The final NBA slate before the weekend is a juicy one with seven games on the schedule, plenty of which have the potential to be thrillers. Here, we take you through our best spread and player prop bets for the day! Check out our NBA tips below.
NBA Betting Tips: Friday March 4th
Sacramento Kings at San Antonio Spurs
AT&T Center, 12:30pm AEDT
The Kings led in the early stages of their most recent clash against the Pelicans, but completely fell away after half time to suffer a 30-point loss. That was their fifth loss from their last six games, three of which have been by 18 or more points. Clearly, it’s been yet another tough season for the Kings who just can’t seem to nail their rebuild.
The Spurs were no match for the talented Grizzlies in their last outing, making it two losses on the spin to finish their long eight-game road trip. In fairness, both losses were against tough opposition and they’ve been consistently competitive over the last three weeks. The Spurs enter this clash at 24-38 although they’re still a chance to feature in the play-in tournament.
The season series is level at 1-1 ahead of their third clash in San Antonio on Friday. Both teams have taken care of home court so far, covering the spread in each instance. That bodes well for the Spurs who will play hosts here against a Kings team badly out of sorts. We expect those trends to continue and for the home side to record a comfortable win.
San Antonio Spurs -5.5
$1.84
Golden State Warriors at Dallas Mavericks
American Airlines Center, 12:30pm AEDT
The Warriors are going through easily their worst patch of form this season as they enter this slate having lost six of their last eight games. They’ve certainly had excuses with so many injuries to key players, but the fact that they’ve lost three of those games by 15+ posts is a little alarming. Regardless, the Warriors remain in second spot in the West with a 43-19 record.
The Mavericks coughed up a huge lead in their most recent clash with the Lakers, but managed to compose themselves and finish off the game strongly to record a five-point win. That was their eighth win from their last 10 games in what’s been a fantastic couple of weeks. They’re now into fifth spot in the West and only 6 games behind the Warriors in second.
These teams met each other only a couple of days ago in San Francisco and it was the Mavericks who got the chocolates with a gritty come-from-behind win. That win gave them a 2-1 advantage in the season series, which gives them the opportunity to close it out at home on Friday. They’ll start as the slight underdogs due to the likely return of Klay Thompson, but we think they’re great value to record another win.
Dallas Mavericks H2H
$2.10
Los Angeles Lakers at Los Angeles Clippers
Crypto.com Arena, 2pm AEDT
The Lakers looked as though they had their spark back when they came roaring from behind to take the lead in the third quarter against the Mavericks last start, but again they faded in the fourth quarter to suffer their sixth loss from their last seven games. To say the season is starting to get away from them is an understatement, as the Lakers are now 4.5 games behind eighth spot in the West.
The Clippers continue to solider on despite being without their two superstars in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. They’ve been getting a serious contribution from all members of their roster in recent weeks, which has led to wins in each of their last four and six of their last seven outings. On top of that, the Clippers have now put a big space between them and the other teams challenging for a playoff spot.
The Clippers are by far the better form team in this clash and are the deserving favourites to record their fourth win from as many meetings with the Lakers this season. Suffering a season series sweep against their crosstown rivals would certainly be embarrassing for the Lakers, but you just get the feeling it’s bound to happen with how things have been going of late. We have the Clippers getting the win and covering the spread here.
Los Angeles Clippers -2.5
$1.90
Player Props
11am Bulls at Hawks – DeMar DeRozan 11+ RA $1.79 Sportsbet
11:30am Pistons at Raptors – Saddiq Bey 26+ PRA $1.95 TAB
11:30am Grizzlies at Celtics – Desmond Bane 18+ Points $1.90 Picklebet
11:30am Grizzlies at Celtics – Marcus Smart 14+ Points $1.85 TAB
12:30pm Kings at Spurs – Keldon Johnson 17+ Points $1.89 Picklebet
12:30pm Warriors at Mavericks – Steph Curry 25+ Points $1.85 TAB
