We hit on just one of three tips Sunday in what was a tough betting day in the NBA. We’ll look to bounce back this Tuesday, the 5th of December as we take a look at some of the key matchups in the massive 11 game slate and offer our betting tips below.
2017-18 NBA Preview & Betting Tips for Tuesday, 5th December
Milwaukee Bucks at Boston Celtics (11.30am AEDT)
The Celtics kept their great start to the season rolling on Sunday as they downed the Phoenix Suns at home by five points to move to a 20-4 record. The mark is the best in the league so far this season and they’ll look to assert some more dominance over the Eastern Conference when they meet the Bucks at TD Garden on Tuesday.
The Bucks have won their last three games and seven of their last 10 to climb to 6th in the East and will be looking to continue to climb with the likes of Philly and Detroit in their sights. Giannis Antetokounmpo continues to dominate for the Bucks, and the mid season trade that saw the Bucks acquire Eric Bledsoe from the Suns has been a great result for them.
We liked this market on Sunday when the Suns and Celtics faced off given Boston’s propensity to get off to poor starts. These two teams are much more even and should provide a better all round contest making the ‘any other result’ in the wire to wire market a decent chance.
TIP: Any other result in wire to wire market - $1.72 at Sportsbet
Golden State Warriors at New Orleans Pelicans (12pm AEDT)
After a shock loss to Sacramento last week, Golden State have now won their last three games and currently sit second in the Western Conference with an 18-6 record. They definitely haven’t looked as invincible as they did last year while harbouring injuries to some key players, but will still start as 10 point road favourites over the Pelicans here.
The reason they will be favoured by so much on the road is the absence of New Orleans star power forward Anthony Davis, who injured his pelvis against Utah last week and will be out for Tuesday’s game. A lot of weight will fall on the shoulders of DeMarcus Cousins here to pick up the slack, which he has proven he is capable of doing so far this season.
In the three games that Davis has missed this season, DeMarcus has put up games of 39, 41 and 38 points respectively. He has put up at least 23 shots in all three of those games so should get plenty of usage again tomorrow, we think the 29.5-point line is low.
TIP: DeMarcus Cousins OVER 29.5 points - $1.78 at Sportsbet
Detroit Pistons at San Antonio Spurs (12.30pm AEDT)
The Spurs, as they so often do, are quietly going about their business and currently hold a 15-8 record, good for 3rd best in the West through the firs quarter of the season. It’s almost as if they are conceding the fact that they are unlikely to finish with a better record than the Warriors or Rockets, and in doing that are giving star small forward Kawhi Leonard extra time to recover from a quad injury.
Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich took a scheduled loss to the Thunder on Monday, sitting LaMarcus Aldridge, Rudy Gay and Tony Parker for rest as the Spurs went down by three points. They trio should return for the game against the Pistons, while Kyle Anderson will be a likely absence after suffering a knee injury against the Thunder.
For all the weird things that Pop likes to do on the road with rest and experimentation, the reason why San Antonio are such a good side year after year is because they rarely lose games at home. They sit third in the Western Conference but still maintain the best home record in the league at 10-2 and although they’ll be on the second night of a back to back, their key players will have had plenty of rest and we like them to cover a small line here.
TIP: San Antonio -3.5 - $1.95 at William Hill
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