NBA Trends Watch: The Suns are red hot again

We've completed nearly a third of the NBA season, and now have a strong set of data to dive into.

Let's break down the latest metrics from around the league and determine which trends you should take advantage of as the 2020-21 season rolls on.

Favorites are fighting back

All season long, we have been talking about underdogs and how successful they have been against the spread. On the season, underdogs are 217-198-3 ATS. However, in the past seven days, favorites in all games are 28-22 ATS.

One major reason for these numbers has been the performance of the red-hot Jazz, who are 19-7 ATS as a favorite (including 4-0 in the past week). The Phoenix Suns (9-3 ATS) have also been a formidable favorite, as have the Dallas Mavericks, who are 4-1 ATS as road favorites.

Points are not at a premium

It was not all that long ago that we were discussing the Unders and how successful they have been. Well, that is no longer the case. The Over is 219-196 this season, and 33-17 in the past seven days.

There are three teams that have been absolutely money this season in hitting Overs. The Brooklyn Nets (22-8), Denver Nuggets (20-8), and New Orleans Pelicans (19-8) are all sitting over the 70% mark for Overs. There is also one team that is surprisingly good in a specific situation at hitting the Over. The Memphis Grizzlies are 7-1 in Overs when they are road underdogs in the game.

The Suns are back to being the center of the universe

Early in the year, the Phoenix Suns got off to a fiery start at 5-1 after leaving the bubble a perfect 8-0. However, the eclipse started in January when Phoenix lost seven of 10 games from Jan. 3 to Jan. 27.

Since then, the Suns are 9-2 in their last 11 games. They are also 9-2 ATS in those 11 games. Besides their recent success, they have some full season trends to follow to make that cash. They are 5-0 ATS as road underdogs and 9-3 ATS as home favorites. They are also 6-1 ATS when playing on zero days of rest.

Cleveland is not rocking

The Cleveland Cavaliers were not expected to be a great team by any stretch of the imagination in 2021, but surely they were hoping for something better than this. The Cavs have now lost eight consecutive games and have decided to bench Andre Drummond until a trade is made.

Not only have the Cavaliers lost eight consecutive games straight-up, they have lost 11 consecutive games ATS. The last time they covered a basketball game was on Jan. 27! They are now 10-19 ATS on the season and an atrocious 3-12 ATS as the road team. They are also 5-13 ATS following a loss, which seems to be happening a lot these days.