ESPN are depriving us of their usual Thursday Double-Header this week in preparation for the monster slate we have coming on Boxing Day. It will be the OKC Thunder travelling to the New Orleans Pelicans in the only televised game of the day, but there are plenty of other interesting matchups in the NBA on Thursday the 22nd of December.
Oklahoma City Thunder at New Orleans Pelicans (12pm AEDT)
OKC are coming off a day’s rest for the matchup against the Pels, whereas New Orleans will be playing their 3rd game in 4 nights after a good win over the 76ers on Wednesday. Anthony Davis is back to his best after missing a few games due to injury earlier in the season. The dynamic big man is averaging 31 points, 11 rebounds and almost 3 blocks per game in his comeback season, and sits 10th in the league in player win shares. He is the only player inside that top ten who plays on a team below .500, which means that he is well and truly carrying the Pelicans at the moment.
Maybe the only guy doing more for their team this far into the season is Russel Westbrook. Statistically, we haven’t seen a season like this since Oscar Roberstson was running around in the 60’s. Westbrook sits 9th on the win shares list, but it’s safe to say he has a little more help on the floor than Davis. The Thunder have a solid defensive big in Steven Adams to combat Davis, while the Pels lack any true PG stopper to play on Westbrook. New Orleans give up the third highest production to point guards this season, for those reasons, and the fact that OKC will be coming into this one fresh as a daisy, I like the Thunder to take this one comfortably away from home.
TIP: Oklahoma City Thunder -1.5 - $1.91 at CrownBet
Washington Wizards at Chicago Bulls (12pm AEDT)
The Wizards travel to Chicago this Thursday to take on one of their fiercest rivals in the Bulls. The Bulls were victourios by 11 points in the teams only other meeting so far this year, which was also in Chicago. However, I think this one could go a little differently. The Wizards have been on a run of some hot form lately, winning 6 of their last 9 while the Bulls have been in somewhat of a slide losing back to back games to the Bucks on the 15th and 16th of December. The Bulls have only managed to score over 100 in 2 of their last 7 games, which suggest some issues on offence, and while they’ve kept their opponents to relatively low scores in the same time period, the Wizards offence has been playing another level of late.
On the back of some big games from shooting guard Bradley Beal, the Wizards have averaged a monster 110 points throughout their last 6 games. The Wizards also have a lot of size and length that they can throw at the Bulls wings in Otto Porter, Beal, Markieff Morris and Kelly Oubre Jr. Both teams will be coming off a day’s rest, which is good for the Wizards, as they don’t have a lot of depth and like to play their starters big minutes. For those reasons I like the Wizards to continue their winning fashion in this one and square the season series to 1-1 against the Bulls.
TIP: Washington Wizards to Win - $2.46 at CrownBet
Milwaukee Bucks at Cleveland Cavaliers (12pm AEDT)
The Cavs suffered a shock 17-point defeat to the Bucks earlier in the season. They went into Milwaukee on Wednesday night with vengeance in mind and claimed a victory by six points. The two teams will meet again on Thursday night, this time in Cleveland. Wenesday night’s meeting was a much closer affair than the 6-point margin will have you believe. The game went to overtime and was tied with less than a minute to go, some frustration fouls after a big LeBron James three made some punters who took the -5.5 line very happy.
Look for this one to be another close affair, regardless of whether Cavs forward Kevin Love remains sidelined with a knee injury. The Cavs didn’t have him on Wednesday night, and add scorer J.R Smith to the injury list and you are missing 30 points per game, however, the depth is good in Cleveland and we saw Channing Frye come in and provide valuable points Wednesday night. If Love comes back for this one or not, I still think it’s a close game where the Cavs just get over the line.
TIP: Milwakuee Bucks +8 – 1.91 at CrownBet
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Take note: Any of the tips in this article are simply the author’s opinion, so bet at your own risk and always gamble responsibly. Also be sure to check out the Before You Bet Twitter Page for all our thoughts in the lead up to bets! Happy punting!
