This is one of the largest spreads of the young NBA season. Oklahoma City actually beat the Lakers 123-115 last Wednesday as +5.5 home underdogs.
We have plenty of evidence how the Lakers fare against the bottom tier Western conference teams as in addition to losing to the Thunder, they also just played a pair of games with the Houston Rockets. Los Angeles won both, but failed to cover in either game, winning by 2 and 10 points as -11 favorites.
The Lakers did cover their other large spread of the season, beating the Cavs by 12 points as -8.5 favorites.
There are a number of negative trends for the Thunder. OKC has lost eight straight road games. The Thunder have only won 2 of their last 17 games outright, dating back to last season. But, the Lakers only have two wins this season by more than 4 points and have already lost to the team in question. This is the best bet of the night.
This line started at Miami -6 and has already moved to Miami -8. That almost makes you think that the Celtics have some injury issues, but Boston is one of the few teams in the league with an empty injury report currently.
The Celtics had lost three in a row before winning in Orlando on Wednesday night. The back-to-back is a concern but Boston’s stars are extremely young and can handle two games in two nights in the same state this early in a season. The Heat have won five in a row, all by 13+ points, including impressive wins over the Nets and Mavericks.
The Celtics have played better away from home, with a 3-2 road record, versus an 0-3 home record. Miami is rightfully the favorite in this game, but 8 points is too many for the Celtics to be getting against almost anyone.
This line is Atlanta -1 or Utah -1, depending on where you look. The Jazz are 6-1 so far and 5-2 ATS. Atlanta started the year 3-1 but has gone 1-3 since then, and is 3-5 ATS.
The Hawks are actually 2-0 against Western conference opponents so far this year, defeating Dallas and New Orleans. Utah’s two Eastern conference games this year saw them lose to the Bulls and beat the Bucks last weekend.
Donovan Mitchell did hurt his hand in Utah’s win over the Kings on Tuesday, but he is expected to play. Utah has won three straight against Atlanta, and crushed Atlanta twice last season, winning games by 24 and 21 points.
Atlanta is 0-2 outright as an underdog this season, while the Jazz have now been favored in all eight of their games. Atlanta has actually covered in all three of their home games and failed to cover in all five road games.
The Jazz are the rare team that can neutralize Atlanta’s size and out rebound the Hawks and they also have more depth than Atlanta.
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