Division titles aren’t really the thing that a lot of people concentrate on when they look at the NBA playoff picture. And you know what? They shouldn’t. It used to be that the team that won a division was guaranteed a top-three seed in the playoffs, which later changed to a top-four seed.
But as far as we can tell, that has now been changed to the point where winning your NBA division means nothing.
So why have divisions at all? Why not just list the 15 teams in each conference and the standings allowing for the top eight teams (well, top ten this year) to advance into the playoff format?
My response – yeah, why not?
Current Southeast Division Standings (April 9th 2021)
The truth is, a division “Champion” has its most meaning for the sports bettor, because you can actually place a wager on who is going to win. In the Southeast Division, these were the standings going into Friday’s action:
Charlotte Hornets 26-24
Atlanta Hawks 27-25
Miami Heat 27-25
Washington Wizards 18-32
Orlando Magic 17-34
As you can see, it is hard to imagine it being any tighter. In fact, it is what is known as a “virtual tie,” with Charlotte holding a lead by one tenth of one percentage point, with a .520 winning percentage, followed by the other two teams at .519.
Odds to Win the 2021 NBA Southeast Division
But here’s what’s interesting – at 1Vice.ag, it doesn’t look very even at all:
Miami Heat -150
Atlanta Hawks +115
Charlotte Hornets +550
With about 20-22 games left, it would appear that the value at the moment would lie with the Charlotte Hornets. Of course, there is some perception at work here; Charlotte had to wave goodbye to rookie point guard LaMelo Ball, who had to undergo wrist surgery.
Ball has had a good season, and when he became a member of the starting lineup this team seemed to start heading in a more positive direction. Actually, the Hornets were 11-10 with him as a starter, losing their last three. Since he’s been sidelined, the team has gone 6-4.
The Hornets are at least deep enough at this point to be able to survive the injury, because they have some other scoring options like Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward, in addition to a guy who can dish a little in Devonte Graham. But they miss Ball, who was averaging 15.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.1 assists, and had, in the opinion of many, done enough already to clinch the Rookie of the year award (he is currently priced at +185 for the award).
This, from the Hoops Hype site:
“Ball leads all rookies in several catch-all metrics including Player Efficiency Rating (PER), Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) and Box Plus-Minus (BPM). Meanwhile, his score on ESPN’s Real Plus-Minus Wins (RPM Wins) sits nearly twice as high as the next-best rookie.”
NBA Point Spread Betting Lines
The potentially good news is that Ball may be able to come back and play this season. General manager Mitch Kupchak has said that Ball gets his wrist re-evaluated on April 20, and more will be known then. So there’s a chance he returns, although Kupchak stressed that the team won’t put his health unnecessarily at risk.
The perception about the Miami Heat is that they have put together kind of a “Big Three” thing with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Victor Oladipo. And they look very much like a team that might get a lot tighter in the playoffs. But for the regular season and the division “title”? Hmmm, we’re not sure.
There was a lot of alarm on Thursday night against the Lakers when Oladipo came down the wrong way after a rebound and tweaked his knee. As of right here and right now, we’re not certain what we’re looking at, although we know that a healthy Oladipo goes a long way toward completing the picture for the Heat.
But not enough for us to come off a rather advantageous price with Michael Jordan’s Hornets.
