We had another rough day on Thursday in the NBA, going 1-2 on our betting tips as the Bucks held on to win against Milwaukee and Golden State were too strong for the Hornets. We will look to bounce back this Saturday, the 9th of December as we preview some of the key games in the eight game NBA slate.
2017-18 NBA Preview & Betting Tips for Saturday, 9th December
Golden State Warriors at Detroit Pistons (11am AEDT)
The Warriors have won their last five games after some disappointing performances a few weeks ago but will be without all star point guard Steph Curry for at least the next few weeks. Curry went down with an ankle injury in the Warriors win over the Pelicans and is set to be sidelined till at least late December.
It seems that Kevin Durant returned from his injury at the right time, as both Curry, and Draymond Green were out of the line-up for the Warriors last clash. Green is listed as probable for Saturday’s game against the Pistons but don’t be surprised if he’s given another game off to recover from his shoulder injury.
After a great start to the season, the Pistons have now lost their last four games in a row and face a really hard stretch with the Warriors, Celtics and Nuggets over the next week. Tough game to call here, especially with the Warriors likely starting as favourites. With Curry out of the line-up, so much of the scoring responsibility falls on Durant’s shoulders. His point line will fall somewhere around 28-29 and we like him to clear that easily here.
TIP: Kevin Durant OVER 29.5 points – Price not yet available
Cleveland Cavaliers at Indiana Pacers (11am AEDT)
Many critics wrote the Cavaliers off after their shaky start to the season. LeBron James and his men have now won their last 13 matches in a row and currently sit second in the East. Better yet, they are about to add all star point guard Isaiah Thomas back into the line-up, who is targeting a mid December return from injury.
The Pacers have been one of the surprise packets of the season. Their high powered offence sees them in 6th place in the East with a 14-11 record and recruit Victor Oladipo is having a great season to date, averaging 23.3 points per game. The Pacers average 108.4 points per game this season and will likely need to put up another big total to challenge the red hot Cavs here.
Hard to deny the Cavs form at the moment. Even with some injuries to key players in Derrick Rose and Tristan Thompson, LeBron seems to be putting his team on his back on a nightly basis and is having a career year. We like them to get the job done in a high scoring game here.
TIP: Cleveland -3.5 - $1.95 at Sportsbet
Boston Celtics at San Antonio Spurs (1.30pm AEDT)
The league leading Boston Celtics travel to San Antonio Saturday to face the Spurs, who have quietly paved themselves to a 17-8 record so far. The Celtics face San Antonio at the perfect time of year, as all star Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard is set to return to action on Sunday against the Suns. Leonard has missed the first few months of the season due to a quad injury and should make the Spurs an incredible tough defence when he returns.
The Celtics were able to overcome a fired up Mavericks team to extend their winning streak to four games on Thursday, but will have a much harder Texas based opponent on Saturday. Kyrie Irving and Al Horford continue to lead a dominant Celtics team, especially Horford on the defensive end, which makes us think this will be a tight contest.
Both defences are extremely efficient here, it’s unlikely that we will see a lead of double digits throughout the whole game as the teams go back and fourth. It will be the first night of a double header for the Spurs, which has proven to be potential resting games for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. Hard to get a read on who will win this one but we like it to be a close battle so we’ll take the ‘any other result’ in the wire to wire market.
TIP: ‘Any other result’ in wire to wire - $1.68 at Sportsbet
