NBA Best Bets: Hornets Look to Create Buzz vs. Celtics

Kemba Walker makes his return to Charlotte as the Hornets and Celtics square off. Which team should you bet on for Thursday night?

It was a tough Wednesday night as we had our first losing night of the season. With a four-game slate on Thursday, we gotta get right back on it. One bad night won't stop or discourage us, sports wagering is a grind. Shout out to the state of Colorado, where sports betting was approved earlier this week. Tonight, we have a few best bets plus a few leans on some NBA prop bets.

Boston Celtics vs Charlotte Hornets: Hornets +7.5

The Celtics are currently on a five-game winning streak. During this streak, they have impressive home victories over the Raptors and Bucks, but the other three wins came against the Knicks and the Cavaliers, and the Celtics were 1-1-1 against the spread in those three games against those bottom-feeders. No matter how good a team is or may appear to be, we as sports bettors have to remember not every good team is good at laying the points, thus the saying good teams win and great teams cover. Things get a little bit tougher when you have to lay points on the road, that's the situation the Celtics are in tonight as Kemba Walker makes his return to Charlotte.

The Hornets, who are 4-3 straight up and 4-3 against the spread, have not been as bad as many people thought they would be this season. The Hornets are on a winning streak of their own, emerging as the victor in their last three games. Charlotte has covered the spread the last two times there were an underdog of at least seven points. The Celtics are good, but they aren't seven points better than the Hornets on the road.

Miami Heat vs Phoenix Suns: Under 218.5 Points

This has been an interesting point spread and total to say the least. This game opened up with the home Suns as a 1.5-point favorite, then shifted to the Heat as a small favorite, before currently settling at Suns -1. No one really knows what to do with this point spread, so I'm gonna leave it alone. This game has seen some line movement on the total as well. The total opened up at 217 and the public bet it up to 219. When the number hit 219, sharp bettors got down on the under, pushing it to 218. A slight buyback has it sitting at 218.5. The Heat have not gone over the total in their last four games. In the Suns’ seven games this season, only once have they gone over the number.

Portland Trail Blazers vs Los Angeles Clippers: Trail Blazers +5.5

The marquee matchup of the slate features two teams with Western Conference title aspirations. The Trail Blazers are coming off a nasty loss to the Warriors in San Francisco. The Clippers lost just last night to the Bucks in a game Kawhi Leonard did not play in. This game will have the intensity of a playoff battle. Dame Lillard and CJ McCollum always rise to the occasion in big games like this and I don't see them losing by more than five points. One of the things we like to do is fade the public in big nationally televised games. The public is all over the Clippers in this spot, but the line has not moved. That's a signal that the sharps are betting on the Trail Blazers.

Season record: 11-7

Player Prop Bet Leans

Cody Zeller, Charlotte Hornets - Over 7.5 Rebounds

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder - Over 19.5 points

Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat - Over 5.5 Rebounds