.8% (ranked #8). Without Aldridge, the Blazers will run a ton of PNR’s and the Wizards defense is ranked #3 in the league defending those “plays”. Actually, the Wizards were able to defeat the Blazers at home early on the season mostly because they held POR to just 2-16 FG in PNR ball handler plays. My fair line for this contest is 204 points and so, in my opinion we have the proper edge to play w/ Under in here. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 705/706 Under 207 @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

NBA Free Premium Plays 03/15: Brooklyn Nets @ Washington Wizards

Brooklyn  at Washington

NBA - 503 Brooklyn Nets @ 504 Washington Wizards ***FREE Premium Plays*** This is a tough spot for the Wizards… last night they had a tough battle vs. ORL, the game went to OT and all WAS’s starters logged at least 41 minutes! I had a play w/ ORL in that game because the Wizards without Nene are basically a jump shooting with little presence down low. In 53 minutes of action, the Wizards scored only 32 points in the paint! Obviously, they had some good offensive perimeter numbers like shooting 10-23 from 3pts, but they have faced ORL’s poor perimeter D as well. BKN’s defense has been great as of late especially on the perimeter. They don’t have the proper size to protect the rim and are constantly crushed on the boards. However they are aggressive vs. ball handlers, creating an absurd number of TO’s and this Wizards’ team fits perfectly well on what they do defensively. WAS’ lack of inside scoring tonight will be the X factor! BKN is allowing just 33.8% from 3pts in L10 games – ranked #5 in the league during this stretch! I expect BKN’s defense to control the perimeter tonight vs. a tired WAS team. However, the same thing can be said on the other end! Like WAS, the Nets don’t have any considerable inside game – they are scoring just 37 pts in the paint in L8 games! They also attempts a ton of outside jumpers and the Wizards’ are actually allowing just 31.8% 3pts in L10 games – ranked #4 in the league! I expect this contest to be a relatively low scoring game. This BKN-3 line would be fair if both teams were in similar physical spots but this is not the case in here and so, I think that the Nets will take advantage of it. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 503 Brooklyn Nets (-3) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 503/504 Under 197 @ -110 / 1.91 on Betonline

NBA Free Premium Play 03/14: Washington Wizards @ Orlando Magic

Washington  at Orlando

NBA - 801 Washington Wizards @ 802 Orlando Magic Play #1 I had the Over in the last ORL game vs. DEN and actually I saw live that game… Well, ORL was completely crushed on the boards, ended up having just 43.4% reb/rate% while DEN’s athletic frontcourt dominated the undersized Magic line – Faried, Arthur and Hickson combined to score 60 points while shooting 24-38 FG for 63.2%! Offensively, the Magic was decent as Oladipo looked fine to me (he played 28 minutes). For this contest, I expect ORL to be a tough matchup for the Wizards! WAS is playing without Nene Hilario for quite some games, and this would be one of those games where Nene would crush ORL’s frontcourt, as the Magic since Big Baby went to LAC, don’t have any “capable” power forward! The Wizards have only in Gortat their “truly” post player, so it isn’t a surprise for me that they have only scored 30 and 32 points in the paint in L2 games. Unlike DEN, the Wizards won’t be able to crush the Magic down. We will watch a game featuring two perimeter shooting teams and the Magic w/ Nelson, Afflalo and Oladipo are a dangerous team at home, especially now that Nikola Vucevic is starting to play really well (he’s averaging 17.0 ppg while shooting 54% FG). I expect this contest to be a tight game and obviously, we have some edge w/ ORL+5 in here. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 802 Orlando Magic (+5) @ -110 / 1.91 on Betonline

