After a prolonged NBA lockout, basketball finally resumed under less than ideal conditions for NBA Futures Betting. By that, I mean that we went from having an 82-game season, to a limited, 66-game one, all because of a labor dispute between owners and players. Thus, teams were forced to quickly go through what would normally be a lengthy offseason, to crunching it all in a matter of days, and making it that much more difficult to compose the 2012 NBA Championship odds.

The NBA Lockout is finally over, it seems, and for what it’s worth, we will have a 66-game season beginning with a Christmas Day Triple-header. In case you’re wondering how the heck a 66-game schedule is going to e structured, you’re in luck. We’ve got all the information you need from 2011-2012 NBA Schedule, to NBA Championship Odds & NBA Basketball Predictions!

Once again, it's the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat that are the clear 2012 NBA Championship betting picks favorite to win this year’s pro basketball championship in 2012. No one should act surprised though, as the Heat will have their three stars feeling angry and desperate to finally do what they promised South Beach they would do, which is bring home another title. A year removed from losing to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals, Miami is the NBA Championship picks favorite this season.

With the 2011-12 NBA season still in limbo because of the NBA Lockout, it’s anyone’s guess when and if we are going to see basketball this season. At this point, it seems as though the players and the owners and more than willing to let this thing go as far as possible in order to gain an edge. Not only do the players and owners not care about anything but their own pockets, but it’s clear that greed and ego have taken a priority over the fans.

It is never too early to start studying our 2012 NBA Championship Title odds and forming our basketball predictions while last season is still fresh in our memories. Miami was not able to cash in on their betting odds this season, but the Heat is already listed as a 5-2 NBA picks favorite to win the 2012 NBA Title.

The Dallas Mavericks have won their first NBA Championship in franchise history and after the series when into game 4 with Miami holding a 2-1 lead, the Mavs ran off three straight victories to finally get over the hump. The last two games were won in decisive fashion, sending Miami into an offseason of scrutiny. It is never too early to start looking into the 2011-2012 NBA season, as I’m sure both of these teams will be part of a lot of people's NBA picks next season.

The Miami Heat will find themselves in uncharted waters in game 6 when they face the Dallas Mavericks in their first elimination game of the entire 2011 NBA postseason. The Dallas Mavericks took a 3-2 lead with a crucial game 5 victory that saw Dallas explode offensively. The Mavs hit 13 of 19 from three-point range and shot nearly 60% from the field overall. The struggles continued for LeBron James in the fourth quarter, as his only bucket was conceded by the Mavericks in garbage time in order to kill some more time off the clock.

It almost seems like the NBA Finals picks go in the Dallas Mavericks’ favor when Dirk Nowitzki is nursing some sort of ailment, and with game 5 set for Thursday at 8:00pm ET on ABC, the Mavs will try to take a commanding 3-2 lead in the series. With a fever of over 101 degrees, Dirk Nowitzki dug deep once again and lifted his team to a game 4 victory. That was a must-win game for Dallas, but they must now take advantage of their opportunity to send this series back to Miami with just one more victory to go.

The Miami Heat will try to push the Dallas Mavericks to the brink of elimination in game 4 of this 2011 NBA Finals picks series when these teams collide at the American Airlines Center on Tuesday at 9:00pm ET on ABC. Miami reclaimed home-court advantage with a 2-point victory in game 3, putting the pressure on Dallas to win game 4 in order to stay in this series. If Miami wins this next ball game, Dallas can pretty much say goodbye, as it will be almost impossible to win the final three games of this series, including games 6 and 7 in Miami.

The Miami Heat are heading to Dallas to take on the Mavericks in game 3 of this free basketball picks NBA finals picks series after their epic collapse in game 2 in Miami. The Mavericks were just minutes away from being in a gigantic 0-2 hole, but instead they finished the game on a 22-5 run and ended up beating a Miami team that seems to have relaxed just a little bit. Miami had the Mavericks down by 15 before Dwyane Wade celebrated a bit too early in front of the Mavericks' bench, which fired up Dallas to go on that incredible run.

The Dallas Mavericks face a very important game 2 against the Miami Heat and a Miami victory on Thursday at 9:00pm ET on ABC could seal a lot of people’s 2011 NBA Finals picks. Miami dominated game 1 behind a stellar defensive performance from the big three and the Heat will now look to send this series back to Dallas with a 2-0 lead over Dirk Nowitzki and company. With their game 1 victory, Miami is now being listed as a -360 NBA picks favorite to win this series.

We are just hours away from finding out if our 2011 NBA Finals picks will hit the money as game 1 is set to tip off tonight at 9:00pm ET from the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. The Miami Heat will open the series with home court advantage over the Dallas Mavericks, who tallied just one less win than Miami during the regular season. This is a huge opportunity to sharpen your sports handicapping skills, because this series is not going to be brief, like the rest of the matchups during this postseason.

