The Atlanta Hawks did what most sportsbook cappers expected on Sunday - they clinched a playoff spot. While the win was considered a foregone conclusion by most fans and pundits, Atlanta’s playoff hopes and expectations continue. The Spurs led the Hawks by 14 points in the first half on Sunday, shooting 51% from the floor. Atlanta, for their part, shot 47% and 23/28 from the line in their comeback effort. The overtime win shows once again that Atlanta is a team that can get it done when it counts, and are not a team discouraged by adversity. This win, as well as their 93-92 overtime win on Friday against Charlotte show a dangerous team, ready for the playoffs.

San Antonio is in for a rough week - after narrowly defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night, the Spurs look to take on the Lakers on at home on Wednesday, and then test themselves against the best team in the league at present - Cleveland’s Cavaliers. Afterward, they hit the road to take on the Celtics and Nets Sunday and Monday. Things looked disastrous for the Spurs early on Monday, but the team was able to overcome an early deficit, as well as Kevin Durant’s blistering 45 points, revealing a disturbing trend for the Thunder - they are blowing big leads and playing bad defense. San Antonio needs to build on this new momentum and bring confidence into their games later in the week. Book per head bettors know that wins against the favored Lakers and Cavs would mean much to San Antonio at this point in the season.

Online betting players are anxious to see how the Denver Nuggets handle the stretch run as their coach, George Karl, will be off and on the bench due to his cancer treatments. Will they be able to stay in the race for the No.2 seed, or possibly catch the Lakers at the top of the West?

The Nuggets should be fine without Karl, although we’re sure that their minds will be with him when he’s not on the bench. Karl just missed four games, and the Nuggets went 3-1, winning in Minnesota, New Orleans and Memphis before losing a game late in Houston, and the Nuggets have enough veteran leadership that things shouldn’t change much without Karl. Chauncey Billups is the on-the-floor leader, and Carmelo Anthony isn’t the petulant kid he once was. Even J.R. Smith has improved his shot selection by leaps and bounds, and the Denver bench is still strong.

It’s funny to talk about how the Nuggets could miss Karl, when before last year, it looked like he or Anthony was going to be shipped out of town. Bringing in Billups definitely helped to bridge the gap on the Nuggets, and if anything, Denver will probably use this to inspire them throughout the season. Everyone knows that Karl is brave for putting on the face he has, and the Nuggets appreciate him even making the effort to be there, which means that anything less than 100% effort isn’t fair to the team, or Karl, who at least now has time to fill out his March Madness bracket contest.

The National Basketball Association named its Player of the Week awards yesterday.

Milwaukee Bucks’ center Andrew Bogut was named the top player in the Eastern conference. The Western conference winner was Brandon Roy of the Portland Trail Blazers, with the awards announced right before college basketball betting peaks.

Bogut has been great all season, a key part of the Bucks’ resurgence in the east. The star center was at his best this week, averaging over a double-double, and scoring 19.3 points per game while grabbing 13.7 rebounds, and registering a league-high 3.67 blocks. His phenomenal play has helped Milwaukee win six straight to reach the fifth spot in the east. Bogut beat out Stephen Jackson of Charlotte, whom online betting cappers have also seen win six in a row, Lebron James, and Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic.

Roy was recognized for his incredible 56.0 percent shooting mark for the week, which gave him an average of 27.0 points per game for the week. His outstanding play has led to four straight, and has pushed the Blazers in to the eighth and final playoff spot in the west. Portland is now five games up on ninth place Memphis with just 13 games left to play, and barring a major letdown to close the season, will secure a postseason berth. Roy beat out Houston’s Louis Scola, Phoenix’s Amare Stoudamire, and San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili for the award.

A hot team loses their star, and things can fall apart. A team loses three of their most important players, and even the most hard-nosed critic can be forgiving of a poor performance under such conditions.

The Cavaliers proved that it would take way more than that to stop them, sending a chill down the spine of all potential opponents for the remainder of the regular season, and into the playoffs. The Cavs were without LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal and Antawn Jamison, but Delonte West and Mo Williams just looked at it as an opportunity to flex. While the Cavs are seen by most as a team with some depth, the shine of LeBron James’ star often conceals the team’s actual prowess. It did not help matters that Cleveland had been 0-9 since 2007-2008 without James. Still, Cleveland showed San Antonio just what they had to offer on Monday night, and the potential finals between the Lakers and the Cavs that most sports book odds makers have been predicting all season suddenly seems a little more interesting. The Lakers are in need of something - anything - to stop the three game losing streak they’re currently riding. While the Lakers are not staring down the barrel of a gun just yet, the team needs to turn things around if for no other reason than to silence critics. If a demoralized team is faced with an unexpected injury or other unpleasant surprise, the Lakers could be deprived of the title most have expected them to take all season.

It’s not quite the NHL trade deadline, but there’s still some excitement for Thursday’s weekly doubleheader in the NBA on TNT. Two of the league’s biggest superstars will do battle in Florida, while there should be a shootout in the desert in the late game.

Lakers vs Heat odds – Thursday, March 4, 8:00 PM ET

The Heat should be favored at home, and even though they’ve dropped five of their last six against the Lakers overall, the Heat have beaten the Lakers in four of the last five meetings in Miami. The first meeting came on December 4^th, when Kobe Bryant hit a three-point bank shot over Dwyane Wade to give the Lakers a 108-107 win in Los Angeles. Bryant is a little than fresher than Wade, who came back from a calf injury two games ago, and the Heat supporting cast isn’t much better than a college team, even at home. They won’t keep it that close with the Lakers again.