NBA Free Premium Play 02/12: Washington Wizards @ Houston Rockets

Washington  at Houston

NBA - 719 Washington Wizards @ 720 Houston Rockets ***FREE Premium Play*** I expect this contest to be a fast paced one w/ both teams having some good edges on the offensive end as my fair line in here is 208/210 points. WAS is coming from a competitive game @MEM played in “MEM’s” terms – slow paced, grind out game. Note that HOU played twice MEM not a long time ago, and also both games were slow paced affairs as the Grizzlies really control the tempo of the game of their games. The same thing won’t happen tonight as both teams want to push the pace and have aggressive quick-footed guards… WAS defense has been decent as of late, but there is a “bad” pattern for them related w/ their backcourt defense: last night, MEM’s PG N. Calathes went 8-12 FG for 18 pts & 6 assists… SAC’s PG Isaiah Thomas torched them w/ 11-24 FG, 8-8 FT for 30 points… and both CLE’s guards Irving & Waiters combined to score 47 points against WAS. Obviously, there is a clear regression in WAS’s P&R defense and unfortunately for them, they will face one of the best P&R offensive teams in the league in the Rockets, and so, I expect HOU to be efficient offensively. On the other side, I expect WAS to cause some problems to HOU defense as well. HOU’s best defensive guard P. Beverly is banged up (game time decision) and even though HOU is coming from b2b good perimeter defensive performances (6-15 & 6-25 3pts), we just can’t ignore that they have faced MIL & MIN without their best shooter K. Martin, so they enjoyed some favorable matchups in the last games. The first h2h between these two teams ended up w/ HOU winning 114-107 in an ultra fast paced affair w/ 36 total fast break pts scored & 106 points in the paint. I expect a similar type of game tonight and so, I’m taking the Over in here as my Single Dime Play. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 719/720 Over 204.5 @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

NBA Free Premium Play 01/22: Boston Celtics @ Washington Wizards

Boston  at Washington

NBA - 701 Boston Celtics @ 702 Washington Wizards Play #1 Last night, the Celtics accomplished the rare feat of being competitive against an elite team despite being despite shooting 39.3% from the field vs. 51.4% FG from the Heat! Why? You may ask…the answer is pretty obvious: BOS completely owned the Heat on the glass w/ 60.1% rebounding/rate% (w/ a huge 17-7 edge on offensive boards), so they were able to generate extra possessions. However, this was not a surprise because MIA is really an awful rebounding team (that was missing their #3 best rebounder of the team – yes, it is D. Wade!), and more importantly, they were dead tired by playing their 4th game in 5 days. Still, as expected, BOS really couldn’t hit shots from the outside w/ just 5-27 3pts and unfortunately for them, A. Bradley got injured and will miss tonight’s game while after playing 26 minutes last night, I don’t think R. Rondo will play tonight. That will leave BOS with only rookie P. Pressey as their only “true guard” for tonight’s contest. On the other side, WAS will try for the fifth time this season to have a better +0.500 record: “In its four previous chances to eclipse the .500 mark, Washington lost to Detroit twice, along with Milwaukee and Dallas. Three of those games were at home, as will this matchup against a Celtics team that has lost its last 10 road contests.” "Every time we talk about being a .500 team and finally getting over .500, we have teams coming in here and just punking our butts," Gortat said. "We're done with that. We just have to focus on what we need to do to win a game." WAS easily dismantled the 76ers in the last game...although the score may not say it, the game really was never close as WAS was winning 100-79 w/ 6 minutes to go. I expect John Wall to have a tremendous edge vs. a depleted BOS’s backcourt while I really don’t expect a tired BOS frontcourt to grab 60% of all available rebounds vs. a pretty decent defensive rebounding team like WAS – ranked #10 in the league w/ 75.6% def.reb/rate%. My fair line for this contest is the Wizards to be favored by 12 points and therefore, I’m taking them as my Single Dime Play! Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 702 Washington Wizards (-9) @ -105 / 1.95 on Bovada