The Miami Heat will open up the 2011 NBA Finals as the favorites to beat the Dallas Mavericks and are in line to win their second ever NBA title. The NBA Championship betting odds schedule kicks off on Tuesday at 9:00pm ET on ABC and will open up at the American Airlines Arena as Miami will have home-court advantage for this series. Most sports handicapping experts have Miami winning this series with relative ease and although the series prices are also favoring Miami, the Mavericks have a legitimate shot at wiunning this thing.

The Miami Heat seem to have the slight edge in 2011 NBA Finals picks, but the Dallas Mavericks are going to make it very tough on them as they have stood up to the challenge in all three rounds so far this postseason. Game 1 will be very important for both teams, because this series has the makings of a seven-game battle and a sports handicapping dream.

There are many different opinions and predictions in who deserves their first NBA Championship; Dirk Nowitzki or LeBron James. While Dirk Nowitzki has played an illustrious 12 year career with the Dallas Mavericks, LeBron James had put in seven seasons with the Cavaliers in which he was the only feasible option before heading to Miami to join forces with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. Both have made it to the NBA Finals once in their careers, with both instances resulting in grave disappointments.

The Chicago Bulls will be glad to get back to the United Center for game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday at 8:30pm ET on TNT, and they will be looking to stave off elimination as the Miami Heat hold a 3-1 lead over the top team in the conference. The Bulls had a couple of chances to even the series in game 4 in Miami on Tuesday, but Derrick Rose missed a jumper with time running out in regulation before Miami took over defensively in the overtime period.

The Dallas Mavericks have a chance to close out the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday at 9:00 pm ET on ESPN and after their miraculous comeback in game 4; the Mavericks would love to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2006. The Mavericks are now the overwhelming -2000 favorite to finish the job against the Thunder, and their NBA Playoff odds have improved dramatically after every victory in this series.

The Miami Heat will try to cash in on their game 4 NBA Playoff picks as they attempt to sweep the two games at the American Airlines Arena. The Heat lost game 1 in this series, but have since turned it around winning two in a row and they now have the opportunity to put the Bulls in a 3-1 hole before the series moves back to Chicago. Miami’s NBA Playoff odds have moved back to where they were at the start of the series as the Heat is now listed as a -400 favorite to win this series.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will try to steal home-court advantage in game 2 of the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday at 9:00pm ET on ESPN after falling behind 1-0 in this best-of-seven NBA Playoff picks showdown. It took a record-setting performance from Dirk Nowitzki, but the Dallas Mavericks were able to shake off the rust from their long layoff and get things started off on the right foot. Nowitzki scored 48 points, including a 24-for-24 performance from the free throw line, which completely overshadowed Kevin Durant’s 40 points.

With the 2011 NBA Playoff picks becoming a bit more complex down the stretch, the Miami Heat vs Chicago Bulls game-2 action will surely be a lot closer than the opener. Chicago came out strong against the Heat on Sunday night with a 21-point victory to take a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, and will now try to take game 2 and take control of this series on Wednesday at 8:30pm ET on TNT.

Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals is set to tip off on Tuesday at 9:00pm ET on ESPN, where we will see if the Oklahoma City Thunder can knock off a Dallas Mavericks team that has been preparing for this series for over a week. The Mavericks will have to shake off some early rust, but I’m certain that the time off helped this veteran squad more than it hurt them. Oklahoma City is a very young team, but they are coming off of a grinding seven-game series against the Memphis Grizzlies.

The free sports picks schedule on Sunday, May 15th features the last game of the second round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs followed by the opening game of the Eastern Conference Finals. At 3:30pm ET on ABC, the Oklahoma City Thunder will host the Memphis Grizzlies in a pressure-packed game 7 at the Oklahoma City Arena. The nightcap features game 1 of what will certainly be the most exciting series of the postseason up to this point when the top-seeded Chicago Bulls open up their seven-game series at the United Center at 8:00pm ET on TNT against the Miami Heat.

In what I believe will be the last of my free sports picks for the second round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder will visit the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday at 9:00pm ET on ESPN in game 6 of their best-of-seven, Western Conference series. The Thunder grabbed a 3-2 lead on Wednesday at the Oklahoma City Arena and now they sit just one win away from facing the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals.

The Chicago Bulls have an opportunity to close out the Atlanta Hawks and put an end to their somewhat surprising run in the 2011 NBA Playoffs. I’ve been more inclined to base my free sports picks on the Chicago Bulls as the playoffs have progressed and after their game-5 victory at United Center, game 6 will get them one step closer to a dream match-up against the Miami Heat as the Bulls are now a 7-2 favorite to win the 2011 NBA Championship.

We have two free sports picks game 5's on the NBA calender for Wednesday, May 11th, in what I belive is a must-win scenario for both road teams. The Boston Celtics will look to avoid elimination in tonight's matchup in Miami at 7:00pm ET on TNT. Miami is up 3-1 and could put the final nail in Boston’s coffin with a victory at home tonight, but I’m sure that Boston will make it as tough as possible on the Heat. Miami has yet to lose a 2011 NBA Playoffs matchup at home and to be honest; this game won’t be any different.