The NBA<\/strong> released its regular-season schedule in August, and there are a handful of NBA Gambling<\/strong> contests that stick out above the rest. We all know that anything involving guys such as Kevin Durant and LeBron James is worth watching, but star power isn\u2019t the only thing that goes into creating a great contest. Cappers Picks provides free NBA HOOPS handicapping tips all season long. <\/p>\n With categories such as star players and key rivalries in mind, here are five great games to bet<\/strong> on during the 2014-15 NBA season.<\/p>\n You can\u2019t start this list without looking at the first nationally televised game of the season. This one will feature in-state rivals going at it with Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki presumable leading the way. Four years ago, LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. In 2014, he flipped the script and returned home, spurning the organization where he won his two championships. These two franchises meet for the first time since LeBron\u2019s decision on Christmas day.<\/p>\n [dfads params=’groups=63727&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]<\/p>\n Miami will have home-court advantage, but the bigger question is: How will the fans react when LeBron takes the court for the first time as a visitor in four seasons.<\/p>\n Aside from LeBron\u2019s decision, the biggest storyline of the 2014 NBA offseason was surrounding Kevin Love. The Minnesota Timberwolves needed to find a trade partner before he took off in free agency in 2015, and they found that partner in LeBron\u2019s Cavaliers.<\/p>\n With Love and LeBron partnering up with Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, the trio is looked at as one of the best Big Three\u2019s in the NBA and a true contender. The only catch is that they had to give up No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins in the process, and while the rookie will have his first shot at revenge on Dec. 23, Jan. 31 is when Love will make his first visit to Minnesota as a visitor.<\/p>\n The Portland Trail Blazers shocked the world last season by taking down the Houston Rockets and advancing to the second round of the playoffs. The problem is that they\u2019re still not considered one of the league\u2019s elites, but they\u2019ll have their chance to prove detractors wrong when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 27. The Chicago Bulls, in many people\u2019s eyes, are bigger threats to win the Eastern Conference than the Cavs.<\/p>\n This showdown on April 5 could have more meaning than any other game this year when it comes to seeding. Assuming Derrick Rose is healthy all season, offense isn\u2019t going to be as big of a problem as it\u2019s been in years past.<\/p>\n Combine that with the defensive mentality this group brings each and every game, and you\u2019ve got one of the best competitors around for the new-look Cavaliers.<\/p>\n [dfads params=’groups=63706&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Early 2014\/15 NBA Picks The NBA released its regular-season schedule in August, and there are a handful of NBA Gambling contests that stick out above the rest. We all know that anything involving guys such as Kevin Durant and LeBron James is worth watching, but star power isn\u2019t the only thing that goes into creating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":986,"featured_media":82678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[63714,27931,53614,46148,5229,66499,1595,1978,47567,13296],"class_list":["post-81251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","tag-2014-15-nba-season","tag-chicago-bulls-vs-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-cleveland-cavaliers-vs-miami-heat","tag-kevin-love","tag-lebron-james","tag-nba","tag-nba-gambling","tag-nba-season-preview","tag-portland-trail-blazers-vs-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-san-antonio-spurs-vs-dallas-mavericks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/986"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81251"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82898,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81251\/revisions\/82898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Oct. 28 Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs<\/h3>\n
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\nAs an added narrative, San Antonio is hanging its championship banner and the Mavs have gotten significantly better via trades and free agency. This is must-see T.V. for any NBA fan.<\/p>\nDec. 25 Cleveland Cavaliers at Miami Heat<\/h3>\n
Jan. 31 Cleveland Cavaliers at Minnesota Timberwolves<\/h3>\n
Feb. 27 Oklahoma City Thunder at Portland Trail Blazers<\/h3>\n
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\nThis is an important game because it\u2019s almost immediately following All-Star Weekend, setting the tone for the second-half stretch. As Kevin Durant said last year, \u201cWe don\u2019t like them, and they don\u2019t like us.\u201d Portland always plays well against OKC, so an upset could be in order.<\/p>\nApril 5 Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers<\/h3>\n