Thursday night in the Association means it’s a TNT night, and as such, there is a limited schedule of action. This Thursday, we have four games on the slate, headlined by the TNT games featuring Boston at winless Oklahoma City and the Nuggets visiting the Lakers.
As always, we have picks from our full staff as well as the relevant trends and information you need to know as we near tipoff. Let’s begin!
Cleveland Cavaliers (+9.5) at Detroit Pistons, O/U 216.5
This has climbed to near double digits with the announcement that Kevin Love will not play, making an already very bad Cavs team somehow worse on the second night of a back-to-back. Cleveland is now 0-4 on the court and 2-2 ATS, failing to cover in both games at home. If you’re looking for hope on the Cavs side, its that they are 2-0 ATS as a road dog. Detroit is 1-2 ATS this season (the Philly game was a cover of the closing line) but is 3-0 on the season. They’ve played close games each night, hence their ATS record, and are 0-1 as a home favorite. Blake Griffin against a Cavs team without Kevin Love might go off once again.
The total here has dropped some from open and sits at 216.5, likely in response to Love’s absence. The Cavs’ offense has been awful at times, looking its absolute worst against the Nets on Wednesday — their first Under of the season. They’re 3-1 on Overs, but without Love they might struggle to score. Detroit is 2-1 on Overs this year, 1-1 at home.
Portland Trail Blazers (-4) at Orlando Magic, O/U 214
The Blazers are 2-1 ATS this season, while Orlando is 3-1 ATS, although its lone loss of the year was as a home ‘dog. Portland has yet to play on the road.
The Magic are 3-1 on Unders this season and have gone Under in both home games this year. The Blazers are 3-0 on Overs but, again, they are making their first trip away from the Moda Center on Thursday.
Boston Celtics (-1) at Oklahoma City Thunder, O/U 217.5
Oklahoma City is 1-2 ATS and 0-1 at home, although this is their first game as a home underdog. The Celtics are 1-3 ATS and have failed to cover in each of their last three games, including both of their road games.
Two of the few Under teams in the NBA this season, the Thunder are 2-1 on Unders and the Celtics are 3-1 on Unders, hence this total being where it is. Neither offense has clicked so far this season, but if one shakes out of their funk this could get weird.
Denver Nuggets (-3) at L.A. Lakers, O/U 235.5
The Nuggets are perfect on the court and perfect against the spread at 3-0, while the Lakers got to 1-3 ATS with a big win in Phoenix last night.
Denver went Over for the first time, thanks to the Kings’ defense, and now face a Lakers defense that’s been just as bad if not worse than Sacramento. Nikola Jokic figures to feast inside, and the question will be whether Denver’s defense holds up against the Lakers’ offensive onslaught. It’s a 3-1 Under team vs. a 4-0 Over team in L.A., and the oddsmakers aren’t about to give the Lakers defense anything close to a normal total.
