NBA Knowledge
Thursday's hot teams
-- Cleveland won seven of its last nine games (3-5 last 8AF).
-- Bulls won four of last six games (4-3AF).
-- Utah won six of its last seven games (4-7 last 11AU).
-- Thunder won their last five games (10-4 last 14HF).
Cold teams
-- Pacers lost three of last five games (4-6 last 10HF).
-- New Orleans lost six of its last eight games (2-3-1 last 6AU).
-- Brooklyn lost seven of its last eight games (6-4 last 10HU).
-- New York lost four of its last six games (1-6 last 7HU).
-- Portland lost seven of its last eight road games (1-3 last 4AU).
-- Clippers lost four of their last five games (1-4 last 5HF).
Series records
-- Pelicans lost their last nine games with Indiana.
-- Nets lost six of last seven games with Cleveland.
-- Knicks lost four of last six games with Chicago.
-- Thunder won five of last six games with Utah.
-- Clippers won five of last seven games with Portland.
Totals
-- Six of last eight Indiana games stayed under total.
-- Four of last five Cleveland-Brooklyn ganes stayed under.
-- Over is 6-1-1 in last eight Chicago-New York games.
-- Last seven Jazz-Thunder games stayed under the total.
-- Eight of last nine Portland games went over the total.
Back/backs
-- Cavaliers are 2-5-1 vs spread on road last eight times they played the night before.
-- Chicago is 3-9 last 12 times they played night before.
-- Knicks covered four of last six if they played night before.
-- Jazz is 9-6 vs spread if they played night before.
-- Blazers covered three of last four if they played night before.
-- Clippers are 5-3 vs spread last eight times they played night before.
Armadillosports.com
NBA: Streaks, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
New Orleans at Indiana
Indiana Pacers firmly on the bubble for the playoffs need this one to stay in the running and should come out fired up. Expect Pacers' to line bettors' pockets. The Pacers have been money in the bank recently in this series (8-0 ATS) and have been great bets with two days rest (9-2 ATS). Additionally, Pacers hit the hardwood having cashed 4-of-5 facing a team with a losing record.
Inside the Paint - Thursday
By Chris David
VegasInsider.com
As the NCAA Tournament comes to a close over the next couple weeks, the end of the NBA regular season is just around the corner too. Thursday’s slate has five games on tap and like any other night in the Association, I would advise bettors to expect the unexpected.
Favorites continue to win but covering the number in the NBA isn’t that easy. Since Monday, the ‘chalk’ has gone 19-6 (76%) straight up but underdogs have been competitive at the betting counter with a 14-11 (56%) mark against the spread. Total bettors have seen the ‘under’ go 15-10 (60%) during this span.
Most of the ‘dogs have been short but the Knicks (+9) dominating 115-107 win over the Bulls last night returned nearly 4/1 odds on the money-line. And for those bettors who has the 76ers on the money-line last night versus Denver, accept my apologies.
We’ve got a handful of teams playing on no rest tonight and that’s always a big factor in my handicapping.
Let’s break down the card!
New Orleans (26-44 SU, 29-41 ATS) at Indiana (37-33 SU, 36-34 ATS)
The first game on the board looks like a pass as a healthy Pacers squad hosts a beat-up Pelicans team as 13-point favorites. Indiana has been a great bully, going 22-8 versus opponents under. 500 and that includes eight straight wins. The Pacers are in a dogfight for one of the final two remaining playoff spots in the East so the sense of urgency should be high in this spot. Indiana has owned the Pelicans recently, winning nine straight encounters and they’ve covered eight of those games. On Jan. 8, Indiana notched a 91-86 road win over New Orleans as a two-point favorite. Make a note that the Pacers are 5-0 SU as double-digit favorites this season but just 2-3 ATS.
Chicago (36-34 SU, 29-41 ATS) at New York (29-43 SU, 38-34 ATS)
These teams will be completing a home-and-home Thursday as the Knicks will look to sweep the Bulls at Madison Square Garden. Chicago was laying nine points in last night’s loss (see above) and are now 4½-point road favorites for the rematch. Despite losing last night, the Bulls have won four of the last six games against the Knicks and three of the four wins came by double digits. If the playoffs started today, the Bulls would miss the postseason. They’re one game behind Detroit for the eighth seed but they do have two games in hand.
New York hasn’t put together back-to-back wins since mid-January but for what it’s worth, it did sweep its only home-and-home set of the season against Atlanta on Jan. 3 and 5. Déjà vu on Thursday?
