Thursday's Best NBA Bets
By Covers.com
Detroit Pistons at Milwaukee Bucks (-8, 177.5)
There are ugly losing streaks and then there is the skid the Detroit Pistons are riding.
The Pistons lost their fifth straight game Tuesday night, which was really no surprise as they were hosting the defending champion Dallas Mavericks. But the fact that Detroit has now lost all five of those games by at least 14 points has to be concerning.
"As I said, this process may be very painful," Pistons coach Lawrence Frank told reporters. "There are no easy answers here. There's no doubt in my mind, we'll get it right. But it won't get right just by getting right. It's gonna take a lot of investment. Not to be insensitive, everybody wants the baby, you have to go through the pregnancy. These are going to be labor pains.”
The Pistons probably aren’t out of the woods just yet. With Andrew Bogut back in Milwaukee’s lineup for the first time in four games, the Bucks just dropped the Spurs 106-103 as a 2-point underdog.
Bogut chipped in with 14 points and 11 rebounds and should lead Bucks bettors back to the window Thursday.
Pick: Bucks
Cleveland Cavaliers at Phoenix Suns (-6.5, 196)
The battle on the offensive glass could be a major factor in this one.
The Suns had trouble boxing out again in Tuesday’s 99-83 loss to the Lakers, giving up 18 second-chance points on 14 offensive rebounds.
"We couldn't score at the end of the game and we gave up too many offensive rebounds again," point guard Steve Nash told reporters. "They got 18 second-chance points. I mean, that's nearly one out of every five points that's a second-chance point, and that's too many."
Yeah, no kidding. Phoenix allows a league-worst 13.7 offensive rebounds per game and now faces a Cleveland team that loves to hit the glass.
The Suns are a lot better at home than they are on the road but their offense isn’t what it used to be. They sit in the middle of the pack averaging 93.6 points per game, helping the under to a 7-2 mark. This total looks high to us.
Pick: Under
Hot Teams
-- Hawks won three of last four games; they're 3-1 at home, 3-4 when favored, 1-2 as home favorite.
-- Knicks won last four games, allowing 85.5 ppg.
-- Suns won/covered their last three home games.
-- Orlando won/covered three of last four road games.
Cold Teams
-- Charlotte lost eight of last nine games (2-6 vs spread in last eight).
-- Pistons are 0-4 as road underdogs, losing by 12-6-24-23 points. Bucks lost five of last six games; they're 3-0 at home, winning by 3-21-3.
-- Memphis lost its last three games, by 9-8-5 points.
-- Cavaliers lost three of last four games (1-3 vs spread).
-- Warriors lost five of last six games, covered three of last four.
Totals
-- Last three Charlotte games stayed under the total.
-- All three Milwaukee games went over the total. Five of last six Detroit games stayed under the total.
-- Seven of last nine New York games stayed under the total.
-- Three of Cavaliers' last four games stayed under.
-- Five of six Golden State home games stayed under total.
Wear and Tear
-- Bobcats: 7th game/10 nites. Hawks: 8th game/11 nites.
-- Pistons: 5th game/7 nites. Bucks: 4th game/6 nites.
-- Knicks: 5th game/7 nites. Grizzlies: 3rd game/5 nites.
-- Cavaliers: 3rd game/5 nites. Suns: 3rd game/5 nites.
-- Magic: 2nd game/4 nites. Warriors: 2nd game/5 nites.
CHARLOTTE (2 - 8) at ATLANTA (7 - 4)
Top Trends for this game.
CHARLOTTE is 70-43 ATS (+22.7 Units) after scoring 85 points or less since 1996.
ATLANTA is 83-113 ATS (-41.3 Units) versus poor offensive teams - scoring <=91 points/game since 1996.
Head-to-Head Series History
CHARLOTTE is 6-3 against the spread versus ATLANTA over the last 3 seasons
ATLANTA is 5-4 straight up against CHARLOTTE over the last 3 seasons
5 of 9 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
DETROIT (2 - 8) at MILWAUKEE (3 - 6)
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.
Head-to-Head Series History
DETROIT is 6-2 against the spread versus MILWAUKEE over the last 3 seasons
DETROIT is 5-3 straight up against MILWAUKEE over the last 3 seasons
5 of 8 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
NEW YORK (6 - 4) at MEMPHIS (3 - 6)
Top Trends for this game.
MEMPHIS is 63-40 ATS (+19.0 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
MEMPHIS is 31-19 ATS (+10.1 Units) as a favorite over the last 2 seasons.
MEMPHIS is 33-17 ATS (+14.3 Units) in home games over the last 2 seasons.
