The NBA takes center stage in today’s Best Games To Bet On. Kicking things off will be an interesting Eastern Conference showdown at the Barclays Center, wherein the surging Charlotte Hornets (40-30) and the Brooklyn Nets (19-50) square off for their third meeting this season.
Following shortly, Dwyane Wade and the rest of the Miami Heat (40-29) aim for their second-straight victory when they travel west for a date with the Anthony Davis-less New Orleans Pelicans (26-43).
[sc:NBA250 ]Let’s now take a quick look at these two appetizing matchups. And while you’re at it, click here for our preview of the third regular-season meeting between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder.
[sc:NBA250 ]Charlotte walks into this game oozing with confidence. Well, you can’t blame them since they’re fresh off a hard-fought win over San Antonio last night, 91-88. In that game, Jeremy Lin gave us a throwback of “Linsanity” by exploding for 29 points along with seven rebounds and two dimes. He might just be able to provide us another explosive outing as he and the rest of the Hornets take on the lowly Brooklyn Nets, who are allowing 104.8 points per game this season.
Speaking of the Nets, they’ve been playing like a team that can’t wait to get the season done with. Brooklyn’s lost eight of its previous 10 games and the chances of them winning this one is hard to imagine. But the Nets might just be able to make things competitive if Brook Lopez (20.6 PPG), Thaddeus Young (15.3 PPG) and Bojan Bogdanovic (10.9 PPG) can put together an all-around effort.
Charlotte is 7-3 SU and ATS in its last 10 games on the road. Brooklyn, meanwhile, is 5-5 SU and 4-6 ATS in its previous 10 meetings versus the Hornets.
The Heat will be looking to garner some more momentum tonight at the expense of the New Orleans before they take on San Antonio this coming Wednesday. Miami is fresh off an entertaining victory over Cleveland last Saturday, during which the trio of Dwyane Wade, Goran Dragic and Joe Johson combined for 60 points to capture the 122-101 victory. All three should be able to find a lot of scoring opportunities since the Pelicans are yielding 106.4 points this season, which is among the highest in the NBA.
New Orleans, meanwhile, is coming off an impressive 109-105 win over the visiting Clippers on Sunday. It was basically a team effort for the Pelicans, who had all of their starters score in double-figures. Jrue Holiday led the way for them with 22 points and dished out eight assists. But he and the rest of his teammates could be in for a tough shooting night against a Miami defense that’s only allowing 97.9 points per game.
Miami is 6-4 SU and 5-4-1 ATS in its last 10 games against the Pelicans. New Orleans, on the other hand, is 5-5 SU and ATS in its past 10 home games.
