by Andrea Triunfo18. December 2024
NFL, Buffalo beats Detroit; meanwhile Pittsburgh and Houston qualify. NHL, five teams in six points in the Eastern Conference, it’s a battle for the top. NBA, Milwaukee wins the NBA Cup against Oklahoma City thanks to a super Antetokounmpo. Let’s see all the details.
NFL 2024: AFC, playoffs almost clear; NFC, still all open
Key week in the NFL, where a couple of events shook the league. Buffalo scores almost fifty against Detroitfurther confirming itself as the team to beat in the AFC, even more than Kansas City who won against Cleveland but lost Patrick Mahomes to an ankle injury. To understand when the quarterback will be able to return to work, we are talking about a few weeks.
Philadelphia prevails over Pittsburgh which now finds itself with Baltimore on its heels, with the direct clash scheduled for this Saturday. Houston wins against Miami and qualifies having mathematically obtained the AFC South title, thanks also to Indianapolis’ KO against Denver. The Broncos, along with the Chargers, are the other two teams almost certain of a Wild Card playoff spot.
NFL NHL NBA 2024, match predictions and odds
The defeat of the Detroit Lions allows the Vikings to impact their record to 12-2; at the moment the advantage still belongs to Detroit due to tie-breakers, but the last few weeks will be fundamental to understand who will win the division. Buccaneers and Rams consolidate their position having won against Chargers and 49ers, but in the NFC there are still eight other teams competing for a playoff qualification. Mathematics does not exclude the Saints, Cowboys and 49ers, who however can no longer make mistakes.
Reversing the ranking, interesting the race for the first overall pick in the Draft April: Las Vegas and NY Giants currently share the league’s worst record at 2-12, but the tiebreaker favors the former. New England, Carolina, Tennessee, Jacksonville and Cleveland are all at 3-11, with a couple of them having particularly difficult schedules. This would give weight to any surprise victories that would however change the final order of the Draft.
For the next games, Denver’s win intrigues quoted 2.20 on bwin*, with the Chargers returning from a couple of defeats and a few too many injuries. Take the -3.5 handicap on the Rams quoted at 1.91 and the Over 47.5 points quoted at 2.00 between Buffalo and New England.
NHL 2024-25: the “wild bunch” arrives from the East
The NHL’s Eastern Conference is proving to be much more competitive than expected. The top of the class in the Atlantic are always the same, Toronto and Florida, but in six points we find five teamsall on a winning streak and potentially a few wins away from top spot in the standings, despite the fact that for some franchises the games played are more than others.
As mentioned, the Maple Leafs and Panthers are currently at the top with 40 points, but then we find Boston on 37, Tampa Bay on 36 and Ottawa on 34. All five are coming off a good run of form, so much so that the ranking changes every day.
In the Metropolitan, however, the trio of New Jersey, Carolina and Washington grind out points and victories, leaving the others behind; Pittsburgh is the first chaser, but 7 points behind. The disasters continue for Buffalo howeverreached 11 consecutive defeats, with the specter of the negative record on the horizon (18 games lost in a row, again held by Buffalo in 2020-21).
The Western Conference offers calmer waters, the leading teams of the last few weeks remain the same and indeed, the gap is starting to be felt. The Jets and Wild are competing in a league of their ownwhile the turning point is ever closer.
NBA 2024-25: The Milwaukee Bucks win the NBA Cup
Milwaukee triumphs in Las Vegas and vince the NBA Cup in the final against Oklahoma City. The team led by Giannis Antetokounpmo (26 points) and Damian Lillard (23 points), overcame the resistance of the young Thunder to lift their first trophy of the season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 21 points and Jalen Williams’ 18 points weren’t enough to help the Thunder win.
We had talked about the Bucks’ limping start, which however turned out to be just rust, so much so that the Wisconsin team redeemed itself not only with success in the Cupbut also returning to the playoff zone in the Eastern Conference standings, still dominated by Boston and Cleveland.
Meanwhile, transfer rumors continue to intensify in the league, with Zach LaVine linked several times to the Denver Nuggetswho will inevitably be protagonists until the trade deadline. The team of Jokic & co. is currently fifth in the Western Conference, a long way from first-place OKC, which has taken a mini-advantage over Memphis and Houston, currently the two main pursuers.
Golden State and Los Angeles on the Lakers side are also struggling, back in the mid-table chaos the result of little continuity in the field. Almost all the teams return to play on Friday, and on William Hill* we can take Oklahoma City’s victory priced at 1.45 against Orlando and Charlotte’s victory priced at 1.60 against Washington. We also like Memphis’ -4.5 handicap quoted at 1.85 against Golden State.
*Quotes subject to change
