NBA Thursday Night – Wild West Showdowns

Thursday’s regular NBA betting doubleheader delivers a pair of Western Conference matchups tonight, with Dallas taking on New Orleans and Portland heading to Denver.

Dallas drops in on New Orleans on Thursday night less than 24 hours after hosting San Antonio on Wednesday. The Mavericks will be playing their fourth game in five nights after facing Oklahoma City on Monday night and Toronto on Sunday, and they could be fatigued versus a Hornets squad that has had two days off.

Dallas had racked up three straight wins before a surprising loss to Oklahoma City, who were missing both Kevin Durant and Jeff Green. The Mavs were a 6-point favorite in the BetOnline Sportsbook, but came up short in a 96-87 loss. Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 28 points and Jason Terry added 20 points. Josh Howard left the game late in the second quarter with a sore left ankle, which could be problematic considering he already missed time earlier this season with a bad ankle.

The Hornets recorded their fifth win in a row on Monday night after getting past Philadelphia 98-91 as a 2-point underdog. David West unloaded 30 points and 10 rebounds for New Orleans and Chris Paul had 16 points and 12 assists.

The Mavericks and Hornets met up in January in Dallas and the Hornets stung the Mavs 104-97 as a 4-point favorite. Paul had a triple-double in the win with 33 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists, while Terry led Dallas with 28 points.

Portland takes on Denver on Thursday night after facing Indiana on Wednesday. The Blazers had been off since Sunday when they routed San Antonio 102-84 as a 4.5-point favorite. LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy each netted 26 points for the Blazers, and Steve Blake added 15 points and six assists.

The Nuggets have dropped their last two games after falling to Detroit 100-95 as a 3-point favorite on Tuesday night. With Carmelo Anthony out due to a one-game suspension Chauncey Billups led Denver with 34 points in his return to Detroit and Nene Hilario had 20 points in the loss.

Portland and Denver faced off on back-to-back nights in December with the home team picking up the win in both games. Anthony missed both of those games with an injury, but Denver still picked up one win with a 97-89 victory as a 3.5-point favorite. Portland struck back the following night with a 101-92 win as 8-point home favorites.