Three teams playing without their star guards highlight the five game slate on Thursday night. Portland has already had success without Damian Lillard this season and they will host the Spurs on Thursday. Ja Morant is still out for Memphis, who is a serious home favorite against the Thunder. Devin Booker will not play for the Suns, who are still a -13 home favorite against the Pistons.
The Blazers will try to beat San Antonio without star Damian Lillard, who is out about ten days with an abdominal injury.
Portland has a remarkable home-road split, with a 10-1 record at home and a 1-10 mark on the road. The Blazers are 11-5 outright as a favorite. They have not won any of their six games as an underdog this year.
The Spurs could be on the verge of salvaging their season. San Antonio opened their season 4-13 but are coming off impressive wins over the Celtics and Wizards in their last two games. The Spurs have only won two of their last thirteen road games, dating back to last season.
The Blazers are probably too big for San Antonio and this line still feels too low.
This is the third matchup between these two teams this season. The Knicks won 104-103 in Chicago on October 28 as a +1.5 road underdog. The teams played in Chicago again on November 21 and the Bulls won that round, a 109-103 victory as a -5.5 favorite, led by 31 points from DeMar DeRozan. Julius Randle had 34 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks in a losing effort.
The Bulls are coming off two blowouts in their last three games, beating the Magic and Hornets, while losing a close game to the Heat.
The Knicks have traded wins and losses over their last eight games, beating the Pacers, Rockets, Lakers, and Hawks, while losing to the Magic, Bulls, Suns, and Nets.
The Knicks have played poorly at MSG this year going 5-6 at home, while Chicago is 7-4 on the road, both overall and ATS.
Chicago’s play has been up-and-down recently including a 32 point loss to the Pacers. These teams are close enough that you should take the home team getting two points.
The Thunder are on a seven game losing streak, that includes a disastrous home-and-home sweep to the Rockets. The good news for Oklahoma City is that they have been competitive, five of those seven losses were between 2-7 points.
At 11-10, the Grizzlies have had an uneven season but they are flying high after blowing out the Kings and then beating the Raptors on Tuesday.
The Grizzlies had a day off after playing Toronto while the Thunder just played the Rockets last night.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 39 points against Houston on Wednesday night, while the Grizzlies are still without their star point guard Ja Morant. Memphis is the better team, but this line is too high. Oklahoma City is the play here.
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