NBA Free Premium Play 01/10: Washington Wizards @ Indiana Pacers

Washington  at Indiana

NBA - 801 Washington Wizards @ 802 Indiana Pacers Play #4 The Pacers are 12-6 ATS as home favorites this season, and after losing one game, they are a perfect 6-0 ATS so what the hell I’m doing by going against them tonight?! Well, I think that the Wizards can be a competitive “dog” in this contest because the Pacers are in a bit of an offensive slump as of late, and their stellar defense by their own won’t be enough to crush WAS tonight. Now that Danny Granger is finally playing more minutes and being part of the Pacers offensive system… IND is struggling offensively. In L6 games, IND has a subpar avg. 97.7 Offensive Ratings and their A/TO ratio says it all about their offensive problems: 18.5 assists per game vs. 17.0 Turnovers per game. WAS has been rebounding well the ball w/ 54% rebounding/rate% L5 games, they are protecting well the paint by allowing less than 40 ppg in the paint L12 games and they even have the #7 ranked post up defense in the league. These decent numbers are important to “stop” IND’s post-centric offense. The key question for tonight’s game will be the matchup between IND defense vs. WAS offense… First of all, this incredible Pacers defense is forcing their opponents to shoot from the “worst shooting spot” long 2’s zone, and guess who is attempting more FGA’s from that spot? Yes, the Wizards! So we can say that WAS will be perfectly “OK” w/ taking these long range shots. Also, WAS’s “bigs” Gortat & Nene can shot from mid range, so IND’s best rim defense in the league won’t be tested tonight. The first h2h between these two teams ended w/ a 20-pts blowout win by the Pacers but note that WAS was coming from a tough OT game in the previous night AND ESPECIALLY, Nene Hilario & Bradley Beal didn’t play that game and both are nuclear players for the Wizards. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 801 Washington Wizards (+9.5) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

NBA Free Premium Play 01/07: Washington Wizards @ Charlotte Bobcats

Washington  at Charlotte

NBA - 501 Washington Wizards @ 502 Charlotte Bobcats ***FREE Premium Play*** With all their key players healthy, the Wizards are IMO a better team than the Bobcats and I expect them to confirm this on the court tonight. Going to what it matters; the matchup between these two teams is extremely favorable to the Wizards… I’ve watched WAS’s last game against the Warriors as I went w/ OVER in that game, and the Wizards offense played really well until the half time. John Wall was aggressive and he created plenty of good looks for his teammates. Obviously, the Wizards couldn’t stop the Warriors as well, but when GSW is “in the zone”, they are really tough to stop offensively. In the second half, GSW started strong, got some separation just to watch the Wizards missing wide open shot after wide open shot. WAS L3 games went 5-24, 4-12, 6-20 behind the line, but note that they are keep getting “good looks”, they are simply missing those shots. Tonight they will face a Bobcats defense that is predicated to protect the basket but struggles heavily to defend the perimeter. We are dealing w/ #28 ranked 3pts defense in the league, allowing their opponents to shot 37.7%! In L10 games, CHA is allowing 40.4%, so sooner or later, the Wizards shooters will enjoy a decent game, and tonight they have a favorable matchup to explore. On the other side, I think the Wizards defense will be able to slow down Kemba Walker, and with Walker not having a good game, the Bobcats really can’t generate enough offense to be competitive. In the last game against the Kings, Walker dominated the game against a soft perimeter defense that couldn’t protect the basket. Well, WAS is ranked #2 in the league defending Pick n Rolls ball handler plays, and this is the play that CHA NEEDS to be efficient. @SAC, CHA had 1.00 PPP 12-23 FG in P&R BH plays and no wonder they were able to score 113 points. Finally, we are dealing with the Bobcats returning home after a long west coast road trip – physical/mental spot that usually is primed for a letdown. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 501 Washington Wizards (PK) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

