Best NBA Bets for Rockets vs Timberwolves and Magic vs Nuggets
Houston Rockets vs Minnesota Timberwolves Betting Analysis
These teams have split the season series with the Rockets delivering a 117-111 overtime victory as 2 1⁄2-point road dogs on November 26th, followed a month later when the Timberwolves returned the favor and edged the Rockets, 113-112, in Houston as 1-point road underdogs.
BetUS hoops handicapper Sean believes the Rockets will come out on top tonight in the third of this four-game season series and has included Houston in his NBA expert picks for Thursday night. After diving deep into this matchup, I have to agree with Sean’s professional opinion.
A quick glance at the Rockets’ most recent performances without the services of Fred VanVleet due to a high ankle sprain shows a team that has struggled, losing their last four (three without FVV) and covering in only their 124-117 setback against the Knicks as 7-point road hounds on Monday.
However, we have to ask ourselves why the Rockets are favored despite the recent doom and gloom. The T-Wolves snapped a modest two-game losing streak in a 127-108 win against the lowly Bulls at home last night. But the last two words of that previous sentence are key—last night—the Wolves will play their second of back-to-back games after flying from the Windy City to Houston and without the services of their second-leading scorer, Julius Randle.
Teams playing the second leg of consecutive games, and on the road no less, do not fare well, so let’s lay the small number and back the Rockets in our NBA picks today.
Pick: Rockets -1 ½ (-110)
Orlando Magic vs Denver Nuggets Betting Analysis
BetUS pro basketball handicapper Sean has the Nuggets in his sights for a win and a cover tonight and is including them as one of his NBA favorites today. After the way Denver handled Orlando in their only meeting of the season a little more than two weeks ago, a 113-100 road victory for the Nuggets, it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw a similar result tonight.
The Magic had been powerless to win, dropping 8 of their last 9 contests and going 1-8 against the number, before finally drifting out of their shame spiral with a 130-111 win over the Kings on Wednesday night.
But fortunately for those backing the Nuggets as 7½-point home chalk, they are getting the rejuvenated (at least for last night’s game) Magic playing the second leg of back-to-backs on the road in a location where the air is thin, and already gassed teams playing on no day’s rest can melt like butter in a blast furnace.
Yes, the Nuggets also played last night and eviscerated the Pelicans, 144-113, at Ball Arena in Mile High. The difference is the Nuggets have won their last four games and didn’t have to go anywhere but their own beds after last night’s game, while the Magic had to drag their butts from Sacramento to Denver to play the final game of a six-game road trip.