MEMPHIS is 36-23 ATS (+10.7 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
NEW YORK is 28-13 ATS (+13.7 Units) as an underdog over the last 2 seasons.
NEW YORK is 12-3 ATS (+8.7 Units) as a road underdog of 3.5 to 6 points over the last 2 seasons.
NEW YORK is 30-17 ATS (+11.3 Units) in road games over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
NEW YORK is 2-1 against the spread versus MEMPHIS over the last 3 seasons
MEMPHIS is 2-2 straight up against NEW YORK over the last 3 seasons
4 of 4 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
CLEVELAND (4 - 5) at PHOENIX (4 - 5)
Top Trends for this game.
CLEVELAND is 10-21 ATS (-13.1 Units) after a non-conference game over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
CLEVELAND is 3-1 against the spread versus PHOENIX over the last 3 seasons
PHOENIX is 2-2 straight up against CLEVELAND over the last 3 seasons
4 of 4 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
ORLANDO (7 - 3) at GOLDEN STATE (3 - 6)
Top Trends for this game.
ORLANDO is 42-55 ATS (-18.5 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
GOLDEN STATE is 36-18 ATS (+16.2 Units) in home games after allowing 105 points or more over the last 3 seasons.
GOLDEN STATE is 29-12 ATS (+15.8 Units) in home games after scoring 105 points or more over the last 3 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
GOLDEN STATE is 2-2 against the spread versus ORLANDO over the last 3 seasons
ORLANDO is 3-1 straight up against GOLDEN STATE over the last 3 seasons
2 of 4 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
CHARLOTTE vs. ATLANTA
Charlotte is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Charlotte's last 7 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Atlanta's last 15 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Atlanta's last 5 games
DETROIT vs. MILWAUKEE
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Detroit's last 6 games
Detroit is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Milwaukee's last 6 games when playing at home against Detroit
Milwaukee is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
NEW YORK vs. MEMPHIS
New York is 4-1-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Memphis
New York is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Memphis
Memphis is 1-4-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing New York
Memphis is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing New York
CLEVELAND vs. PHOENIX
Cleveland is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Phoenix
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Cleveland's last 5 games when playing Phoenix
Phoenix is 17-7 SU in its last 24 games when playing Cleveland
Phoenix is 10-2 SU in its last 12 games when playing at home against Cleveland
ORLANDO vs. GOLDEN STATE
Orlando is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Orlando's last 15 games
The total has gone OVER in 14 of Golden State's last 18 games when playing at home against Orlando
Golden State is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games when playing at home against Orlando
Hoop Trends - Thursday
By Vince Akins
VegasInsider.com
SU TREND OF THE DAY:
The Hawks are 0-12-1 ATS (-8.8 ppg) since January 10, 2004 with at most one day of rest after a double digit loss in which their opponent stole the ball at least twelve times.
OU TREND OF THE DAY:
The Bobcats are 0-10 OU (-12.8 ppg) since March 05, 2010 with at most one day of rest after a loss in which they scored less than 10% of their points from the three-point line.
PLAYER BASED TREND OF THE DAY:
The Knicks are 12-0-1 ATS (6.0 ppg) since October 29, 2010 after a win in which Amare Stoudemire had a double double.
CHOICE TREND:
The Warriors are 10-0 ATS (7.8 ppg) since April 14, 2006 as a dog with at most one day of rest off a home win that broke at least a three-game losing streak.
TODAY’S TRENDS:
The Magic are 0-8 ATS (-6.6 ppg) since January 13, 1997 on the road as a favorite with no rest when their opponent has averaged at least nine steals per game at home season-to-date.The Knicks are 9-0 ATS (9.6 ppg) since March 30, 2007 after a home win in which they allowed less than 40% from the field.
CHARLOTTE at ATLANTA
CHARLOTTE: 12-1 ATS after a combined score of 160 points or less
ATLANTA: 19-9 Under playing on back to back days
DETROIT at MILWAUKEE
DETROIT: 2-11 ATS Away off BB losses
MILWAUKEE: 22-7 Under as home favorite
NEW YORK at MEMPHIS
NEW YORK: 26-8 ATS as road underdog
MEMPHIS: 12-0 ATS after having lost 3 of L4 games
CLEVELAND at PHOENIX
CLEVELAND: 10-21 ATS off non-conf game
PHOENIX: 15-5 Under vs. Central Division
ORLANDO at GOLDEN STATE
ORLANDO: 24-8 Under when the total is between 180 and 189.5 points
GOLDEN STATE: 13-3 Under off SU win as home dog