SmitsTips is back in action for NBA Thursday and looking to improve on a fantastic 36-19 record on the season (min $1.70 odds). There’s a big 10-game slate on the cards and plenty of value to be attacked across a couple of key matchups. Check out our best NBA plays for Tuesday right here!
NBA Betting Tips: Tuesday, 2nd of February
Los Angeles Lakers at Atlanta Hawks
State Farm Arena, 11:30am AEDT
Los Angeles Lakers will be playing their seventh straight game of this lengthy road trip when they travel to Atalanta. The Lakers started the season 10-0 on the road before losing back-to-back games against the Pistons and the Sixers, but managed to return to the winners list last time out against the Celtics.
Atlanta Hawks have had a mixed bag this season but come into this game on the back of a 16-point win away to the Wizards. Trae Young has returned to his best form with 6x 28+ point games on the spin, although their second-best player this season in DeAndre Hunter has been sidelines with injury.
The Hawks have been decent of late but will really miss Hunter’s two-way play against an elite team like the Lakers. We know the Lakers love playing on the road and as long as they have their expected full-strength line-up, then we see them breezing past the Hawks.
We mentioned above how great Trae Young is playing at the moment and although we expect his team to struggle here, we still have Young eclipsing his generous points line which is set at only 25.5. Jump on the ‘Overs’ here.
Prop: Young O25.5 Points ($1.84)
Los Angeles Lakers -6.5
$1.97
Houston Rockets at OKC Thunder
Chesapeake Energy Arena, 12pm AEDT
Houston Rockets got off to a shaky start but you can’t blame them with all that was going on with the James Harden saga. Now settled with their new pieces that actually want to rep H-Town, the Rockets have reeled off five wins on the spin and are playing as hungry as any team in the league.
OKC Thunder have done well so far with the limited talent they have on their roster, winning 8/18 of their games. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has proven his capabilities as a team leader; now it’s just up to the other young guys to sort out the pecking order going forward.
While OKC have certainly exceeded expectations to date, it’s hard to see them matching it with the in-form Rockets here. The Thunder have a couple of injuries to some key role players, which was evident last time out against the Nets where they gave up 147 points. We have the Rockets winning pretty comfortably.
One of the ways we expect the Rockets to have the edge here is scoring in the paint. The Thunder lack rim protection and the Rockets have plenty of guys that challenge the rim. One of those guys is John Wall who’s having a fantastic bounce-back year. We have him covering his points line here.
Prop: Wall O17.5 Points ($1.87)
Houston Rockets -4.5
$1.83
Memphis Grizzlies at San Antonio Spurs
AT&T Center, 12:30pm AEDT
Memphis Grizzlies have had a turbulent season but have looked a lot more settled with Ja Morant back from injury. The Grizzlies have reeled off six straight wins to take advantage of a favourable schedule and increase their season record to a very solid 8-6.
San Antonio Spurs are another middle-of-the-pack team that we can’t see making too much noise this season. With that said, they’re a team that can win any game they play and they’ve shown that already this season en route to an 11-9 record.
These teams played just a couple of days ago and it was the Grizzlies who came out on top by double-digits. Memphis are certainly on a roll but their injury list continues to grow and they come up against a Popovich-coached side that is sure to make some crafty adjustments. We expect a big response from the Spurs in a bounce-back win at home.
One of the reasons the Spurs were poor last game was the horrible play of DeMar DeRozan who finished with just five points and one assist. The positive for the Spurs is he’s recorded 31+ PRA in each of the three games following <10-point performances this season. Expect him to return to form on Tuesday.
Prop: DeRozan O28.5 PRA ($1.81)
San Antonio Spurs -3
$1.90
