- Despite winning the NBA Championship, the Denver Nuggets scratched out only a small profit.
- The Philadelphia 76ers were the only team to bank double digit unit profits.
- Nine NBA teams finished the 2022-2023 season ‘in the black’.
The Philadelphia 76ers were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the Conference Semifinals but they were winners where it really counted. The Sixers were the only NBA team to finish with a double digit unit profit, banking +12.2 units for their financial backers. Only nine teams managed to eke out a profit at all.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (+12.2 UNITS)
Joel Embiid won the NBA Most Valuable Player award for the first time in his career, but couldn’t lead his team past the Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals. After dispatching the dysfunctional Brooklyn Nets in four straight, the Sixers scrapped all the way to Game 7 before succumbing to the Celtics. Head Coach Doc Rivers took the fall for the substandard playoff performance as he was fired on May 16, 2023. Philadelphia was one of the top defensive teams in the league during the regular season allowing 110.9 PPG for third best scoring defense.
UTAH JAZZ (+9.7 UNITS)
If there’s one formula for pointspread success in any sport it’s lowered expectations with decent (or at least better than expected) performance. Utah send Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell packing before the season and although the team finished 37-45 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016 they were reasonably competitive on most nights. They did a lot of their ATS damage during a season opening run of 10-3, but slumped back to mediocrity the rest of the way.
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (+8.5 UNITS)
The Thunder also worked the low expectation/decent performance rubric to perfection in 2022-2023. OKC managed to finish the regular season with a 41-43 SU/47-35-2 ATS mark–not bad for a team that went 24-58 SU the year before. The real irony is that they were a great ATS team a year ago, cashing at a 61% clip as they amassed +14.9 units of profit. Only Memphis made more money for bettors in 2021-2022.
