NBA Basketball Betting – Thursday Three Pack of Picks
Charlotte Bobcats (0-0) @ Cleveland Cavaliers (0-1)
The Cleveland Cavaliers will get their second crack at a first win after losing to the Boston Celtics on opening night as they start their home schedule on Thursday night.
For online sports betting purposes, the Cavs are 9.5-point favorites. The Cavs have been a favorite of 9.5 to 12 points 11 times in the last three seasons and have won nine of those games outright but covered just four of them.
The Bobcats, meanwhile, are 9-10 as a road underdog of 9.5 to 12 points over the last three seasons.
The Cavs haven’t lost at home to the Bobcats ever but a lot of pundits are expecting this to be a different Charlotte squad. The biggest reason for optimism is head coach Larry Brown, who has helped develop a lot of young teams throughout his coaching career.
The Bobcats are 3-1 against the spread in their last four games in Cleveland and look for them to put forth a quality effort tonight.
NBA Free Picks: Bobcats +10
Houston Rockets (1-0) @ Dallas Mavericks (0-0)
The Dallas Mavericks will have their home opener on Thursday night and like the Bobcats, there are a lot of lofty aspirations mostly in part to a change at head coach. Rick Carlisle takes over the talented Mavericks who have a lot of random pieces, which may or may not fit together.
Speaking of teams with random pieces of the puzzle, the Houston Rockets visit their neighbors in Dallas after a close win over the Memphis Grizzlies. 
The Grizzlies were leading in the fourth quarter in Houston on Wednesday night while holding the Rockets to just 36.8% shooting and outrebounding them 49-44 on their own court. The Rockets did pull away in the end.
The Mavericks have had the Rockets number at home, winning and covering three of the last four meetings in Dallas.
The Rockets are playing on back-to-back nights for the first time this season but it hasn’t affected them greatly over the last three seasons. They are 18-16-2 against the spread and 18-18 straight up in the last three years when playing on back-to-back nights.
NBA Free Picks: Mavericks -5
New Orleans Hornets (1-0) @ Phoenix Suns (1-0)
Both the New Orleans Hornets and the Phoenix Suns earned their first wins of the season on the road on Wednesday night and will now square off in Phoenix on Thursday night.
The back-to-back nights should affect the Suns a little bit more since they are the older team, where as the sprite young Hornets should be better suited to deal with it.
The numbers reflect that as the Hornets have covered 27 of their last 39 games in back-to-back occasions while the Suns are just 17-19 against the spread in those situations.
The Suns are 119-36 in their last three years as a favorite but they are not as hot as a small favorite. As a home favorite of three points or less, they are just 2-2 (both straight up and against the spread) in the last three years.
New Orleans is 3-0 against the spread in the last three meetings in Phoenix.
NBA Free Picks: Hornets +3
