13 games are on Thursday’s NBA card with plenty of those expected to be fantastic contests. As always, you can catch our best spread and player prop bets for the day for free right here!
NBA Betting Tips: Thursday, 9th of December
New York Knicks at Indiana Pacers
Gainbridge Fieldhouse, 11am AEDT
The Knicks secured a much-needed win against the Spurs on Wednesday to begin their three-game road trip. They entered that contest having lost three on the spin which saw them momentarily slip below .500 for the season. Interestingly, the Knicks are an impressive 7-4 on their travels this season compared to just 5-8 when they play in front of their home fans. Perhaps that will even out as the season goes on or maybe Knicks fans are really too much to handle.
The Pacers were able to break a three-game losing run on their home deck when they defeated the Wizards last time out. That win was just their fourth from their last 12 games in what has been a really poor stretch from a talented roster. The Pacers are yet to show any improvement under new head coach Rick Carlisle this season and are already 3.5 games back from the #8 seed in the East.
Neither team has been in good form over the last couple of weeks but both enter this clash off a last start win. In saying that, the Knicks have been the much better of the two teams overall this season and have excelled on the road. We expect them to put in another quality performance on opposition turf on Thursday and to manage to cover the spread at the very least, with big potential to cause an upset win.
New York Knicks +4.5
$1.90
Milwaukee Bucks at Miami Heat
FTX Arena, 11:30am AEDT
The Bucks had a slow start to the season mainly due to injuries to key players, but have certainly hit their straps over the last couple of weeks. They come into this slate having won 10 of their last 11 games which makes them the hottest team in the East. The Bucks are now back to near full health and will have their eyes set on moving into top spot in their conference.
The Heat have had their fair share of injury problems so far this season which has resulted in them struggling for consistency. They only managed to put up 90 points in their most recent 15-point loss at home to the Grizzlies, making it four losses from their last five games. Regardless, it’s still been a fairly positive first 25 games for the Heat who have 14 wins to their name and have proven to be a really good team when fully healthy.
These teams have already played twice this season and both games have finished in blowout wins for the home side, with the series now tied at 1-1. The last time they met was only a couple of days ago in Milwaukee where the Bucks ran home very easy 22-point winners. The Heat haven’t found any better form since that loss which makes picking the Bucks to cover the spread an obvious play here in our opinion.
Milwaukee Bucks -5.5
$1.90
Dallas Mavericks at Memphis Grizzlies
FedExForum, 12pm AEDT
The Mavericks were finding wins easy to come by early in the season when their record was a pretty 9-4, but just about everything has gone wrong since then and the Mavericks now find themselves at 11-12 after losing eight of their last 10. Niggling injuries to Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic haven’t helped their cause, although the former is certainly no stranger to missing games.
The Grizzlies were expected to struggle when Ja Morant went down with injury a couple of weeks ago, but his teammates have thrived in his absence to reel off five straight wins, three of which have come on the road. During their current stretch they’ve recorded impressive wins against the Heat and the Mavericks, as well as an NBA record 73-point win against the Thunder.
These teams will be facing each other for the second time in a week when they go to battle on Thursday. The Grizzlies were seven-point winners in Dallas in their first meeting and should only be better second time around on their home deck. We expect them to keep up their great form with another win here and to cover the spread in the process.
Memphis Grizzlies -4.5
$1.82
Player Props
11am 76ers at Hornets – Joel Embiid 28+ Points ($1.85 TAB)
11am 76ers at Hornets – Gordon Hayward 30+ PRA ($1.85 TAB)
11am Wizards at Pistons – Cade Cunningham 28+ PRA ($1.80 TAB)
11:30am Thunder at Raptors – Josh Giddey 7+ Rebounds ($2.30 TAB)
11:30am Bucks at Heat – Khris Middleton 19+ Points ($1.91 Sportsbet)
12pm Nuggets at Pelicans – Brandon Ingram 24+ Points ($1.85 Sportsbet)
12pm Jazz at Timberwolves – Mike Conley 15+ Points ($1.95 Sportsbet)
2pm Magic at Kings – Franz Wagner 4+ Assists ($2.35 TAB)
2pm Magic at Kings – Cole Anthony 6+ Assists ($1.83 Sportsbet)
