Lakers Try To Break Thursday NBA Betting Hex

If it’s Thursday night, that means that we have a doubleheader of NBA betting action on TNT, and this week is absolutely no exception.

The big game on the Thursday night docket pits the Los Angeles Lakers against the Miami Heat. The Heat looked like they were in some big trouble against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night before storming back for a 120-98 romp here at AmericanAirlines Arena, and they did so without Dwyane Wade in the lineup.

Wade is nursing an ankle injury, and this is the second time since the start of 2012 that he has missed games. The Miami guard is listed as questionable for Thursday’s tussle with the Lakers, but if he does play, don’t be shocked if he does well. Wade scored 34 points in his first outing off of the toe injury that cost him three games, and if he has a similar comeback from this ankle injury, the Heat could be in for a big night.

This game certainly won’t be void of stars, though. Kobe Bryant’s streak of games scoring at least 40 points came to a close on Tuesday, but the team got back in the win column with a victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Miami will feature LeBron James and Chris Bosh who each scored 30 or more against the Spurs. It will also be the first time that James runs into his former head coach Mike Brown from their days with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Los Angeles has not historically done all that well on Thursdays of late, as the Lakers alway seem to get a heck of a challenge from teams in these TNT games. Dating back to last season, the Lakers are just 5-12 ATS in their last 17 games played on Thursday night.

The Lakers and Heat tip off the TNT double-dip at 8:00 p.m. (ET).

In the latter half of the twinbill (10:30 p.m. ET), the aforementioned Mavericks will continue to look to right the ship against the Utah Jazz. Dallas comes into this one with one of the best ATS records in the league at 10-4, but the team doesn’t look anywhere near as good as it did at the end of last season. In order to get back in championship form, this is the type of game that the Mavs should be winning on a relatively regular basis.

Utah won’t go down easily, though. The Jazz have won nine of their last 11 games SU after starting off the season at 0-2, and their only loss this year came to the Lakers in overtime last Wednesday. Since that point, they have rolled off three in a row both SU and ATS, and they have put up their best offensive efforts of the season with 107, 106 and 108 points.

The home team is 23-7-1 ATS in the last 31 meetings in this series.  The Mavericks were just 1-12-1 ATS in their previous 14 visits to EnergySolutions Arena before last season. They swept the four-game set both SU and ATS last year between these two teams, so there has to be some hope for victory in this one, which starts at 10:30 p.m. (ET). 

The only other game on the relatively quiet night on the pro hardwood pits the New Orleans Hornets against the Houston Rockets. New Orleans is just 2-6 ATS in its last eight games overall. Houston has won four straight SU and covered seven consecutive spreads, while the Hornets have just one SU win since 2012 started.

The tip from the Lone Star State is slated for 8:00 p.m. (ET).