A disappointing 1-2 day on Tuesday took our season tally on NBA bets to 46-38-1. We’ll be praying we can have a good outing here before the All-Star break to go into the 2nd portion of the season with some momentum. We have a massive 14 game slate to look forward to as we give our preview and NBA betting tips for Thursday, the 16th of February.
Indiana Pacers at Cleveland Cavaliers (11am AEDT)
Indiana have the daunting task of travelling to Cleveland Thursday, a place where the East leading Cavs are an impressive 23-5 on the season so far. The task will be made easier, however, with the absence of Kevin Love, who underwent surgery Tuesday to repair his left knee and should miss up to six weeks. It’s a massive blow for the Cavs. Who have been relying on Love more and more for inside presence alongside Tristan Thompson as much as they have been for his scoring and rebounding ability. The Cavs were able to overcome Minnesota a few days ago, in their first game without Love, but Indiana should represent a harder mission than the Wolves.
After a seven-game win streak ended in early February, the Pacers have now lost their last four games and are reeling at 29-26 and 6th in the East. The All-Star break can’t come soon enough for the Pacers, and they’ll be hoping they can muster a win here to take some sort of momentum into the break. Their four losses have been to some quality teams in the Spurs, Wizards, Cavs and Bucks, so they shouldn’t be too disheartened, and this contest should be a little easier than their last go against the Cavs. Don’t be surprised if LeBron James and Kyrie Irving begin to play limited rolls in their two remaining games as they ease into the break.
With almost a clean bill of health and a six-point head start, I like the Pacers to cover here.
TIP: Indiana Pacers +6 - $1.95 at Sportsbet
New York Knicks at Oklahoma City Thunder (1.30pm AEDT)
The Knicks scored a miraculous home win over the Spurs on Monday and will be looking to carry that form as they go on the road for their remaining two games before the break. Meeting Russel Westbrook and LeBron James in the next two nights won’t be an easy task though. One thing that does bode well for them is that they have a clean bill of health (barring Joakim Noah) for the first time in a while, and with Carmelo Anthony back to his scoring ways, they’ll think they can match it with the best of them.
They still struggle on the road, however, with an 9-18 road record on the season so far, they are in the bottom ten teams in that category. I think their only hope to snatch a win over these next two games is if Westbrook or LeBron play a limited role due to rest. LeBron might, but the way Westbrook plays, it’s hard to envision him ever taking a night off.
I like the Thunder to cover the home line here.
TIP: Oklahoma City Thunder -6.5 - $1.87 at Unibet
Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics
Although it should be a pretty lacklustre game in terms of excitement, it offers up some value in the markers. With Philly battling some injuries at the moment in Joel Embiid and Jahill Okafor both being out, there’s plenty of minutes to go around for the remaining to bigs on the 76ers roster, Nerlens Noel and Ersan Ilyasova. It’s makes it even better for value that Boston is the worst rebounding team in the league by a stretch.
There should be plenty of boards to go share between the two bigs here and I think Ersan’s line of 5 is a little low considering he grabbed 10 in just 20 minutes on Tuesday.
TIP: Ersan Ilyasova OVER 5 Rebounds - $1.87 at Sportsbet
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