NBA Thursday best bets: Warriors on upset alert after Curry injury
We're riding a 6-2 run against the spread on our NBA picks after a 2-1 mark in Wednesday's action. Here are our best bets for Thursday:
Warriors (-3.5, 218.5) @ Pelicans, 8 p.m. ET
Stephen Curry's quad injury compounded the Warriors' surprising loss to the Mavericks on Wednesday. However, Curry seemed pessimistic in his postgame comments about his chances of playing Thursday.
Just how much worse is Golden State without the current MVP favorite? Unsurprisingly, quite a bit. Curry has missed 11 games since the start of last season, and the Warriors went 3-8 straight up in those contests and were outscored by an average of 12.1 points per game. In comparison, Golden State has posted a 65-33 record with its star shooter in the lineup over the last two campaigns.
The Pelicans were among the league's worst earlier in the season, but they've pulled it together with five wins in their last nine tries despite facing stiffer competition. With Curry either sidelined or hobbled in this one, don't be surprised to see an outright upset by New Orleans.
Pick: Pelicans +3.5
Pistons @ Grizzlies (-12.5, 219.5), 8 p.m.
The victory train keeps rolling for the Grizzlies, who won their sixth consecutive game Tuesday and are massive favorites to extend that streak Thursday. And they've earned it as Memphis owns the NBA's best net rating (plus-12.6) since Nov. 28 while compiling a 14-6 ATS record, including nine wins by at least 13 points.
The Pistons, meanwhile, own the league's second-worst outright record (7-28) and net rating (minus-8.8) after Wednesday's 29-point loss to the Hornets. It was Detroit's second loss by 25-plus points over a 10-day stretch marred by DNPs from key players, including leading scorer Jerami Grant (thumb) and leading rebounder Isaiah Stewart (COVID-19).
The Grizzlies haven't been favored by this much in a game this season, but they've already banked two wins by 13-plus points in the last week. This matchup begs for another.
Pick: Grizzlies -12.5
C Jackson Cowart is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on Twitter (@CJacksonCowart) or email him at cjackson.cowart@thescore.com.