Thursday NBA fixtures greet us for the BetDeluxe NBA preview.
The first tip-off of the day belongs to Philadelphia and New York Knicks, while the Jazz and Suns also look to solidify their NBA finals credentials.
new york @ philadelphia
march 3rd 11:30am
Philadelphia will look to make ground on the top seeds in the Eastern Conference when it meets the New York Knicks at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday morning.
It is the second time in three days the 76ers and Knicks will meet after Philly easily handled the Tuesday-night fixture at Madison Square Garden with a 125-109 result.
James Harden and Joel Embiid showed the NBA world why their new partnership is going to be hard to stop.
Harden tallied up his first ever triple double for the 76ers after draining 29 points, throwing for 16 assists and hauling in 10 rebounds, while Embiid hit 37 points and had nine rebounds.
The Knicks had no answer to the the 76ers’ dynamite duo and it is hard to see them reversing the trend on the road.
Expecting the 76ers to move to 38-23 as they attempt to hunt down Chicago and Miami.
Suggested Bet: Philadelphia 76ers -10.5 at $1.91
charlotte @ cleveland
march 3rd 11:00am
The 30-33 Charlotte Hornets are en route to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for a battle against the 36-25 Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Hornets will be looking to bounce back after being routed by Milwaukee on Tuesday, while the Cavs are also seeking a rebound victory following their 127-122 loss to Minnesota.
It has been a tough few weeks for the Hornets having gone 2-8 through their last 10 fixtures.
Coming up against a Cleveland team without Darius Garland might be a task the Hornets can handle.
But the Cavaliers have already notched up a win against the Hornets without Garland on the court, which dates back to February 5.
It was a one-point nail-biter in the favour of the Cavaliers on the road and there has to be some credence paid to the home-court advantage it possesses here.
Cleveland has done a good job covering the spread as a home favourite this season with a 10-7 winning record.
The Cavs are worth the punt against the spread even with Garland out.
Suggested Bet: Cleveland Cavaliers -4.5 at $1.90
utah @ houston
march 3rd 12:00pm
Utah Jazz hit the road for a clash against cellar dweller Houston Rockets on Thursday.
The Jazz moved to 38-22 after staving off Phoenix on Monday and hit this game full of momentum.
Houston, however, slumped to 15-46 after being easily downed by the Los Angeles Clippers and will be looking towards the end of the season.
Utah holds a 2-1 edge against the Rockets in the season series and absolutely belted them the last time they played at the Toyota Centre.
It was a 135-101 scoreline in favour of the Jazz as Donovan Mitchell drained 30 points back on February 15.
With Mitchell firing and the Jazz bench coming up big against Phoenix, the Rockets are going to have a tough time quelling the visitors.
Suggested Bet: Utah -11.5 at $1.91
portland @ phoenix
march 3rd 2:00pm
Phoenix gets the chance to rebound off a close loss against Utah when it faces the Portland Trail Blazers at the Footprint Center on Thursday afternoon.
Consecutive losses and the absence of Chris Paul is what the Suns are dealing with coming into this clash.
Paul has been an integral part of the Suns’ push towards the top of the Western Conference and will likely miss another month after fracturing his thumb.
Cameron Johnson has stepped in for Paul alongside Devin Booker and looked to get into a groove against the Jazz, which he can bring into this home game against inferior opposition.
The Trail Blazers have looked woeful in their last two fixtures.
Failure to fire on offence and a lack of grit in defence has led to two massive blowouts against Golden State and Denver.
Making a trek to the desert to face Phoenix is not exactly the tonic to look forward to when in as poor a form as the Trail Blazers.
With the Suns showing signs they can deal with the loss of Paul, expect them to rout the struggling Trail Blazers.
Suggested Bet: Phoenix Suns -12.5 at $1.91
