Boston Celtics at Miami Heat
The Celtics (46-32) head to South Beach to take on the Heat in an exciting Eastern Conference clash.
It has been an overall disappointing season for the Celtics, a team who were widely viewed as a title contender now find themselves fighting for home court in the playoffs. Coming off a four-game skid, Boston have won three of their last four and are clinging onto the fourth seed, tied with Indiana.
They meet a Miami team who are battling it out for a playoffs spot, sitting half a game ahead of the ninth-placed Magic. The Heat have won three of their last five and have been vastly boosted by the return of Goran Dragic. The Heat guard is averaging 21 points, 8.6 assists and two steals per game over his last three games.
These teams faced off on Tuesday in Boston (all times AEST), with the Celtics taking it 110-105.
Tip: Miami to win - $2.12
San Antonio Spurs at Denver Nuggets (ESPN)
The Spurs (44-33) are in Denver (51-25) for ESPN’s showcase game in a contest that will have huge bearings on the makeup of the Western Conference playoff picture.
San Antonio were one of the form teams in the league not long ago, but have dropped four of their last six. The Spurs will be coming off a home clash against the Hawks on Wednesday, and the Mile Hile City is always a tough place to finish a back-to-back, where Denver hold the second-best home record in the league (31-7).
The Nuggets have been in their own patchy form of late, dropping thee of their last five. Denver will be coming off a trip to Oracle Arena and must keep winning to consolidate a top four spot.
Mike Malone’s team were poor in a 95-90 home loss to the Wizards on Monday as Nikola Jokic was ejected after arguing with officials.
Last time these teams met in March in San Antonio, the Spurs won 104-103 in a tight affair.
Tip: Denver to win @ $1.52.
Houston Rockets at LA Clippers
The Rockets (49-28) do battle with the Clippers (47-31) in LA to round out the NBA’s Thursday card.
Houston have gradually improved throughout the 2018-19 campaign and are in their best form for the season right now. The Rockets are 7-3 over their last 10, coming off wins against the Nuggets are Kings. James Harden has been back to his dominant best of late, dropping 50 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists on Sacramento.
Houston will be coming off a trip from Sacramento on Wednesday.
The Clippers continue to turn heads by finding ways to win and have surprisingly been better since dealing away Tobias Harris at the trade deadline. Doc Rivers’ side have won 13 of their last 15 and Danilo Gallinari has taken his game to new heights over that span.
The Italian forward is putting up 24.3 points, 2.8 triples and 7.8 rebounds per game while shooting 52 per cent from the field over the last month.
The Clippers won both meetings between these teams way back in October.
Tip: Houston to win @ $2.00.