Before last night’s loss, Chicago had won three straight but it was playing with fire in those games and survived a couple close calls. The team is finally healthy but certainly rusty and backing a club that is 5-3 SU and 4-4 ATS as a road favorite doesn’t appear to be a great investment. However, the Knicks have been horrible home underdogs (4-15 SU, 6-12-1 ATS) this season and continue to disappoint at MSG.
Chicago has gone 5-9 both SU and ATS on zero days rest and the ‘over’ has gone 9-5 in those games. New York hasn’t been much better in these spots, going 7-9 SU and 9-6-1 ATS.
Cleveland (51-20 SU, 31-38-2 ATS) at Brooklyn (19-51 SU, 35-34-1 ATS)
The magic number for the Cavaliers to clinch the top spot in the East is 12 and the next two games in New York (Nets, Knicks) should be a formality for the club. Cleveland is listed as an eight point-favorite and it’s won six of seven versus the Nets which includes two wins this season (1-1 ATS). The ‘under’ has cashed in the last three meetings between the pair.
Cleveland has gone 4-2 SU and 3-3 ATS in its last six road games and they earned double digits wins in three of those games. The Cavs ran out the Bucks 113-104 last night and have been somewhat respectable on zero days rest (10-5 SU, 7-7-1 ATS) this season considering they were laying healthy numbers in the majority of those games.
Brooklyn has gone 5-11 since the All-Star break but has earned a small profit (9-7 ATS) for bettors while their fast tempo has helped the ‘over’ go 9-7.
These teams will meet once more on Mar. 31 when the Nets head to Cleveland.
Utah (35-36 SU, 35-34-2 ATS) at Oklahoma City (30-39-2 ATS)
Tough game to handicap here with the Jazz coming off a huge 89-87 victory over the Rockets last night as two-point road underdogs. Utah moved into the eighth playoff spot in the West ahead of Houston and could move up to the seventh seed over Dallas with a win tonight. Including last night’s victory, the Jazz have won and covered six of their last seven games and playing in a back-to-back spot hasn’t been much of an issue for them. Quinn Snyder’s team has gone 9-6 both SU and ATS on no rest this season but this will be the fourth game in six nights for Utah and that’s never easy.
OKC is rolling again, winners in five straight and it’s actually covered a few of them (3-2 ATS) as well. Utah isn’t a pushover but it does have a losing record and the Thunder have cleaned up against inferior opponents (below .500) this season with a 35-6 record. Possible look-ahead on deck for the Thunder with San Antonio visiting on Saturday.
The Thunder captured the first three meetings (2-1 ATS) against the Jazz this season but the pair hasn’t met since the middle of December. Utah hasn’t won at OKC since the 2010 season when it had a lineup that included Deron Williams, Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap and Andrei Kirilenko. How times have changed in Salt Lak City.
This series has watched the ‘under’ cash in seven straight and Utah is starting to get back into ‘under’ form, cashing to the low side in six straight games. Tonight’s total opened 199½, which is low for OKC standards, and has already dropped to 197½ at a few major offshore outfits.
Portland (37-35 SU, 40-32 ATS) at L.A. Clippers (43-27 SU, 32-34-4 ATS)
Even though we’ve got a handful of great players on the court, this could be an ugly game due to the situation. Both clubs played late last night and will have to do the quick turnaround and that usually favors the home team, in this case the Clippers.
Los Angeles dropped a 114-98 decision at Golden State on Wednesday and that was its fifth loss in six games. The Clippers look like they’re playing out the string, knowing that the worst playoff scenario for them is the fifth seed in the Western Conference. They’re 7-10 ATS since the All-Star break and the ‘under’ has gone 11-6 during this span.
These teams have met three times already these season and the first three outcomes were decided by double digits, with the Clippers capturing two of those wins. The ‘under’ has gone 2-1.
Portland has gone 5-11 SU and 7-9 ATS on zero days rest this season and that includes a 3-7 mark on the road. The Trail Blazers did beat the Mavericks 109-103 last night but this is a difficult travel spot tonight, playing their third game in four nights and on the road. The club is 1-7 SU and 3-5 ATS in its last eight away from home and four of those losses were blowouts.
Los Angeles has won seven of its last eight games (5-3 ATS) on no rest and stand at 9-6 SU and 7-8 ATS overall. Oddsmakers have installed the Clippers as five-point home favorites and they’ve gone 20-7 in that role this season, which includes a 5-2 mark (4-3 ATS) when laying five or less points.