Joomla 1.5 Template By Youjoomla.com

When the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat in the NBA finals a year ago, they truly were a team that had all of the qualities it takes to become a championship team. The dominant superstar with the potential to go off and take over a game in Dirk Nowitzki, a solid defensive core with Tyson Chandler, Shawn Marion, and DeShawn Stevenson, secondary scoring off the bench in Jason Terry and JJ Barea, and veteran leadership from Jason Kidd and head coach Rick Carlisle. Dallas was unstoppable in the playoffs because it had all of the elements that make up a championship team, and there aren’t many best online sportsbook candidates this season that have them all.

The Heat appear to be a little closer to that NBA championship level this season, but the jury is still out and whether Lebron James and Dwayne Wade can co-exist when the game is on the line, and if Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers can provide the secondary scoring if they meet a team like the Oklahoma City Thunder in the finals. The Thunder perhaps are the online sports betting candidate that is closer to having all aspects of a championship team,  with Kevin Durant flanked by Russell Westbrook and James Harden, with strong defensive players like Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins, and veteran leadership from Derek Fisher. Oklahoma City can be a dominant team at both ends of the floor, and if they can handle the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers in the Western conference, they should be able to get the job done in the finals against a talented Miami team.

When it comes to the NBA, forget about whatever sports betting trends that you followed during the regular season because the sooner that you can admit the playoffs are a different animal the sooner you can increase your chances for success. The postseason is where the true contenders separate themselves from the pretenders, and while a lot of what goes down is based on the matchups that teams face, there is a certain list of criteria that every NBA championship team needs to have in order to win.

The same way that it is important to have a strong inside-outside presence at the college level, it is also true that in the NBA championship teams need to have those threats. No matter how good a team is as far as shooting numbers, they still need an inside presence to rebound and do the dirty work down low at both ends of the floor. The Los Angeles Lakers capitalized on that betting formula for years with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol working down low while Kobe Bryant shot the lights out, and it’s hard to imagine that the Dallas Mavericks would beat the Miami Heat in last year’s NBA finals if Dirk Nowitzki and company didn’t have Tyson Chandler battling underneath the rim and doing whatever it took to win. A solid combination of size and perimeter scoring are the two most important keys to winning a championship at the NBA level, with quality depth and the ability to hit the three-ball two of the more important secondary characteristics every title team must have.

With the baseball betting season getting underway, the NBA season is winding down and now comes the best time of the year for pro hoops’ fans, with the playoffs just around the corner. Unlike the NFL or NHL where there are at least a dozen teams with legitimate championship aspirations at the beginning of every year, the NBA is limited to a small group of contenders that reside at the top of the basketball pyramid. The Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, and San Antonio Spurs are all at the forefront right now in terms of sports betting conversation on legitimate contenders, with the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Dallas Mavericks on the short list of secondary teams that are strong but not good enough to compete for a title this year.

When it comes to breaking down the Final Four of the Thunder, Bulls, Heat, and Spurs, the one team that stands out as having the best pay head chance is the Thunder, which have the strongest mix of youth and depth. There is no denying that Kevin Durant is among the top offensive superstars in the association, but with Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Serge Ibaka, and Kendrick Perkins, Oklahoma City is absolutely loaded with talent. With the exception of Perkins, the majority of the Thunder’s talent is young and in its prime, and if they can build on the experience they gained on last year’s postseason run, they should be on their way to the franchise’s first NBA title.

There may not be another sport where the opening round of the playoffs is as lopsided as it is in the NBA, and that includes the March Madness betting. At least when it came to the NCAA national title tournament we were surprised by a No. 15 seed in Leheigh upsetting a No. 2 seed in Duke among others, but when it comes to the NBA, no such thing is going to happen. Rarely does a lower seed knock off a higher seed in the NBA playoffs, so the first thing to remember when playing the opening round is to feel comfortable playing the Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, and Oklahoma City Thunder.

Once you have made a pretty profit in the opening round playing the favorites, things will begin to get interesting, as more of the favorites match up against one another as they fight to get to the NBA finals. In a lockout shortened season that has been so condensed, the average age factor will continue to be a factor, as the Thunder and Bulls continue to hold that edge of having fresh young legs and a ton of depth. Whether or not teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers can be as dominant as they have been in past years is something only time will tell, so be patient and see what they bring to the table before playing them on the pay head bookies odds. Clutch players like Dwayne Wade, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Durant all have the ability to take over games, and when those three are playing at home, the odds should be in their favor unless it’s a lopsided matchup that not even they are expected to overcome.