NBA Play/Angle

Anybody play

The Acela Angle


familiar with it?

It applies today...

Play Celtics tonight.

(<)<

This angle is basically if a team comes through that plays the Knicks and Celtics, that the team almost never beats both of them on that trip. Right?

Jake you can delete this ad.... you guys know I can't C&P

The most talked about road trips among NBA handicappers are the trip through the Texas Triangle of Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, the trip through Florida to face the Heat and Magic and the trip through Utah and Denver.
However, perhaps the trip with the most interesting and profitable results involves a trip you can take on the Acela, the high speed train that goes between Boston and New York, with the round trip taking under four hours. The Celtics’ and Knicks’ franchises have a wealth of basketball history and success associated with them. They are in the “club” of past NBA champions. As such, these two have a certain amount of respect for each other. This respect is not manifested when they play each other – the respect is apparent when another team is trying to sweep the storied franchises on the road, back-to-back.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width=280 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=adlabel width=270 height=10></TD><TD width=10 rowSpan=3><SPACER height="1" type="block" width="10"></TD></TR><TR><TD class=onav vAlign=center align=middle width=270 height=270><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" bgColor=#fcf5e5 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=center align=middle width=268 height=268><SCRIPT language=JavaScript> <!--// /*mag spot*/if (!vTag) {var vTag="ros;type=ros";}if (!random) {var abc = Math.random() + ""; var random = abc.substring(2,abc.length);}document.write('<script src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/imu.vegasinsider.com/'+vTag+';sz=250x250;tile=7;ord='+random+'?"><\/script>'); // --> </SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/imu.vegasinsider.com/nba;arena=nba;feat=stories;type=psa;sz=250x250;tile=7;ord=29826237148859535?"></SCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD width=270 height=10><SPACER height="10" type="block" width="1"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>It seems as if New York and Boston have a pact – unspoken or other otherwise – that no team will sweep them consecutively. If a team beats the Knicks in New York, the Celtics go all out to prevent the 2-0, New York – Boston sweep.
Similarly, if a team beats the Celtics in Boston, the Knicks “pick them up” by playing significantly above the linesmakers expectations. This “agreement” has been going on for quite some time.
In fact, the league is 0-9 ATS (-8.4 ppg) since March 6th 1996 in Boston after beating the Knicks in New York. Similarly, the league is 0-10 ATS (-9.2 ppg) since January 20th 1997 in New York after beating the Celtics in Boston!
In 2007-08, there are seven road trips through New York and Boston. Five of the seven trips start in New York and two start in Boston. They are listed below, in chronological order:

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=sportPicksBgL1><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class="yeallowBg2 sportPicksBorderR2 fourleft" colSpan=4>Acela Trips 2007-08</TD></TR><TR class="table_title sportPicksBg"><TD class="sportPicksBorderL fourleft">Team</TD><TD class="sportPicksBorderL fourleft">Game 1</TD><TD class="sportPicksBorderL fourleft">Game 2</TD></TR><TR class=tanBg><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Denver </TD><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Nov. 6 vs. New York (WIN)</TD><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Nov. 7 vs. Boston (LOSS)</TD></TR><TR class=notwhite><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Golden State </TD><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Nov. 20 vs. New York (WIN)</TD><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Nov. 21 vs. Boston (LOSS)</TD></TR><TR class=tanbg><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Washington </TD><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Jan. 14 vs. Boston (WIN)</TD><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Jan. 15 vs. New York (LOSS)</TD></TR><TR class=notwhite><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">LA Clippers </TD><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Feb. 4 vs. New York (WIN)</TD><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Feb. 6 vs. Boston (LOSS)</TD></TR><TR class=tanbg><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">San Antonio</TD><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Feb. 8 vs. New York (WIN)</TD><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Feb. 10 vs. Boston (LOSS)</TD></TR><TR class=notwhite><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Bobcats </TD><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Feb. 27 vs. New York (LOSS)</TD><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Feb. 29 vs. Boston (NO PLAY)</TD></TR><TR class=tanbg><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Pistons </TD><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Mar. 5 vs. Boston (LOSS)</TD><TD class="sportPicksBorderL2 fourleft">Mar. 7 vs. New York (NO PLAY)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

yeah....I'm sure that in the pregame, Doc will remind his guys that they need to play harder to defend the fallen honor of their friends The Knicks.