NBA Free Premium Play 01/03: Toronto Raptors @ Washington Wizards

Toronto  at Washington

NBA - 801 Toronto Raptors @ 802 Washington Wizards Play #2 Both the Raptors and the Wizards are playing better as of late, especially the Raptors since they traded Rudy Gay to Sacramento. I think we are dealing with an undervalued totals line as I have the game handicapped @ 197 points so we have some good edge w/ the OVER IMO. TOR has won their last 4 games while showing a terrific defense alongside w/ a much improved offensive ball movement. However note that two of those games were against the shorthanded Knicks, while the L2 games were against two post-centric teams in the Bulls & Pacers. TOR interior defense has been great w/ just 39.6 points in the paint allowed L10 games and they did a good job vs CHI & IND. The same thing cannot be said about their perimeter defense as they have allowed 42.6% 3pts L10 games (ranked #25 in the league) or 24.4% in L5 games (ranked #24 in the league). This can be problematic against a Wizards’ team that is one of the best 3pts shooting teams in the league. Curiously, the Wizards are coming from one of the worst offensive performances of the season in their last game against DAL. I don’t know if the fact that it was the first game of this new year + early start 6PM EST was a major factor on such bad shooting but the truth is that both teams couldn’t make a three pointer to save their lives: DAL went 11-38 FG from +16feet while WAS went 9-39 FG – a putrid 23% mark! Wall, Beal, Ariza and Webster combined to shoot 5-24 behind the line! I expect the Wizards to be bounce back offensively tonight… On the other side, the Raptors are now sharing the ball and playing unselfish basketball (few teams can say that they dished 27 assists against the Pacers!). The ISO-ball is now gone and the team is now running more Pick n Rolls and feeding their big men on the post. WAS defense is over-switching and making several defensive mistakes on the rotations and I think that TOR w/ their good ball movement will take advantage of that. The first h2h between these two teams ended up with 184 points w/ both teams combining to hit just 11-35 3pts (31.4%) and committing 30 TO’s. I expect tonight’s game to have a good tempo while both teams will put on the court their improved offensive chemistry. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 801/802 Over 192.5 @ -110 / 1.91 on 5 Dimes

NBA Free Premium Play 12/30: Washington Wizards @ Detroit Pistons

Washington  at Detroit

NBA - 701 Washington Wizards @ 702 Detroit Pistons Plays #1 & 2 Washington will always be a tough match up for Detroit due to the fact that they are a decent team in protecting the basket, while they have been a good jump shooting team on offense, an area where Detroit's defense struggles. This was basically what happened on the last game between these two teams. The Pistons's front court was well defended with Greg Monroe shooting just 6-9 FG and even though he was efficient, he could just attempt nine shots. Andre Drummond shot just 2-5 FG, while Josh Smith shot 2-7 FG, before being benched on the second half. The Pistons as a team ended that game with just 1-4 FG on post up plays, so they would need a great outside shooting game to be competitive, but they were horrible with 7-38 FG from +10 feet shots for a horrible 18%! On the other hand, the Wizards's offense took advantage of Detroit's bad team help defense on the perimeter. John Wall was aggressive and assisted help his teammates to help his team to end the game with a great 34 assists mark, something that help them ending the game with a nice 9-19 3pts! The Wizards also had a surprising edge on the boards battle and everything was very easy for them. For tonight's game, both teams aren't on a back to back spot and the match up edge will be the same for the Wizards. Of course Detroit will come more aggressive this time around and they'll win the boards battle, but the rest is maintained for this game, so I believe the Wizards have great value as underdogs tonight. I also believe both teams will have good offensive outcomes in here tonight, so I'll be taking both the Wizards and the Over on this contest. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 701/702 Over 202,5 @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 701 Washington Wizards (+3) @ -115 / 1.87 on Bovada

NBA Free Premium Play 12/02: Orlando Magic @ Washington Wizards

Orlando  at Washington

NBA - 701 Orlando Magic @ 702 Washington Wizards Play #2 Nene Hilario returned to the team and of course, with that Washington's offense improved big time once again. The Wizards had just scored 73 points at Indiana the night before without him, but with Nene back in the lineup, the Wizards had a great offensive game against Atlanta. Their pick and rolls, spot ups and transitions worked well, but then their starters were on the floor for a very heavy number of minutes! On the other side, Orlando didn't stand a chance against San Antonio, even though they were playing without Tony Parker. The Spurs' depth and confidence were the key for this game, besides the fact that Tim Duncan had finally a big game with 8-13 FG, 3-3 FT, 19 points and 9 rebounds in 23 minutes, while also stopping Nikola Vucevic, who had just 4-12 FG and 8 turnovers! In fact, Orlando ended the game with 0-7 FG on post ups, which shows the Magic's inability to score near the basket against the Spurs' elite rim defense. On the other hand, the Magic's perimeter shooting was at a nice level, but that wasn't enough to beat the Spurs. For tonight's game, I believe Orlando will be more competitive because Washington's interior defense has nothing to do with the Spurs. If San Antonio is allowing 57% FG at the rim and 38.5% FG from 4-9 feet, Washington is allowing 64% FG and 43% FG in those areas! Another important factor has to do with the bench. If the Magic hang around with the Spurs' starters and only San Antonio's bench outplayed them, things will be different with Washington's poor bench, who won't outplay anybody. Therefore, I expect a close game in here and so, I'll be taking the Magic tonight. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 701 Orlando Magic (+7) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

