Weekend update: NBA betting news and notes

Covers Expert Matt Fargo takes a look at the NBA schedule this weekend and pulls out important matchups, injuries, news, notes and betting trends from around the league.

Portland will be playing its first home game on Friday against the Spurs. The Blazers will be without the services of Greg Oden who is out 2-4 weeks with a sprained foot. Joel Przybilla will start for the Blazers at center against San Antonio after he finished with four points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes against the Lakers. Portland was a dismal 34.5 percent from the floor in Tuesday’s game and now faces a team it hasn’t beaten in its last 12 chances.

Speaking of the Lakers, they are making an early case to repeat as Western Conference champs. They won their first two games by 20 and 38 points easily covering the spread in both contests. They play their first game away from Staples Center and travel to Colorado to face Nuggets on Saturday. Carmelo Anthony’s two-game suspension ends Friday, so he’ll be back in Denver’s lineup for the matchup against the Lakers.

The Celtics pulled up their 17th championship banner on opening night and came away with a five-point win against the Cavaliers. They remain home Friday to take on the Bulls who rolled over Milwaukee in their opener. Chicago showed a new-look lineup with both Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon coming off the bench making way for Derrick Rose and Thabo Sefolosha. Boston fared well against last year’s Bulls going 4-0 SU and ATS.

Mike D’Antoni had a successful debut in New York after his Knicks held off a ferocious Miami rally to win by five. His run-and-gun style was in play as New York piled up 120 points and built a 23-point lead in the third quarter. Next up is a trip to Philadelphia to face a Sixers team that lost its home opener to Toronto and spoiled the debut of Elton Brand. The home team has won and covered seven of the last nine games.

The Thunder’s first-ever game did not go as the relocated franchise had hoped after the Bucks walked out with a 98-87 victory. They play the Rockets on Saturday at Houston - the first of 11 November games against playoff teams from last season. Going back to last year, the Thunder have lost 24 of their last 29 games and they have defeated only two playoff teams since last February. Look for this rebuilding team to continue to struggle during a tough stretch in its schedule.

Milwaukee bounced back from a loss to the Bulls to take out Oklahoma City evening its record at on the road at 1-1. The Bucks are now one-seventh of the way to matching their road-win total from last season after they went 7-34, tied for the second worst in the league. They take on the Knicks on Sunday in New York where they have lost three straight, last winning there in April, 2006.