Improve your chances - look at the upcoming schedule

  Basketball coaches and the players look at the up coming schedule to see the opponents they will be playing. Let us say an average team is on the road and has 5 games in 8 days. That is an energy zapper and it is likely the coach will at least on a subconscious level pick and choose the games he thinks are the best for him to win. If  he is playing 2 teams that win 70% or more of their games , another average team and  2 losing teams it would not be surprising that he has his focus on  the latter 3  games. It is not that they want to lose to the better team, it is rather they are looking to win 3 of the road games and pick and choose their best chances. Making the playoffs is everything. On the other hand  a really good team playing the same schedule of 5 road games in 8 days may be playing 2 really good teams , 2 average teams ,and a bad team. Would it be surprising that the least amount of effort used would be on a team like Okla City. They might be saving their energy for another day. Okla City has been a monster this year covering double digit spreads. Teams on the road playing them are often coming from or going to Texas where all 3 teams are good and the coach uses the Oklahoma game as a" resting game", playing just good enough not to cover. I am sure many teams are capable of beating them by more but are preserving their energy. Okla City has been a super 2nd half play when far behind in the first half. Opponents are on cruise control often times when his happens. This is a pattern that is likely to continue.

  Look for games coming up in the schedule and see if you can detect useful information from it and devope some patterns. I always like when a team is playing a series of good teams or in the other direction playing only average to not so good teams. Cleveland won 11 straight pointspreads just recently, partly because they had an easy schedule in that period. Later this year they will have a pocket of 5 games against some good teams. I think that the hottest point spread team in the NBA will lose at least 2 of these games to the spread if not 3. The future schedule can be you friend if you pay attention to it.