NBA Free Premium Play 11/23: New York Knicks @ Washington Wizards

New York  at Washington

NBA - 705 New York Knicks @ 706 Washington Wizards Play #4 Washington lost yesterday's game at Toronto once again because of their bench, as their starters had all positive team +/- numbers, excluding Bradley Beal. Toronto had an expected edge against the Wizards' poor interior defense with 20-29 FG at the rim and 50 points in the paint. On the other hand, John Wall had a big game and that seemed to make him forget about sharing the basketball, as Washington had just 17 assists during the whole game. This won't be an easy spot for the Wizards, as all their starters are playing super heavy minutes and this will be their fourth game in five days. A physical letdown seems inevitable in my opinion, as their second unit is terrible as seen on last night's second quarter. On the other side, the Knicks are coming from their best of the season so far at home against Indiana. They only didn't beat the Pacers due to a late foul of Iman Shumpert on Paul George. The Knicks even rebounded well with Kenyon Martin and Andrea Bargnani on the frontcourt! Washington is a decent matchup for the Knicks, as John Wall isn't normally a great outside shooter and this will give some rest to the Knicks' guards. With the Wizards being on a poor spot with no bench against the rested Knicks, I expect the NY team to take advantage of that for a good win tonight. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 705 New York Knicks (+2) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

NBA Free Premium Play 11/03: Washington Wizards @ Miami Heat

Washington  at Miami

NBA - 703 Washington Wizards @ 704 Miami Heat Play #2 Washington is coming from a poor home loss against Philadelphia, thanks to a meltdown late in the game. Of course their head coach Randy Wittman wasn't happy with that: "Well, you tell me what you thought the problem was. You watched the game. Commitment to f***ing playing defense" said Randy Wittman. The Wizards were crushed by Detroit's frontcourt on their season debut and then they thought that they could outgun the Sixers on a complete wild run and gun game that ended with a ridiculous pace factor of 103! Washington led most of the game, but then allowed a 17-4 run, something that made them nervous and unable to control the game down the stretch. Worse than that, Washington is currently dealing with several injury problems. Nene Hilario is a game time decision with a calf injury, John Wall is struggling with back spasms and Marcin Gortat is still adjusting to his new team's schemes. But after the coach's rant after their last game, I expect Washington to try to make a bigger defensive effort today, even though it's never easy to do that against Miami. Curiously, Miami is coming from two games where they played lazy defense as well. Their game at Philadelphia was similar to the game that the Wizards had against the Sixers, where Miami's had a super lazy defensive commitment, as they thought that they would outgun Philadelphia. Then against Brooklyn, Miami simply couldn't fight against Brooklyn's huge size edge and grabbed just 44.8% of the rebounds! This won't happen tonight and with the Heat's usual defensive pressure on the ball handler, I believe that John Wall (if he plays) and the rest of the Wizards' offense will struggle to be efficient, as Miami will certainly show good effort on defense after two losses in a row. So, this will be a game between two teams that will be looking to make a defensive bounce back. Curiously, they have decent matchups to do that in here. Washington's lack of interior size won't be explored by Miami's undersized lineup, while this lack of size from the Wizards will actually be beneficial to defend Miami. I expect a relatively low scoring game in here and so, I'll be taking the Under in here. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 703/704 Under 199,5 @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

Washington Wizards NBA Team Season Preview 2013-14

WASHINGTON WIZARDS

Season Review 2012/13:

Advanced Stats
	Numbers	Rank
Pace	92.2	14
Offense	100.2	30
Defense	103.0	5
Rebound	49.6	20