Jazz vs Suns odds – Thursday, March 4, 10:30 PM ET

The Suns should be favored at home, where they are 23-7. They’ll be out to avenge a 124-115 loss in Utah on January 25^th, in which Andrei Kirilenko went for 25 points, while Carlos Boozer dominated his matchup with Amare Stoudamire, going for 21 points and 20 boards while Stoudamire had just 16 and five rebounds. The Jazz did lose in Los Angeles to the Clippers on Monday, but the Suns will be in Los Angeles on Wednesday, so the Jazz will be rested, and we all know that the Suns just ended an 18-game losing streak on TNT with a win over Dallas on January. Take Utah for the upset on the road.

Every year there is at least one college basketball player that gains recognition as being above the rest.

This year, that player is Kentucky’s John Wall.

When the number two-ranked Wildcats travel to number thirteen-ranked Tennessee this Saturday, the nation’s most highly touted player will attempt to lead his team to its eighth straight victory. A win would also mean a perfect February for Kentucky. Wall is a big reason why the college basketball odds are in its favor.

Wall has it all. Strength, speed, hops, and a smooth stroke from mid range are a few of the wide variety of attributes in the freshman’s arsenal. His transition game and driving ability have helped him to record an average of 16.8 points, 6.3 assists, and four rebounds per game in leading Kentucky to 27 wins in 28 games this season.

The Wildcats will face a Tennessee team attempting to bounce back from a loss to Florida that pushed them one game back of the Gators in both conference play and overall.

Head coach Bruce Pearl’s Volunteers have done an excellent job remaining competitive in the SEC East. Many critics had Tennessee written off after the school suspended four players, including the dismissal of forward Tyler Smith, but the team has persevered. Injuries, in addition to the aforementioned changes have forced Pearl to change the way his team plays, a task the fifth-year coach of the Volunteers has proven capable of handling.

This will be the final of two games these teams will play against one another this season. Kentucky took the first at home, 73-62 on Feb. 13.

Defending not only one of the best players in the country, but one of the top teams in the nation will be a monumental task for Tennessee. But the Volunteers have experienced adversity, and that adversity has prepared them for the task at hand.

The NBA trade deadline has passed, with much excitement and fanfare, but few teams have seemed to make major moves to make a run in this years playoffs. Instead, many teams made moves that set up a very interesting offseason gearing up for the fall of 2010. Clubs moved players this past week to save cap room in the hopes of landing the top free agents. One of which, of course, is Lebron James.

The Knicks, Bulls, Heat, Clippers, Nets, and Wizards all cleared enough cap room and are all possible destinations for the most desirable player in the league. Even with these teams making the necessary financial changes, it doesn’t mean King James will end up in any of those cities.

Failing to get James leaves clubs with less desirable, though still stellar acquisitions. Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, and Joe Johnson would be great additions to any teams. However, in the shadow of Lebron James, the face of the NBA, a player who raises ticket sales and can sell anything, these players will seem a disappointment.

The Phoenix Suns, on the other hand, failed to move Amare Stoudemire, and now risk losing him in the offseason as a free agent and getting nothing in return.

The NBA has become a league with a staggering lack of parity. The Cavs and Celtics made moves for depth that should help their push. But the teams that already have, simply have more, and those that don’t are planning simply for the offseason. The Trailblazers filled in their injury problems by getting Marcus Camby, and the Bucks picked up John Salmons. These two teams, however, sit on the cusp of the playoffs, and should they get in, and they may have only four games against the top ranked team.

It is shaping up to be an offseason with a incredibly amount of money changing hands, and some of the best players moving cities. With James likely moving, parity may be back in the league as his new team will be among the favorites to take home a title. In the meantime, there is still lots to look forward to as the NBA heads for the final stretch. Continue to monitor the games and check out the latest NBA odds to stay up to date and be successful.

Even though Kobe Bryant is questionable to play when Los Angeles hosts the Boston Celtics on Thursday, sportsbook makers know the Lakers should roll to victory.

The huge rivalry game might be without Kobe after he sat out the game against Golden State on Tuesday, seeing as the Lakers do not play until February 23 to give him almost an extra week to heal. He has now missed four games in an attempt to rest his injured ankle but the team has not missed a step with him out of the line-up. Andrew Bynum is expected back in the line-up.

The Lakers have been cruising without their star, winning four straight against Portland, San Antonio, Utah and Golden state by an average of 13.5 points and none by single digits. Los Angeles has also won nine of its past 11 as they sit six games clear of the Denver Nuggets to lead the Western Conference.

Boston has struggled as of late, losing two going into the All Star break and then had to hold off a late run by the Kings for a 95-92 win over lowly Sacramento (18-35). The Celtics lost their previous matchup with the Lakers in Boston and have not beaten a top four team since Christmas Day.

The Celtics have also only broken 100 points once in their last 14 games, and going up against a Lakers team that averages over 103 points a game, Boston just does not have the offensive firepower to keep up with the Lakers.

Los Angeles should move farther ahead of the Nuggets, who are in tough with a matchup against league leading Cleveland Cavaliers, while the Celtics will lose ground on idle Atlanta and are in danger of slipping out of home court advantage; if they continue with their poor play.