The NBA All-Star game has yet to be played, but the first half of the regular season for the NBA is in the books with the majority of teams having played between 45 and 50 games.
Before the season began, odds makers released their futures for total wins during the 82-game regular season.
The season is so long that it is difficult for even the best NBA teams to play well game in and game out. At the start of the season, the Western Conference was considered the stronger of the two conferences and that has held true for the first half of the season.
After only one quarter of the season had been completed, 9 teams in the West were on a pace to go OVER the win total odds maker had given them.
The team that has taken the NBA by storm at this point of the season is Atlanta. The Hawks won 19 straight before being defeated by New Orleans, but came back on Wednesday to defeat Washington to start another streak.
The Hawks to start the season were given a won total of 40.5. On Wednesday, with their win over the Wizards, the Hawks surpassed that win total, as they are now 41-8 on the season.
Golden State was a dominating force during January as well when they were 12-3. The Warriors are currently 39-8 on the season. The Warriors need 12 wins over their last 35 games of the season to cash the OVER of 50.5.
Just one team, Minnesota has won less than 10 games this season. Those bettors who took the 76ers, Timberwolves and Knicks and the UNDER are looking strong. Minnesota has an OVER of 25.5 and the Timberwolves are currently just 9-40. The Knicks have a win total of 40.5 and are just 10-39 on the season. Three more losses and the UNDER ticket will cash.
Last season, the Phoenix Suns were the first team that earned a result on its win total. The Suns of this season, besides the Hawks are the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks are 27-22 on the season through February 4. The win total for Milwaukee set before the season begin was 24.5. That means the Bucks cashed OVER tickets when they defeated Portland at home last week.
The Western Conference is still the strength of the league with the eighth place team 6 games over .500, while the eighth place team in the East is 7 games under .500.