There are not many of you out there that thought when Gilbert Arenas went down that the 2008 Washington Wizards NBA betting would turn out to be a profitable venture. The truth of the matter is that when a team loses their star player, then the rest of the squad normally rallies for a few games before losing their confidence and falling from grace. Well, Arenas was lost until March with a knee injury, but the Wizards are hanging around just under the top tier of teams in the East with a 20-16 SU & 23-13 ATS mark. Online sportsbook SportsBetting.com has the Washington Wizards as 60 to 1 long shots to win the 2008 NBA Championship. This is exactly the same as the team's record last year through 36 games when Arenas was around carrying the load.
So how is Washington getting the job done? The biggest reason for their success is the rise of Caron Butler to the top of the league's elite. This guy is dominating the small forward position like few others right now, averaging a career best 21.6 ppg, seven boards, 4.4 assists, and 2.3 steals. That makes him second in the league among small forwards when it comes to rebounding and third overall in steals. Oh, and there are only two other players who are hitting the 20-7-4 mark in points, rebounds, and assists and they go by LeBron James and Kevin Garnett. Not bad company at all for Washington's new leader.
Another reason this team has stepped up their play in 2007-08 is that they are actually playing defense. This used to be a soft, run-and-gun kind of team that is now getting the job done down low. The Wizards are 11th in points allowed with 96.5 ppg given up, but that is significant improvement over last year's team that allowed 104.9 ppg and was third-worst in the NBA. The key to their recent two wins against Boston was defense, as they held the Celtics to under 90 points in each of those back-to-back wins. Butler is tough on defense, but the loss of Arenas has put Antonio Daniels at the point, and he is a significant improvement over the offensive-minded Agent Zero.
We also think having Arenas out of the lineup has given these guys a chance to work more as a unit. When Arenas was running the point he would frequently dribble down the floor only to hoist up shots without a single pass. His teammates would start watching instead of actively running the offense, but with Daniels at the point there is a lot more passing and a lot less shooting going on from the main ball-handler.
Can the Wizards keep this up? We think so, but what is going to happen when Arenas gets thrown back in the mix and expects to go back to the run-and-gun offense when the team has played so well focusing on a balanced attack? With odds on the Washington Wizards to win the NBA East Division posted at 25 to 1 at SportsBetting.com, it should be interesting to watch.
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Washington Wizards Betting Trends:
The Wizards are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games.
Washington is 18-10 ATS without Arenas in the lineup.
Washington is 13-4 ATS in their last 17 games as a favorite.
The Wizards are 19-8 ATS in their last 27 games on the road.
Washington is 18-5 ATS when they score more than 100 points.
