Only 13 games remaining before the All-Star break, with 10 games set to be played on Thursday. It’s always a risky proposition betting this closely to the All-Star break, with teams likely to either rest players, or players simply phoning it in before a week off. Given this, we’re going to try and focus in on a few of the teams who can’t really afford to take a game off, and leave the big gun teams who are likely to rest stars alone.
Check out our NBA Best Bets for Thursday 16th February below, and make sure to check our daily content over at Before You Bet!
2022-23 NBA Betting Tips: Thursday 16th February
Chicago Bulls at Indiana Pacers
Bankers Life Fieldhouse, 11:00am AEDT
Two desperate teams square off in the early game today, with the 11th placed Chicago Bulls (26-31) heading to Indiana to take on the 12th placed Pacers (25-34). Both teams’ seasons are threatening to spiral out of control, with the Bulls losing their past 4 games, and the Pacers losing 16 of their past 18 games. With both teams on the outside looking in, wins against other teams battling it out for a place in the play-in tournament is crucial to both teams’ chances.
So as can be seen, motivation shouldn’t be a factor. I don’t see a need for either team to rest any of its players, so we should have a competitive matchup at the very least. The previous meetings this season have been split, with the Bulls taking care of business at home (124-109), and the Pacers following suit, winning 106-100 at home 3 weeks ago.
The Bulls will be without Lonzo Ball (knee), DeMar DeRozan (thigh), and Derrick Jones Jr (groin), whilst Goran Dragic and Alex Caruso are questionable. Conversely, the Pacers look relatively healthy, with only Myles Turner and Daniel Theis both listed as questionable.
Given the injuries and the home court advantage, I’ll take the Pacers to scrape by in this one. I’m not confident, hence I’ll only be taking them at the ML, but in a must win spot I give them a slight edge.
Indiana Pacers
$1.80 (1.5 Units)
New York Knicks at Atlanta Hawks
State Farm Arena, 11:30am AEDT
I like the Knicks in this spot. The Hawks form has been patchy over the past month in terms of wins and losses, but I’m not excited at all by what I’ve seen from wise. Yes, they might be winning at a 50% clip over the past month, but some of their more recent wins haven’t exactly been noteworthy. A road loss to the hapless Hornets on Tuesday has me even more concerned with the form line of the Hawks moving forward.
The Knicks are healthy and playing some decent basketball. They’ve had solid wins over the past month against genuine contenders in the Nets, 76ers, Heat, Celtics, and Cavaliers. They’ve won 4 of their past 5, and appear to be genuinely humming along with Jalen Brunson leading the way, averaging 33.1 points per game in January, and looking a genuine chance at the Most Improved Player award.
I just like the form of the Knicks here, and the fact they’re on the road doesn’t scare me at all, with the New York team holding a 16-12 road record this season. I’ll split my stake on the Knicks with a start and on the money line.
Alternate Bet:
New York Knicks $2.35 @ Betfair (0.5u)
New York Knicks (+3.5)
$1.91 (1.5 Units)
New Orleans Pelicans at Los Angeles Lakers
Crypto.com Arena, 2:00pm AEDT
The Pelicans are trying their hardest to turn their season around heading into the All-Star break, winning 4 of their past 5. After losing 10 straight games, the Pelicans were struggling to make the Play-In tournament, let alone the playoffs. But some stellar play from Brandon Ingram (31ppg) over the past week, has seen the Pelicans shoot back into 7th place, and a shot at an automatic playoff berth.
The Lakers have been struggling to stay afloat, with a mooted trade for Kyrie Irving failing to materialise, and an on-going ankle concern keeping LeBron James out of the line-up since becoming the top scorer in NBA history. With Anthony Davis also listed as probable, I see a good opportunity to take on the Lakers right before the All-Star break.
The Pelicans remain without Zion Williamson, however if they can get another big performance out of Ingram, I can see them causing the upset here. CJ McCollum is also listed as questionable, and if he is ruled out I will try and buy out of this bet, or maybe get in live at some point. But for now, with the information at hand, I’ll take the Pelicans in a small upset.
New Orleans Pelicans
$2.30 (1 Unit)
