NBA Betting Thursday Recap: Favorites Rule

Just like last Thursday, the favorites cleaned up on the NBA betting lines. Six of the seven favorites won their matchups and went 5-1-1 against the spread (ATS). with four covering by at least 11 points. The favorite that lost? The Golden State Warriors were upset by the New York Knicks in San Francisco.

Controversy Helps Knicks Upend Warriors

Julius Randle had a big game for the New York Knicks as he led them to a 116-114 upset over the Golden State Warriors despite being 11-point underdogs. The Knicks did get a little bit of help from the officials by way of a blown call that also led to a technical foul in the fourth.

This no-call got Kerr T’d up pic.twitter.com/5vlURXHiyI

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) February 11, 2022

The loss was Golden State’s second straight following a blowout defeat by Utah. The Warriors dropped to 7-10-1 ATS when they have a rest disadvantage. It marked their first consecutive losses since Jan. 13.

The Knicks snapped a four-game losing skid and improved to 25-31. They are still a few games away from the 10th seed and remain tough to trust when betting online. But as far as this win, it was a lucrative one.

Favorites Lay the Smackdown

Prior to the Warriors losing, the favorites were mostly beating up on their underdog counterparts. The Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors all crushed their opponents as visitors, while the Phoenix Suns gained a measure of revenge by destroying the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Raptors’ victory extended their winning streak to eight, which is now the longest active streak in the league. Toronto has clawed its way to a top-six spot in the East. Memphis and Miami both won their fourth straight game. The former maintained its best cover rate in the league at 66.7 percent while Miami solidified its top spot in the East.

The other favorites who won were the Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks. Washington held off Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets to escape with a one-point win as their online sports betting spread had it and Dallas barely covered its 6½-point spread with a seven-point win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Totals Go Overboard

And, just like last week, the over cashed in all but one game: Miami vs. New Orleans. The Heat held the Pelicans to under 100 points as their combined 209 points went nine points below the total. This is a rare result for the Heat, who still lead the NBA with 60.7 percent of their games going over (34-22-0).

The Mavericks-Clippers game, on the other hand, barely went over. With the total set at 215, Jalen Brunson sank two late free throws to cash the over, much to the relief of bettors.

Two games that did not need sweating were also two of the biggest blowouts.

The Grizzlies and Pistons went 14½ points over their total of 224½ thanks to Memphis scoring 132 by itself. The Raptors and Rockets combined for 78 points in the first quarter and set the tone early. While Toronto clamped down on Houston, the Rockets just let the Raptors score at will, leading to the highest total of the evening at 259 points.