It’s been an exciting first quarter of the 2018-19 NBA season, with the standings as close as they’ve ever been at this point of the year in the 30-team format. We’re coming off a great day on Saturday, where we went 3/3 on our best bets (all $1.80+). Check out our best bets from the value games below and good luck to everyone following!
NBA Betting Tips Tuesday December 4th
Denver Nuggets at Toronto Raptors (11:30am AEDT)
The first game we’ve taken a liking to is the match-up between the travelling Denver Nuggets and the Toronto Raptors. Like most, the Nuggets have struggled with consistency in the first quarter of the season, often going on multiple game winning and losing streaks. However, amazingly, their current record of 15-7 has them in first position in the Western Conference standings. Their opponents for this one, the Raptors, are also in first position in the Eastern Conference with a league best record of 20-4.
Not many would’ve predicted that this game between the Nuggets and Raptors would be a top of the table clash at this point in the season, but that’s exactly what we have on our hands. Not only are they on top of their respective conferences, but the Raptors and Nuggets come into this duel with the two longest active winnings streaks in the NBA (eight and five games, respectively). This sets up an intriguing encounter on paper, but we’re not convinced it will be as close as it seems. Don’t be fooled by the position of the Nuggets at the moment, the Raptors are the superior team here and with a home record of 10-2 it’s impossible to oppose them.
Raptors -5.5 Handicap
$1.92
Golden State Warriors at Atlanta Hawks (11:30am AEDT)
The second game we’ve found value in for Tuesday’s slate is the Golden State Warriors at Atlanta Hawks match-up. These teams are quite clearly on opposite ends of the spectrum, with the 15-9 Warriors (fourth in the West) in a far better position than the 5-18 Hawks (13th in the East). These teams have already faced off once this season, with the Warriors taking care of business to record a seven point win without both Draymond Green and Steph Curry playing.
The Warriors are 10x better than their opponents here. It’s actually impressive that the Warriors are only a game and a half back from first place in the West with all the drama and injuries they’ve had. The Warriors did go down to the Pistons in Curry’s first game back, but the 2x MVP still notched 27 points and looked like he’s ready to play at a high level. Now with their troops starting to return, look for the Warriors to start to send a message to the rest of the league, starting with an emphatic win on Tuesday morning.
Warriors -10.5 Handicap
$1.90
Houston Rockets at Minnesota Timberwolves (12pm AEDT)
The third and final game on Tuesday that we like is the Houston Rockets at Minnesota Timberwolves match-up. The Rockets now find themselves in winning form and it’s no coincidence that it’s correlated with the return of Chris Paul. The perennial all-star is clearly vital to the Rockets success, who have now increased their record to 11-11 with a chance to go above .500 and into the playoff picture with a win over their Western Conference rivals. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves continue to struggle with consistency, even after the end of the drama that followed Jimmy Butler. Their record stands at 11-12, which amazingly has them in third last position in the West.
The Rockets are finally starting to get healthy and look like the 2017-18 team that pushed the Warriors to seven games in the Western Conference Finals. James Harden continues to dominate and is unsurprisingly leading the league in points per game. On the other hand, the Timberwolves still lack identity and look lost on the court at times. We’re happy to oppose them here with a play on one of the best teams at the league at very nice odds.
