The NBA season continues with a juicy 10-game on Thursday, the 16th of January. We went a perfect 3/3 in our betting tips last time out and we’re confident we can keep the ball rolling on Thursday. We have a full preview and betting tips for some of the key matchups of the day below.
NBA Betting Tips Thursday January 16th
Toronto Raptors @ OKC Thunder
12:10pm AEDT
The Raptors come into this off a really disappointing home loss to the Spurs where they went down by one point. They surrendered a 13-point lead at the final break in what was their sixth loss from their past 10 games. The Raptors are now in danger of slipping down to sixth spot on the ladder if they’re to lose this clash with the Thunder.
The Thunder have been one of the great surprise packets this season and continue to play really well on a nightly basis. They got off to a slow start, which was expected considering their newly put together roster, however, they’ve now won 12 of their past 15 games and are looking to improve on their 23-17 record, which has them seventh in the West.
The Thunder are clearly the form team of these two clubs, which makes it interesting to see them start as just two-point favourites. The Raptors have really struggled against quality teams this season (5-12 vs teams above .500) and we don’t see them having any luck when they travel to Oklahoma to take on the red-hot Thunder.
Charlotte Hornets @ Denver Nuggets
1:10pm AEDT
The Hornets have had their struggles this season, but they’ve still been more competitive than we all thought they’d be. Devonte Graham has emerged as a fantastic young player for their club and is the front runner for Most Improved Player. Despite his excellence, the Hornets have struggled of late and come into this on a five-game losing streak.
The Nuggets were impressive winners last time out against the Clippers (114-104). It was a great response after their shock loss to the Cavs the game prior, which they were very poor in. They continue to dominant on their home deck (16-5), while struggling at times on the road (11-7). The Nuggets are sitting pretty in third in the West standings and are just half a game behind the Jazz in second.
The Hornets have really struggled to close games out all season long and have been particularly poor at holding leads in games of late. They’re now faced with one of the toughest tests in the NBA when they hit the road to play a Nuggets team that has the best home record in the league over the past two seasons. We’re confident the Nuggets win this very comfortably.
Denver Nuggets -12.5
$1.88
Dallas Mavericks @ Sacramento Kings
2:10pm AEDT
The Mavericks will be playing their second leg of a road back to back when they face the Kings in Sacramento. The Mavericks were very easy winners in their first leg against the Warriors, winning by 27 points while resting their starters in the fourth quarter. The Mavericks are now an impressive 25-15 on the season and sit in sixth spot in the West standings.
The Kings haven’t been able to capitalise on their current homestand, going 0-2 coming into this clash against the Mavs. Last time out they fell to the Magic (112-114) despite a career night scoring the ball from Nemanja Bjelica (34 points, 8/10 3FGM). That loss is already the 25th of the season for the Kings from 40 games, which has them down in 12th in the West standings.
The Mavericks won’t be phased by playing the second leg of a road back to back due to the ease in which they won on Wednesday. They may also be boosted by the return of Kristaps Porzingis who has missed a handful of games through injury. The Kings won the earlier meeting between these clubs by four points, however, the Mavs are the far better team in this matchup and should be evening the ledger here.
Dallas Mavericks -2.5
$1.88
