NBA Thursday Games and Scores: Underdogs Deliver for Bettors
Road Teams Perform Well Again ATS
Grizzlies Down Warriors in Feisty Meeting
The Memphis Grizzlies scored some revenge on rivals Golden State with an impressive 131-110 win in front of a fired up home crowd. Let’s take a look at the NBA Thursday Scores to see how the markets performed across the board.
The Golden State Warriors road woes continued as they moved to 7-26 straight up on their travels this season. Steve Kerr’s side are also a league-worst 8-24 (25%) ATS as they again failed to cover having been listed as 2.5-point favorites for this one.
Draymond Green and Dillon Brooks were in the media the past couple days sharing their disdain for one another and the two came face-to-face in the third quarter as tensions threatened to boil over. The loss means the Warriors move back to the #6 seed in the Western Conference standings, while the Grizzlies maintain a share of the #2 seed with the Sacramento Kings.
The Sacramento Kings recorded another home win in the late tip-off as they took care of the surging New York Knicks 122-117 on their home floor.
Sacramento closed as 2.0-point favorites as the Knicks got a pre-game boost with the news that Jalen Brunson would make his return to the lineup. His return was short-lived though as we didn’t return for the second half, but the Knicks were still able to make a game of it down the stretch as they fought back from a 21-point deficit to trail by just a single possession with 47 seconds remaining.
Despite the late rally the Kings held on for a win and covered the spread for early bettors too who had a -4.0 ticket prior to the Brunson news. The total also stayed Under the closing number of 240.5 points
Bucks Hold On, Jazz Win Again
The Milwaukee Bucks held on to beat a depleted Brooklyn Nets team 118-113 on a night where they too were missing a pretty important piece of their rotation.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was a late scratching for the home team and that saw the line come down a few points before settling at -9.5 in favor of the home team.
The Bucks looked set for another comfortable route on their home floor and despite Jacques Vaughn sitting all his starters the entire second half the Nets still managed an impressive comeback to comfortably cover the closing spread. Stay updated on all the NBA Thursday Scores and highlights by visiting our website.
Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz seemingly remain intent on pushing for a play-in spot in the West as they again exceeded expectations with a 131-124 road win over the Orlando Magic.
The Jazz closed as 4.0-point underdogs and were the biggest underdog winners per NBA odds today, closing at +165 on the Moneyline.
Orlando is now a league-worst 2-7 (22.2%) ATS as a home favorite this season while the Jazz improved to 16-9-1 (64%) ATS as a road underdog.
Pacers Survive OT, Pistons Lose Again
The Indiana Pacers needed OT to overcome the struggling Houston Rockets as they escaped with a 134-125 home win.
The Indiana Pacers closed as 9.5-point favorites and almost covered the spread in the extra period as they erupted for 19 points before a garbage time dunk with 18 seconds remaining from Kenyon Martin Jr ensured Houston bettors didn’t suffer a contender for bad beat of the season.
The Detroit Pistons suffered their 10th straight defeat as they went down 113-103 at home to the Charlotte Hornets.
The Pistons remain anchored to the bottom of the Eastern Conference and are in a three-way battle with the Rockets and San Antonio Spurs to see who finishes the season with the worst record.
The Hornets have now stayed Under the full game total in their last eight straight games as this one comfortably fell shy of the 226.5 point closing number. In fact, they are now 39-29 (57.4%) to the Under on the season – the second highest Unders rate in the league behind only the Chicago Bulls.
That’s all for our NBA Thursday Scores recap. Be sure to check back for more NBA today’ games scores as we keep an eye on the market efficiency over the closing stages of the season.
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