4 Factors
Offense	Numbers	Rank	Defense	Numbers	Rank
eFG%	47.5	25	eFG%	48.3	7
TO%	14.2	24	TO%	13.7	14
Reb%	24.6	25	Reb%	25.4	5
FT%	19.1	25	FT%	20.6	17

Monthly Performance
	Record	OffRtg	DefRtg
November	1-13	96.7	106.6
December	3-11	96.5	105.1
January	7-9	102.9	102.6
February	7-5	104.1	102.3
March	9-8	108.0	105.5
April	2-7	102.6	107.6

The Washington Wizards were one of the rare teams in league history that even though had a Top 10 defense couldn’t avoid having a poor record of 29-53. Of course this was possible due to their incredible bad offense that was dead last in the league in offense efficiency. However, we are in front of a team that had two different faces last season and forces us to go deeper on their season analysis to check two different periods: with and without John Wall on court.

John Wall Impact
Wizards	Games	Record	OffRtg	DefRtg
With	49	24-25	105.4	103.8
Without	33	5-28	96.9	106.3

The Wizards started the season without John Wall and Nene Hilario, as they were both injured. Due to their lack of depth, it would be very hard for the team to be competitive on their first games of the season and they confirmed that by losing their first 12 games of the season. Washington needed Bradley Beal to have a quick adaptation to the league on his rookie season, but the opposite happened with Beal shooting 34% and 37% FG on the first two months of the season. So, the Wizards just didn’t have any reliable weapon on offense that could give them points in a consistent way.

Eventually, everything changed as soon as John Wall returned to the competition. If it wasn’t for the six losses in a row at the end of the season when the Wizards tanked to have a high draft pick, Washington would have had a winning record with a healthy John Wall on a sample of almost 50 games. They dramatically improved on offense from a 96.6 offensive rating into a 105.4 rating with Wall as the team’s playmaker. More than solving games on his own, Wall gave more confidence to his teammates and this was clear especially on Bradley Beal, who stopped being pressured to lead the backcourt unit. Before getting injured, Beal had two great months of February and March, where he shot 48% FG and a remarkable 42% and 54% from behind the line!

It’s hard to make predictions, but if John Wall had remained healthy during the whole season and having in account the Wizards’ great defense all season long, they would have possibly fought for a playoff spot. Record wise, last season was another “lost season” for the Wizards with a terrible record, but this time the organization must be happy with what they saw last season. 

Offseason Report:

As they had once again one of the worst records in the league, the Wizards got the #3 overall pick in the draft and picked SF Otto Porter. Besides Porter, the organization believes that they only need their best players to be healthy in order to be competitive, so they didn’t make a lot of changes on their roster.

Eric Maynor who was a nice role player in Oklahoma City before suffering a serious injury will be Wall’s primary backup. After having possibly the best season of his career, the Wizards agreed to terms with Martell Webster on a four-year, $22 million contract.

For the frontcourt, the Wizards added the veteran Al Harrington to the roster, while preferring to keep the main core of players from last season.

NBA Premium Play 04/17: Washington Wizards @ Chicago Bulls

NBA - 507 Washington Wizards @ 508 Chicago Bulls

Projected Line: Chicago by 12 points

Chicago has Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson back for tonight's game and we all know how Coach Thibodeau is. He will want everybody to be focused tonight and he will even test some rotations for the playoffs on this contest. The ultimate proof of that is the fact that Chicago crushed Cleveland by 107-75 on the last game of last year's regular season, even though the Bulls had the #1 seed in the East locked. This time, Chicago needs to win tonight to secure the #5 seed and I expect that to happen.

Washington won't use Nene Hilario, Bradley Beal, Trevor Ariza, Martell Webster and Emeka Okafor tonight, therefore they will be super shorthanded and without great talent available. The Wizards are tired with Detroit with 29 wins, so I also expect them to be on tank mode tonight. Washington had a nice run during the Spring, but they have lost their last five games, on a clear sign that they've lost their focus at the end of this regular season. I expect a blowout win for the Bulls tonight and so, I'll be taking them in here.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 508 Chicago Bulls (-8,5) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker