NBA betting trends, odds and predictions for Thursday, February 23rd, 2017 from various handicappers and websites
NBA Knowledge
Portland lost five of its last six games; they’re 2-5 vs spread in last seven road games. Four of their last six road games stayed under. Orlando lost seven of last nine games; they’re 2-8 vs spread in last ten home games. Under is 8-1 in their last nine home games. Home side won eight of last nine Portland-Orlando games; Magic won three of last four, winning last four series games played here (4-0 vs spread). Under is 4-2-1 in last seven series games.
Charlotte lost four in row, 11 of last 12 games; they’ve lost 11 road games in a row (4-7 vs spread). Last four Hornet games stayed under total. Pistons won/covered five of last six home games; six of their last seven games stayed under. Home side won seven of last eight Detroit-Charlotte games; Pistons won three of last four series games, winning last three played here, by 39-1-7 points. Four of last five series games went over.
Houston won four of last five games; they’re 4-5 in last nine road games, 1-4 vs spread in last five. Four of their last five games went over. Pelicans just traded for Cousins, so how they’ll be with new roster is a ?? New Orleans won four of last six games, is 1-4 vs spread in last five at home. Under is 5-2 in their last seven games. Rockets won six of last seven games with New Orleans; they split last four visits to Bourbon Street. Under is 7-3 in last ten series games.
New York lost five of last six games, is 4-3 vs spread in last seven road games. Eight of their last ten games went over total. Cavaliers won/covered seven of last eight games; they won last five home games, covered last four. Over is 7-1 in their last eight games. Knicks lost their last nine games with Cleveland (0-4 vs spread in last four); New York lost last three visits to Ohio, by 10-9-27 points. Eight of last ten series games stayed under.
Clippers won/covered their last four games, three of which were on road; their last three games stayed under. Warriors won/covered four of last five games; they won last eight games, covered last seven. Three of their last four games went over the total. Golden State won its last nine games with the Clippers, covering last four. LA lost its last four visits to Oakland (2-2 vs spread). Under is 6-4 in last ten series games.
First game for Kings since Cousins trade; they beat Celtics at home without him Feb 8. Nuggets lost four of last five road games (1-4 vs spread). Four of their last five games went over the total. Kings won/covered four of last five games, both SU and at home. Under is 7-2 in their last nine games. Sacramento won its last four games with Denver; they covered seven of last nine series games. Teams split last four series games played here; road team won seven of last ten series games. Last eight series games went over.
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NBA: Streaks, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
Charlotte at Detroit
The Charlotte Hornets are in a major funk. Bugs lost four straight going into the All-Start break and have dropped eleven of twelve going 2-9-1 against the betting line.
Hornets with little sting on the road lately (0-11 SU, 4-6-1 ATS) and with Cody Zeller on the shelf (Quad) getting past Pistons will be a challenge.
Piston ridding an 8-2 (6-4 ATS) stretch at 'The Palace of Auburn Hills', the home team on a 6-2 ATS stretch, numbers point to Detroit being a best choice.
Houston at New Orleans
The New Orleans Pelicans just hosted the All-Star Game and saw their very own Anthony Davis win the MVP. But the celebration was brief because the next day, the Pelicans made a huge trade, acquiring DeMarcus Cousins from the Sacramento Kings. Cousins is expected to play his first game on Thursday when the Pelicans host the Houston Rockets.
The Rockets are sitting fourth in the Western Conference, with James Harden among the front-runners for the MVP award. Harden is third in the league in scoring, first in assists and is averaging over eight rebounds a game. The Rockets rank behind only Golden State in scoring.
The Pelicans are 11th place in the West and only two games out of eighth. The trade for Cousins will hopefully push them into the postseason. Cousins and Davis are fourth and fifth in the league, respectively, in scoring, while Davis is sixth in rebounding and Cousins is 11th. They both played at the University of Kentucky, and the Pelicans are hoping that connection pays off.
Houston is 6-1 SU and 5-2 ATS in their last seven meetings with the Pelicans, who lost 122-100 to the Rockets at home on December 16. Harden had a triple-double with 29 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds.
Inside the Paint - Thursday
By Chris David
VegasInsider.com
After taking six days off for the All-Star break, the NBA resumes action on Thursday with a solid six-game card. Coincidentally, the trade deadline also takes place today and it ends at 3:00 p.m. ET.
We’ve already seen one major move with All-Star DeMarcus Cousins getting shipped out of Sacramento to New Orleans. We’ll get to see what Cousins can do with the Pelicans right away as they face the Rockets at home on Thursday. At the same time, the new-look Kings will open a five-game homestand when Denver comes to town later that night.
If you’re looking for more NBA Trade Talk, then check out VI NBA expert Tony Mejia for his analysis.
Below is my quick handicap for Thursday’s slate, which features a pair of double-digit home favorites in the TNT double-header.
Straight Up and Against the Spread records noted below
Portland (23-33 SU, 22-34 ATS) at Orlando (21-37 SU, 23-33-2 ATS)
This is the only non-conference game scheduled for tonight and it’s a difficult one to handicap. It features two teams that disappointed in the first-half of the season and it’s hard to make a case for either club.
