We’re now into the month of February which means the All-Star break is just around the corner and the regular season is heating up. There’s a few teams finding form and a few others who are trying to get things going. As usual, we’ll look at the value on offer in some of the key games and preview our NBA betting tips for Thursday, 1st February!
2017-18 NBA Preview & Betting Tips for Thursday, 1st February
Philadelphia 76ers At Brooklyn Nets (11:30am AEDT)
The 76ers have been hot lately and have managed to put some separation between themselves and the other teams fighting for the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference. They’ve won 7 of their past 11 games and have a 24-23 record on the season. On Thursday they will travel to Brooklyn to take on the Nets, which will be their fourth and final game of their current road trip, where they have won 1 and lost 2 so far. The Sixers will welcome back Joel Embiid to the line-up, who has just been selected to play in his first All-Star game.
The Nets are having another disappointing season and have been playing poorly lately, even by their standards. They currently sit in 13th position in the Eastern Conference with a 18-33 record. They have managed just 2 wins from their past 9 games and have been blown out in most of their losses. On a positive note, the Nets will return home to play the Sixers after grinding out a long 5-game road trip, where they were successful in just 1 of their games.
We’re taking the form team that has something to play for here. The Sixers are looking to play in the post-season for the first time in 6 years and will need to win these sorts of games to achieve that. With Embiid in the line-up it should be a comfortable win for the travelling team.
TIP: Philadelphia 76ers -6.5 - $1.95 at Sportsbet
Miami Heat At Cleveland Cavaliers (11:30am AEDT)
Much like their 2016-17 campaign the Miami Heat have found some red-hot form during the middle of the season. After starting the season off slowly, Miami have gone on a tear and now find themselves in the 4th spot in the Eastern Conference with a 29-21 record. They have won 11 of their past 15 games and have looked every bit of a playoff contender in the way they’ve played. Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside have been devastating in the pick-and-roll and will be looking to take it right to the Cavaliers on Thursday.
The Cavaliers season is quite a contrast to that of Miami’s. After a fairly decent start to the season, Cleveland have gone off the boil and now find themselves barely hanging on to the 3rd spot in the Eastern Conference with their 29-19 record. They have won just 4 of their past 10 games and have conceded an alarming 118 points per game during the stretch.
We are expecting a fierce contest between these Eastern Conference rivals that should produce some high scoring outputs from key players. We are comfortable with taking the Heat to cover the spread in this one.
TIP: Miami Heat +2.5 - $1.95 at Sportsbet
Dallas Mavericks At Phoenix Suns (2:30pm AEDT).
As expected the Dallas Mavericks have struggled this season and find themselves right just 1 game off the bottom of the Western Conference with a 16-35 record. They don’t really have a reliable go-to player to get them buckets and it’s been showing with their low scoring outputs of late. They have won just 1 of their past 8 games and have averaged 97 points per game in the process.
The Suns have also played out to expectations and find themselves just 1 game ahead of the Mavericks in the Western Conference with their 17-34 record. They looked to be a promising team early on in the season when Jay Triano took over the coaching duties, however, they now find themselves in a major slump and have lost their past 5 games by an average margin of 12 points. They have also had trouble scoring the ball and have put up just 100 points per game across their past 5.
With both teams struggling to score the ball we are expecting this one to be a very low scoring affair. Take the unders here.
TIP: Total Score Under 210.5 - $1.91 at Sportsbet
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