NBA Thursday Basketball Preview

Online sports betting players will have to keep a close eye on the injury reports for the early game of the Thursday night TNT basketball extravaganza as the Phoenix Suns head to Dallas to face the Mavericks.

The Suns played without star point guard Steve Nash (flu) on Wednesday and without Shaquille O’Neal (rest). Now the Suns hope to have both of their cornerstones back in the lineup as they get a test against the Mavericks.

Nash averaged 13.7 assists per game against the Mavericks last year but that was in the run-and-gun offense of Mike D’Antoni. The Suns have since changed head coaches and offensive philosophies, and that transition has not gone smoothly.

Power forward Amare Stoudemire has complained about not being involved in the offense as much as he would like and the Suns defense in the half court game has been spotty. But they no longer have the opportunity to just outscore their opponents.

They’ll see a team who likes to run aplenty tonight as they face the streaking Mavericks.

Since starting 2-7, the Mavericks have seven of their last eight games with their lone loss coming on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The bottom line is that if Nash doesn’t play, the Mavericks should have a relatively easy victory on their hands. Although he’s no longer a league MVP, he’s the Suns MVP and the offense doesn’t run the same when he’s not around.

Pick: Dallas Mavericks

San Antonio Spurs (9-8) @ Denver Nuggets (13-6)

The Denver Nuggets will host the team that’s knocked them out of the playoffs in two of the last four seasons on Thursday night as the San Antonio Spurs come to visit.

But the Spurs should notice that the Nuggets are a completely different team nowadays. Since acquiring Chauncey Billups, the Nuggets are 11-3 but more importantly, they have morphed into a reasonable defensive team.

The Nuggets are fresh off their biggest win of the season, a 132-96 drubbing of the Toronto Raptors, but they haven’t had many signature wins since acquiring Billups. Their three losses came in Cleveland, in Los Angeles against the Lakers, and at home to the Hornets last Thursday. This would be a signature win.

The Spurs are slowly getting healthy but could be very dangerous this season if their stars continue to be their stars. Last season, the Spurs fell short of teams like the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers most in part to a lack of depth. Early on this season, they’ve shown that the addition of players like Roger Mason Jr. and rookie George Hill have shored up that weakness.

Expect the Nuggets to be focused in front of a national audience and look for them to edge out the Spurs tonight.

Pick: Denver Nuggets