When injuries to key players happen in the NBA, oddsmakers certainly pay attention. No Shaq in Miami? The line most definitely will be adjusted, many times significantly. No Yao Ming or Tracy McGrady in Houston? Absolutely that will cause an adjustment.

If there's one thing we've heard over and over again this month, it's that preseason games don't matter. Whether a team plays well or not, we've been told, is largely irrelevant to how they'll fare in the regular season. But it turns out the preseason can be useful after all.