The National Basketball Association (NBA) has six total games on the schedule for Thursday night, including a TNT/truTV/Max doubleheader. The first nationally televised game features the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics tipping off at 7:30 p.m. ET, with the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers doing battle at 10:00 p.m. ET in the nightcap.
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Thursday’s Best NBA Picks: Warriors vs. Lakers
NBA odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All picks are for 1 unit
Golden State Warriors (+250) at Los Angeles Lakers (-310) | O/U 221.5 (-110/-110)
The Warriors (25-25) and the Lakers (29-19) meet at Crypto.com Arena at 10:00 p.m. ET in the nightcap of the nationally televised doubleheader.
Both teams were busy working the phones and upgrading their rosters ahead of the NBA trade deadline. The Golden State Warriors made a huge splash by landing disgruntled forward Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat in a four-way trade, while Kyle Anderson, Dennis Schroder, Lindy Waters III and Andrew Wiggins are on the move from the Bay Area. As such, the Warriors figure to be very short-handed on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, the Lakers were back making deals, acquiring center Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for rookie Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish and draft picks. Even if Williams cannot make it to Los Angeles in time, the Lakers should be in a lot better shape in terms of bench depth.
The Warriors have dropped five of their past nine games since January 20th, while going just 5-5 ATS in the past 10 games, with the over cashing in three of the past four games and eight of the previous 11 contests. That includes a 118-108 loss at home against the Lakers as a 1-point underdog on January 25th in the most recent meeting in San Francisco as the over (220.5) cashed.
L.A. has rolled up three straight wins, with seven victories in the past eight games, while going 3-0 ATS in the past three and 6-1-1 ATS across the eight-game span. The over is 3-1 in the past four outings, too. The Lakers offense has racked up 122+ points in three straight, while the defense has allowed 108 or fewer points in six of the past eight contests.
Los Angeles has won both meetings this season. Each game took place in the Bay Area. The Lakers are 2-0 ATS in the series this season, too, while the over has hit in both meetings.
As such, back the Lakers laying the points, especially since the Warriors figure to have a patchwork roster following the huge trade. In addition, we’ll roll with the under, which goes against the series numbers. While the total has gone high in four in a row and seven of the past eight meetings, Golden State will be short-handed. Wiggins was the team’s second-leading scorer, so it’s uncertain when the Dubs will get their offense on Thursday.
Picks: Lakers -7.5 (-110) & Under 221.5 Points (-110)
Daniel E. Dobish is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Daniel, check out his archive and follow him @danieledobish.