Portland has been terrible on the road (9-20 SU, 10-19 ATS) and Orlando (9-18 SU, 7-18 ATS) certainly hasn’t been great at home. Also, the Trail Blazers have struggled versus the Eastern Conference (7-13) and the Magic haven’t been much better versus the West (8-17).
Somebody has to be favored and the Trail Blazers (-2½) received the nod from the oddsmakers. As a road favorite, Portland has gone 5-5 SU and 4-6 ATS this season.
Portland ended the first-half with a 1-5 record and the lone win came by one point, a 114-113 decision at Dallas. The Blazers remain one of the worst defensive teams in the league, allowing 110.1 points per game. Fortunately for them, Orlando is ranked 29th in scoring (99.5 PPG).
The home team had won eight straight in this series but that streak ended earlier this season on Jan. 13 as Orlando captured a 115-109 victory over Portland. The Magic have gone 4-13 SU and 5-12 ATS this season when catching points at home while the ‘under’ has gone 12-5.
Betting public will likely support Portland, who remains the worst ATS team in the NBA.
Charlotte (24-32 SU, 23-31-2 ATS) at Detroit (27-30 SU, 27-30 ATS)
I’m not sure what went wrong with the Hornets but 2017 hasn’t been good to the club. They’ve gone 5-17 since the New Year and they closed the first-half with a 1-11 mark. Despite the horrible run, Charlotte is only 2½ games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
Tonight’s game will be key since Detroit holds the eighth spot and it ended the break with a 6-4 run, which includes a 5-1 record at home. Overall, the Pistons have gone 17-11 SU and 16-12 ATS at home this season and Charlotte (8-19 SU, 11-14 ATS) has been one of the worst road teams in the NBA.
Detroit has captured two of the first three meetings against Charlotte, which includes a 115-114 victory on Jan. 5 as a five-point favorite. For the final encounter of the season, the Pistons are listed as 4½-point home favorites.
Charlotte is lacking depth inside and both Cody Zeller (quad) and Miles Plumlee (calf) are expected to miss this contest.
Houston (40-18 SU, 33-25 ATS) at New Orleans (23-34 SU, 27-29-1 ATS)
This game will receive extra buzz due to the aforementioned trade of Cousins to the Pelicans and I’d suggest all bettors to tread lightly on New Orleans. While the frontcourt has the potential to be the strongest in the league, they’re still lacking any capable shooters and their depth is a major weakness.
Houston has been installed as a 3½-point road favorite for this matchup and it’s a respectable 13-8 SU and 11-10 ATS when laying points as a visitor this season. The Rockets closed the first-half with a 6-4 record but they’re just 2-3 in their last five on the road and they’ve allowed 118-plus points in four of those games.
New Orleans has gone 3-1 in its last four games and all of those contests were played on the road. The Pelicans have gone 6-8 SU and 8-6 ATS when catching points at home this season and a few of those wins came against title contenders in the Spurs, Cavaliers and Clippers.
These teams only met once this season and the Rockets notched a 122-100 on Dec. 16 as 11½-point home favorites. Including this win, Houston is 6-1 (5-2 ATS) in its last seven versus New Orleans.
New York (23-34 SU, 30-27 ATS) at Cleveland (39-16 SU, 26-27-2 ATS)
The Knicks and Cavaliers will meet for the fourth and final time this season on Thursday and New York will be looking to avoid a sweep. Cleveland has gone 3-0 both SU and ATS so far and it’s won nine straight versus New York dating back to the 2014-15 season.
The Cavaliers won the first two meetings by 29 and 32 points but their recent encounter on Super Bowl Sunday watched Cleveland barely hold on for a 111-1104 victory at Madison Square Garden.
New York has struggled against teams above .500 all season (6-21) and it’s just 3-7 SU and 4-6 ATS in its last 10 games on the road. Cleveland went through a bit of a rough patch at the end of January but the Cavaliers closed the first-half with a 7-1 record both SU and ATS.
Laying double-digits at home is common for Cleveland and it owns an impressive 23-5 SU and 14-12-2 ATS mark. Most books have the Cavaliers giving 10½ points for this game, which will be aired nationally on TNT at 8:05 p.m. ET.
Denver (25-31 SU, 29-26-1 ATS) at Sacramento (24-33 SU, 30-27 ATS)
Since the Kings traded away their best player, the perception surrounding Sacramento is that it will tank the rest of the season. The Nuggets enter this game as seven-point road favorites and they haven’t been a great investment on the road (10-18 SU, 15-13 ATS). As road favorites, the Nuggets have gone 3-2 SU and 2-3 ATS. Make a note that all of the three wins were by eight points or less.
Sacramento wasn’t producing great numbers with its best player but it remains to be seen what kind of lineup they roll out for the final quarter of the season. For what it’s worth, the Kings ran past the Nuggets 120-113 on Jan. 3 as 3½-point road underdogs and they’ve captured seven of the last 10 meetings against Denver. In that victory this season, Cousins had 31 points to go with six assists and six rebounds.
