Good morning, Pickswise Nation, and welcome to a terrific Thursday of sports. The NFL returns for Thursday Night Football, and we also have more World Cup action, along with NBA, NHL and college basketball games, so let’s get straight to making your next bet better!
About Last Night
Celtics earn 18th win in style
At 18-4, the Celtics have solidified themselves as one of the elite teams in the league. On Tuesday night, Jayson Tatum dropped 49 points en route to Boston’s 134-121 win over the Miami Heat. The win was big for our NBA best bet as our Celtics -9 bet cashed for our 24th NBA best bet win of the season!
NHL mega parlay cashes at +913 odds
We cashed a great parlay on the ice on Wednesday as our NHL mega parlay (Rangers -1.5, Leafs -1.5, Over 6.5 in Oilers vs Blackhawks) came up trumps. The Rangers and Leafs beat the Senators and Sharks respectively, both 3-1, while the Oilers beat the Blackhawks 5-4.
Mexico eliminated in dramatic day at the World Cup opponent
Wednesday’s World Cup soccer was full of drama, with Argentina and Poland just qualifying from Group C at the expense of Mexico and Saudi Arabia.
Today’s Slate
Thursday Night Football
The NFL returns for this week’s edition of Thursday Night Football between the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots. The forecast calls for a cold and windy night in Foxborough.
World Cup continues
We have 4 more exciting matchups in the World Cup today as the qualifying teams from Groups E and F will be decided. Croatia vs Belgium and Canada vs Morocco play at 10:00 am ET, with Costa Rica vs Germany and Japan vs Spain at 2:00pm ET.
Single game in the NBA
It was a massive day in the association yesterday, but we’re limited to just one NBA game today. The Dallas Mavericks head to Michigan to take on the Detroit Pistons at 7:00pm ET on NBA TV.
Huge day on the ice
We are treated to a massive day in NHL on Thursday, as 22 teams are facing off. Interesting matchups include the Vegas Golden Knights vs Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators vs New Jersey Devils.
College basketball galore
We have a ton of action in college basketball on Thursday, but the most exciting matchup is #7 Creighton vs #2 Texas.
Best Bet of the Day
NFL: Buffalo Bills -4.5 over New England Patriots
8:15 pm ET
The Bills come into this game having not covered in 5 straight. They were a bit unlucky in not covering against Cleveland when the Browns scored on a meaningless final drive and then against Minnesota when the Vikings posted an incredible 4th-quarter comeback. The Bills lines have been a bit inflated in general leading to this streak but the market may have overreacted in the opposite direction. To only have to lay 4.5 points here is just flat wrong. We are finally getting the Bills at an attractive buy-low spot.
Must-watch
Don’t forget to check out our daily show Let’s Bet It on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/c/Pickswise at 10:00 am ET.
Jared Smith and Lauren Jbara are your hosts today and they will be joined by special guest Roddy Jones (@RoddyJones20) an analyst for ESPN/ACC Network and SiriusXM. The team will preview Thursday Night Football and the ACC & SEC Conference Championship Games with Roddy before revealing their Plays of the Day.
Stat of the Day
The over is 8-3 in the Patriots’ last 11 home games. The game total for Thursday Night Football in Foxborough is set at 43.5 points.