We cooled off a bit on Tuesday with just 1/3 of our plays getting up, compared to the perfect 3/3 day on Saturday in our NBA betting tips. On Tuesday the Nets just didn’t have the firepower to stay with the Bucks, while the Pelicans fell two points short of the Pacers. However, the Kings demolished the Spurs in the final game of the day to keep the losses to a minimum. We now shift our focus to the seven game slate on Thursday and provide our previews for the value games of the day. As always, good luck to everyone following!
NBA Betting Tips Thursday 7th February
New Orleans Pelicans @ Chicago Bulls (12pm AEDT)
Firs up with our Thursday tips we’ve got the New Orleans Pelicans travelling to the East to take on the Chicago Bulls. This will be their second and final meeting of the season. The Pelicans won the first contest by nine points on their home court back in November.
The Pelicans season is all but over at this point in time. They’ve lost eight of their last 10 and are likely to be without superstar Anthony Davis for an extended period of time. As it stands, they’re currently 13th spot in the Western Conference standings with a 23-31 record.
Likewise, the Bulls are just playing for pride at this point. It was always going to be a tough season for their franchise, but they’ve looked a little bit better lately with almost a full roster to select from.
We see the young Bulls pulling out a rare win at home against an undermanned Pelicans unit here. Bobby Portis and Lauri Markkanen have been tearing up lately and are coming off a combined 63 points in their last outing. We see them being a big factor against a weakened Pelicans front-court and ultimately getting the Bulls over the line on Thursday.
Charlotte Hornets @ Dallas Mavericks (12:30pm AEDT)
Second up for the day we’ve got the Charlotte Hornets travelling to face the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks absolutely obliterated the Hornets in their first meeting this season, meaning the Hornets must win this game to avoid the season sweep.
The Hornets are playing their second game of a back-to-back after a tough two point loss to the Clippers on Wednesday. It was a disappointing defeat for a Hornets team that has otherwise been really solid at home this season. Their struggles have mainly lied on the road where they’re 7-18 on the year ahead of this trip.
The Mavericks are a little hard to get a read on at the moment as it’s still only early days since the big trade where they acquired Porzingis. However, they’ve been a great home team all season at 18-7 and will fancy their chances in this one.
The Mavericks get a great opportunity to make it back-to-back wins and sweep the season series against the Hornets. They catch a poor road team on the second night of a back-to-back, which is why we expect a comfortable win from them here.
Dallas Mavericks -4.5
$1.92
San Antonio Spurs @ Golden State Warriors (2:30pm AEDT)
Arguably the best game of the day will see the Golden State Warriors host the San Antonio Spurs at Oracle Arena. The Warriors will be looking for revenge after the Spurs upset them in their first meeting this season by 12 points at home.
The Spurs enter their second game of their current road trip to face the Warriors on Thursday. The first game of their trip ended in a disappointing loss to the Kings, but one thing we’ve learned from Popovich’s Spurs is that they’re elite at responding from losses.
Meanwhile, the Warriors are coming off a win against the Lakers, but it’s a hard one to get a read on as the Lakers didn’t have King James for that meeting. The game prior to that was a tough loss to the Sixers, so it’ll be interesting to see how they perform on Thursday.
The Warriors may have had the wood over the Spurs in past seasons, but nearly all of their clashes have been tight ones. The Spurs also won the earlier meeting this season and are the best team in the league at looking after the ball. We expect their game style to be good enough to keep this one under the 14.5 spread here.
San Antonio Spurs +14.5
$1.92
