NBA betting – Thursday Night Picks – March 26, 2009
Los Angeles Lakers (56-14) @ Detroit Pistons (34-36)
If the Detroit Pistons win on Thursday night, it might be a March Madness betting like upset. The Pistons are a big home underdog and, as the Western Conference’s best team comes to visit, the Pistons have too many problems coming to a head at one time to really put faith in them.
For starters, the Pistons haven’t been very good at home this year to begin, sporting just an 18-18 mark. Secondly, and more importantly, the Pistons should be fairly shorthanded for Thursday night’s contest.
Allen Iverson is out indefinitely, Rasheed Wallace is expected to miss Thursday’s contest, as is Richard Hamilton, who is dealing with a groin injury.
Sportsbook odds have the Lakers as an 8.5-point favorite and they are too strong to stumble against the Pistons’ backups.
Miami Heat (38-33) @ Chicago Bulls (34-38)
The first game of the NBA TNT double-header will be going head-to-head with March Madness betting as the Connecticut Huskies and Purdue Boilermakers will be playing at the same time.
The Chicago Bulls have had all sorts of problems with Miami this season, going 0-for-3 in the first three meetings this season.
The problem for the Bulls has been containing Dwyane Wade, who has gone crazy on them in each outing. Wade, who is the NBA’s leading scorer at 29.8 points per game, has averaged 33.3 point per game, 7.0 assists and 3.7 rebounds in the first three matchups.
The Bulls are beaten up heading into this contest but they are expected to have Derrick Rose, who is dealing with a wrist injury, while Tyrus Thomas will be a game-time decision. The Bulls are already missing Luol Deng from their lineup, who is out indefinitely.
Look for the Bulls to somewhat salvage the season series with the Heat and get a win tonight.
Phoenix Suns (40-31) @ Portland Trail Blazers (44-27)
While a few March Madness betting sharps will be solely focusing on college basketball tonight, a number of hoops betting fans will be flipping back and forth as the late game on the TNT twin bill has plenty of playoff implications.
The Phoenix Suns have caught fire of late and have won six straight games to get themselves back into the playoff conversation.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that five of those six wins came at home and now they have to find a way to win on the road at the Rose Garden.
The Portland Trail Blazers don’t lose at home very often, but they are coming off a tough home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. That was the Blazers’ first game home after a six-game East Coast trip and they were dead tired by the fourth quarter.
Now that they’ve had two days off between games, they should be more than capable of handling a feeble Suns team.
The Suns are without Amare Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa for tonight’s game while the Blazers’ Brandon Roy is probable tonight while Travis Outlaw is questionable.
Tags: Chicago Bulls, detroit pistons, Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat, NBA
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