Charlotte Hornets (2-1) at New York Knicks (2-1)
The Hornets continue their 3-game road trip to New York on Thursday and will be coming off a nice 17-point win over the Hawks in Atlanta. They trailed by 13 points early on but turned up in the 2nd/3rd quarter by outscoring their opponents 82-54. Kelly Oubre Jr. led the way with 24 pts and with Ball out / Rozier under an injury cloud, that production will need to continue against the Knicks.
The Knicks are looking for a perfect 3-0 home stand after beating the Magic and Pistons both by 10+ points. Julius Randle comes off 25 pts against the Magic and Brunson provided the support with 21 pts / 6 assists. New York's offence is looking much improved in the new season as they haven't scored under 110 pts thus far and the addition of Brunson has proved to be a good move. They have no major injury concerns coming into this contest so they'll likely stick with the same starting 5.
Both sides are coming into this matchup with fairly similar form and it looks like this will be a close finish. The Hornets do have a good record against the Knicks and at this venue. So they'll look good value to get within 7.5 pts.
Stadium Record
New York are 2-0 at home this season but have struggled to cover at 5-11 in their last 16 overall. Charlotte are 4-2 at this venue in their last 6.
Head to Head Record
The Hornets have the wood over the Knicks with 7 wins in the last 10 meetings. They've also won the last 2 meetings at MSG.
Best Bet
Charlotte Hornets +7.5 = $1.92
Milwaukee Bucks (2-0) at Brooklyn Nets (1-2)
The Bucks are 2-0 on the season after a close 2-point win over the 76ers on Friday and they thrashed the Rockets by 20 on Sunday. They'll be well-rested for this primetime matchup after not playing since Sunday's blowout victory. Giannis Antetokounmpo did most of the damage against the Rockets with 44 points and as a team, they shot over 50% from 3. The Nets defence hasn't been great to start the new season so the Bucks will be looking to take advantage. Middleton is still out with injury so Grayson Allen will likely continue to get the start in his absence.
The Nets are looking to bounce back after they struggled to contain the Grizzlies in the 134-124 defeat on Tuesday. Their defence won't be looking forward to a matchup with Giannis. But the positive is the shooting form of Durant and Irving. Both stars scored 37 pts against the Grizzlies and despite the Nets struggles, the pair continue to play well. As for Ben Simmons, he's been ejected in 2 of their 3 games so he'll need to improve in that area against Jrue Holiday.
Milwaukee just looks like the stronger bet in this matchup. With the Nets defence allowing an average of 132 pts against the Pelicans/Grizzlies, the Giannis matchup should be too challenging for them to overcome.
Stadium Record
Milwaukee are 11=5 in their last 16 home games. Brooklyn has lost 6 of their last 7 in Milwaukee.
Head to Head Record
The Bucks are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings. Last season, the previous 2 meetings were decided by just 1 and 3 pts.
Best Bet
Los Angeles Lakers (0-3) at Denver Nuggets (2-2)
The Lakers should be desperate to find their first win of the season on Thursday after a disappointing 0-3 start. They've lost back-to-back games at home by under 7 pts against Portland and the Clippers. So they're not far off it at the moment if they can execute when it counts. Of course, the injury situation hasn't helped their chemistry. Westbrook probably won't play due to an ongoing hamstring issue. But LeBron and Davis should be fine to suit up. LeBron has already scored 30+ pts in 2 of their last 3 games and looks like a good price to continue the 30+ form against Denver.
The Nuggets were outclassed by the Trail Blazers in their latest game as they went down 135-110. They did hold a 13 pt lead at one stage but in the end, their defence struggled to contain Lillard/Simons. They've already played 3 out of 4 games on the road so they'll welcome this home game. In their only game in Denver this season, they beat the Thunder by 5 and their warm favourites to beat the struggling Lakers.
The trend between these two sides looks to be high-scoring affairs and we like it here as well. In the Lakers last 6 road games, the Over is 5-1 and they also have a perfect 5-0 Overs record in Denver. Meanwhile, the Nuggets allowed 135 pts last time out and hold a 4-1 Overs record on their home court.
Stadium Record
Denver has struggled to cover at home with a 3-11 ATS record. Los Angeles has lost 6 of their last 20 in Denver.
Head to Head Record
In the last 10 meetings, the Lakers are 6-4.
Best Bet
