Four big games and four best bets great us for a big set of NBA fixtures.
Thursday basketball this week means the Celtics take on the Pistons, while the Lakers go head to head with the Jazz.
detroit @ boston
february 17th 11:30am
Boston Celtics return home to TD Garden after delivering a brutal and graceful display of basketball against the Philadelphia 76ers when it gets set to face Detroit.
The Celtics extended their league-best winning streak to nine games in a rout of the 76ers and will get no better chance to make it 10 win in a row against the struggling Pistons.
Detroit cannot buy a win at the moment and lost its eighth-straight fixture after being downed the Wizards.
How they try to stop Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown is any man’s wonder.
Tatum and Brown went bonkers on Wednesday and have catapulted the Celtics into the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference.
The Pistons will surely have no answers for those two even they do play on restricted minutes given the opposition.
Suggested Bet: Boston -12.5 at $1.89
brooklyn @ New york
february 17th 11:30am
Brooklyn will be without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant again, this time when the Nets face the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
It also still unknown when Ben Simmons will line up for his debut in a black guernsey, but the Nets have showed they can still notch up wins without their stars after accounting for Sacramento on Tuesday.
The Knicks, however, will be keen to bounce back from a disappointing overtime loss against Oklahoma City.
Even a triple-double from Julius Randle was not enough to save the Knicks from the Thunder as Josh Giddey amassed a triple-double of his own.
New York’s defence was uncharacteristically off in the loss and it will want to be tightening things up against a dangerous Nets team which now has the creative ability of Seth Curry.
The spread looks a little bit overstated in this one, think the Nets can cover.
Suggested Bet: Brooklyn +7.5 at $1.90
utah @ los angeles
february 17th 2:00pm
It will be a battle of the stars the Los Angeles Lakers host the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena come Thursday afternoon.
In a game that pits two big men in Anthony Davis and Rudy Gobert head to head, the individual match ups in this contest are going to be crucial to which team comes away with the win.
The Lakers have been one of the most hot and cold teams in the NBA this season, but they have LeBron James and Russell Westbrook who can carry them to victory.
Gobert’s return to the Jazz line up gives the visitors a distinct advantage, or at least helps their winning cause.
Utah once went 1-4 without him last January and were ranked 30th in defensive rating, which highlights how important he is.
This match is going to come down to which defence can lock down the best.
Utah is the best offensive team in the league at the moment with regards to points scored per game and defensively they have tightened up big time since Gobert’s return.
But the Lakers will be looking towards Utah’s poor record on the road in recent times.
A five-game road slide gives the purple and gold army a sniff.
Suggested Bet: Los Angeles Lakers +4.5 at $1.93
denver @ golden state
february 17th 2:00pm
Denver is on the road in California when it gets set for a clash against Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on Thursday afternoon.
Denver come into this game with a record of 32–25 for the season and have won four out of their last five games with wins against Brooklyn, New York, Orlando, and on the road against the Toronto Raptors.
The only defeat for Denver in its last five games came against the rampaging Boston Celtics going down 108–102.
Meanwhile, Golden State boasts a 42–16 record and is not exactly in the greatest form having have lost three out of the last five games.
Missing Draymond Green has definitely hurt the Warriors even if Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry shoot the lights out from three-point-range.
The spread form for both teams in recent fixtures is a complete contrast with Golden State are 0-5-1 ATS in their last 6 games, while the Nuggets have covered four out of the last five.
Sticking with the trend and expecting the Nuggets to cover with Nikola Jokic having a big say in this – as he usually does.
Suggested Bet: Denver Nuggets +5.5 at $1.92
