Thursday Night NBA betting preview & trends

The Thursday night schedule in the NFL has finished for 2018, so it’s really time for bettors to shift their focus that night to the NBA on TNT doubleheader. That network gets the entire schedule to itself this week with just the two games.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The opener features the Houston Rockets at the Miami Heat, with the Rockets set as 3-point betting favorites. It’s the second of a back-to-back for the Rockets as they hosted Washington on Wednesday and the team’s third game in four nights so it could be running on fumes. It’s rare that superstar James Harden doesn’t play both ends of a back-to-back, so barring injury Wednesday he should be in there. However, veteran point guard Chris Paul does get some games off occasionally in a back-to-back.

The Rockets must be the streakiest team in the NBA. They entered Wednesday on a four-game winning streak to get back over .500. The streaks prior to that: three straight losses, back-to-back wins, a four-game losing streak, a five-game winning streak, a two-game skid, a three-game win streak and a four-game skid.