NBA Tuesday Recap: Playoff Picture Getting Tight Out West
Thunder, Pelicans Suffer Huge Losses
Underdogs Were Barking in the NBA
It was another crazy night in the NBA with two double-digit underdogs winning outright and favorites going just 2-4 ATS on the night. Let’s dive into our NBA Tuesday Recap to see how things panned out.
The Boston Celtics were caught looking ahead to their showdown with the Milwaukee Bucks as they went down 130-111 in Washington.
The Wizards closed as 11.0-point underdogs in the absence of Bradley Beal and Kyle Kuzma, but they led at the end of every quarter en route to an impressive win. They also closed at +450 on the Moneyline making them the largest outright underdog winner of the night.
Another double-digit underdog that managed an outright win was the Charlotte Hornets as they downed the OKC Thunder 137-134 on the road.
Charlotte, who closed +10.0 across the board, were without Gordon Hayward, Kelly Oubre or Dennis Smith Jr for this one, but they still managed to pull off a shock win that has big repercussions on the play-in picture in the West.
The Thunder now drop to the #10 seed as they hold a 0.5 game advantage over a Dallas Mavericks team who lost twice to Charlotte in the last week.
Both the Celtics and Thunder were popular NBA picks and parlays options and while they were the only short priced favorites to lose, the underdogs still did well ATS elsewhere.
Cavs Fall Short in Atlanta, Magic Rally for Late Cover
The Cleveland Cavaliers covered the late spread as they fell 120-118 as 3.0-point underdogs at the Atlanta Hawks.
Jarrett Allen’s late scratching moved this game from a pick’em to a 3.0 point spread, which ultimately proved vital for late bettors. The game was tied at 115-115 with under 2 minutes to play but a solid stretch of defense by Atlanta helped deliver an important win as they look to still jump into the #6 seed in the East.
The Cavs now drop to 5-10 (33.3%) ATS as road underdogs this season, with an average margin of -5.7 points.
Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic used a big fourth quarter rally to help them cover the 7.5-point spread on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Orlando trailed by as many as 23 points but a 35-26 final quarter saw them go down 113-108. The Magic are now a league-best 20-9-1 (69%) ATS in non-conference action this season.
Rookie of the Year frontrunner Paolo Banchero finished with 31 points and 8 rebounds on the night while Ja Morant sat out with the team set for a conference showdown with the LA Clippers on the second night of a back-to-back.
Pelicans Blow Huge Lead, Raptors Breeze Past Heat
The New Orleans Pelicans blew a 20 point lead on the road to the Golden State Warriors as they failed to take advantage of some favorable results in the Western Conference playoff race.
The Warriors outscored their opponents 74-46 in the second half as they put on a clinic at both ends of the floor to remind everyone that they are still the team to beat in the West.
Steph Curry was at his absolute best as he finished with 39 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists to help his team somehow cover the 8.5 point spread. This was the second time this season they overturned a 20 point deficit to win by double-digits – they are the only team in the league to have done so.
Golden State is now a league-best 25-12-1 (67.6%) ATS at home this season.
The Toronto Raptors took advantage of a weakened Miami Heat team as they earned a 106-92 home win.
Jimmy Butler was a late out for the Heat as they played their first game of a road back-to-back and Miami’s offense struggled to generate anything in the halfcourt as a result, finishing the game shooting just 40% from the field.
The Raptors remain tied for the #8 seed and sit just 2.5 games behind the #6 seeded Brooklyn Nets with just six games remaining.
That’s all for our NBA Tuesday Recap piece. Be sure to check back for more NBA scores and odds analysis.
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