L.A. Clippers (35-21 SU, 29-27 ATS) at Golden State (47-9 SU, 28-26-2 ATS)
The Warriors have owned the Clippers this season, winning and covering all three meetings this season and every outcome was decided by double digits. Including those results, Golden State has won nine in a row against Los Angeles and the oddsmakers have installed the club as a 12-point home favorite on Thursday.
The line did open a touch higher (-13½) yesterday afternoon and it could drop further if Clippers point guard Chris Paul returns to the lineup. He’s listed as ‘questionable’ and has been medically cleared. The Clippers have struggled to an 11-19 record without Paul over the last two seasons and that includes two losses to Golden State in the last four weeks.
Doc Rivers and company did close the first-half with four straight wins and three of them came on the road. Facing a Golden State team that’s been dominant at home (24-3) is obviously a much stiffer test and grabbing the points could be foolish based on the host’s recent form in Oakland. The Warriors are 22-2 when listed as double-digit home favorites this season and they enter this matchup on a 5-0-1 ATS run in that role, one of the covers coming in a 144-98 blowout win over the Clippers on Jan. 28.
The Clippers have only been listed as underdogs of 10-plus points on two occasions and the team has gone 0-2 both SU and ATS. Including the aforementioned loss to Golden State, Los Angeles also gave up 140 points in a loss to Houston on Dec. 30.
If Paul goes, it will be interesting to see if he’s on limited minutes knowing the Clippers face San Antonio at home on Friday for a back-to-back spot.
The total on this game is hovering around 230 and the ‘over’ has gone 2-1 in the three meetings this season between the pair.
Clippers face Warriors
By: StatFox.com
Both the Clippers and Warriors will be looking to earn a victory coming out of the break on Thursday.
Los Angeles was playing very well heading into the break, as the team had won-and-covered in four straight. The Clippers most recently hosted the Hawks on Feb. 15, and they came away with a 99-84 victory as 3.5-point home favorites in that one. The Clippers really got things done on the defensive end of the floor in their past two contests, allowing just 78.0 PPG against the Jazz and Hawks. They’ll now hope to put forth another effort like that, but it won’t be easy against the Warriors on Thursday. The Warriors have, however, dominated this head-to-head series this season. Golden State is 3-0 both SU and ATS when facing Los Angeles on the year, and each of those victories has come by double digits. The Warriors are also 9-0 SU and 6-3 ATS versus the Clippers since the start of 2015. One trend that does favor the Clippers in this game is the fact that they are 6-5 ATS as a road underdog this season. They are also 18-16 ATS when coming off of a SU win, and 2-1 ATS when playing on three or more days rest this season. The Warriors, meanwhile, are also 2-1 both SU and ATS when playing with that much rest this season. Golden State also happens to be 15-11-1 ATS when playing as a home favorite on the year. PG Chris Paul (Thumb) is cleared to play for Los Angeles, but might not return for this one just yet. Golden State will be at full strength, though, and that is not good news for the Clippers.
If Paul is out, PF Blake Griffin (21.9 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.1 SPG) and C DeAndre Jordan (12.0 PPG, 13.8 RPG, 1.7 BPG) are going to need to play some incredible basketball against the Warriors. Los Angeles can’t afford to have either of them struggle or the team will surely get blown out on Thursday. Fortunately for the Clippers, both of them are playing very well coming into this one. Griffin has especially looked great lately, as he seemingly has his old athleticism back. Griffin dealt with a knee injury earlier in the year, so it’s huge that he is looking as healthy as ever right now. He had 31 points and eight rebounds the last time he faced the Warriors, and another performance like that would certainly be welcomed by his teammates. Two other guys that can help the Clippers pull off this upset are SGs Austin Rivers (12.2 PPG, 3.0 APG) and J.J. Redick (15.1 PPG). If they can both get hot in this game then the Clippers should stay competitive. They will, however, need to hold their own defensively, as they’re going up against the best backcourt in basketball.
PG Stephen Curry (24.7 PPG, 6.4 APG, 4.3 RPG, 1.7 SPG) will be hyped up to face the Clippers on Thursday, as Curry is averaging 30.3 PPG and 7.7 APG in three meetings with Los Angeles on the season. He is also averaging 3.3 SPG on the other end, and these numbers are surely helped by the fact that Paul hasn’t been playing. Still, Curry has been at his best against the Clippers this season and Paul might not be out there on Thursday either. Look for him to have another huge game on Thursday, as Curry loves playing in front of the fans at Oracle Arena. As always, SF Kevin Durant (25.8 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 4.9 APG, 1.7 BPG, 1.1 SPG), SG Klay Thompson (22.1 PPG) and PF Draymond Green (10.2 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 7.3 APG, 2.1 SPG, 1.5 BPG) can all be expected to make their marks on this game. Durant is one of the best players in basketball, and he is going up against a team that is weak at the small forward position. Thompson will continue to knock down threes, and Green will serve as a Swiss army knife. If two of the three of them struggled then the Warriors would still win this game, but even that is unlikely to happen.