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NBA Daily Tip Sheet – Thursday’s Triple Threat

Michael Crosson
Michael Crosson Sports Betting Expert
3 minute read

There's many ways to bet on the NBA, and some of the most popular ones include taking a side, a full-game total, or a player prop. So, this is what we like to call our Daily Triple Threat. Our three best bets in the aforementioned categories for NBA matchups on Thursday, January 26. Best of luck!

NBA Best Bets for Thursday, January 26

  • Cleveland Cavaliers -8.5 (-110) @ HOU
  • Mavericks-Suns Over 221 (-110)
  • Luka Doncic (DAL) Over 8.5 Assists (-115) @ PHX
Updated on 04/26/2024
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Cleveland Cavaliers -8.5 (-110) @ HOU

Cleveland has had a tough time getting over the hump since the latest injury to Donovan Mitchell, considering the Cavs have posted a relatively pedestrian record of 7-6 in their last 13 games, while ranking 17th in the league in offensive rating across that window (115.1 ORtg).

However, Mitchell is finally nearing a return from his groin injury. He’s listed as questionable for tonight’s contest against Houston, but even if he remains sidelined, I still expect to see the Cavs run away with this one.

Over the last month or so, Houston has been the worst team in basketball by a comfortable margin. The Rockets have accumulated a net rating of -12.5 across their latest 1-14 skid, which for reference, ranks well below the rest of the league bottom-dwellers, with San Antonio (-8.7 NetRtg), Charlotte (-7.3 NetRtg), and Detroit (-7.3 NetRtg) all posting significantly better numbers during that stretch.

So, with or without Mitchell in this situation, I’ll back Cleveland to handle business with relative ease on the road in tonight’s matchup against a Rockets squad that’s lost 11 of their last 15 games by a distant margin of 8+ points.

Take Cleveland!
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Mavericks-Suns Over 221 (-110)

The Mavericks and Suns are both banged-up at the moment. Devin Booker, DeAndre Ayton, Landry Shamet, and Cam Payne all carry designations on Phoenix’s injury report heading into tonight’s contest, and on the flip side, Christian Wood and Maxi Kleber remain sidelined for Dallas.

Neither of these teams are particularly known for a run-and-gun style of play, considering Dallas ranks 29th in the league in pace (95.9 PACE), and Phoenix currently ranks 22nd (98.3 PACE). 

However, for a variety of reasons, both squads have ramped up the pace recently, highlighted by the Mavericks scoring 119+ points in five of their last seven contests, and the Suns ranking Top 5 in the league in pace across their latest 8-game stretch (103.3 PACE).

For instance, in the absence of Wood and Kleber, the Mavs’ frontcourt is very short-handed, and it’s forced them to utilize a much smaller rotation primarily anchored by Luka Doncic, Tim Hardaway, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Dorian Finney-Smith, which in turn, has driven up the scores of their games as of late.

So, I’ll take the ‘over’ in Thursday night’s rematch between a pair of squads that posted a final score of 130-111 in their most recent meeting, a scoring output nearly 20 points higher than the total set for tonight’s affair.

Take the Over!
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Luka Doncic (DAL) Over 8.5 Assists

Doncic has been surprisingly quiet in the passing department for the Mavs as of late, considering he’s now fallen short of the 8.5-assist mark in four straight contests, and in two of those performances, he fell short of 6.5 assists.

However, prior to his latest four-game stretch, Luka had recorded 9+ assists in nine of his last 12 outings for the Mavs, with four of those performances ringing in at double-digit assists. 

The Suns typically prefer to slow things down and operate within a half-court set, considering they rank 22nd in the league in pace and 7th in points allowed per game. But in their last eight contests, they’ve been running at the 5th-fastest pace in the league. So, I’ll back Luka to bounce back in the passing game tonight.

Bet On Luka!
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Michael's Triple Threat Tracker: 25-14-2 (+978)

  • Cleveland Cavaliers -8.5 (-110) @ HOU
  • Mavericks-Suns Over 221 (-110)
  • Luka Doncic (DAL) Over 8.5 Assists (-115) @ PHX

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Michael Crosson

Michael Crosson

Michael Crosson began his time at VegasInsider as a freelance NBA writer back in 2019 while he continued to study Psychology and Biology at James Madison University. Following his graduation in 2021, Michael joined the team full-time, and he's been with VI ever since. Michael still writes NBA, NFL, and MLB for VI, as well as gambling industry news. He's also become a crucial part of our editorial production team. More from Michael Crosson
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