With just a three-game Thursday night slate compared to the slew of college hoops games, the NBA is taking a bit of a back seat for most bettors.
Those three games, however, do consist of a rematch of last year's Western Conference Finals, which should draw plenty of attention throughout the day, and already has from some of the sharper bettors out there.
Using The Action Network's betting tools, let's examine how wiseguys are playing Rockets-Warriors.
>> All odds as of 1 p.m. ET. Download The Action Network App to get real-time NBA odds and track your bets.
Houston Rockets @ Golden State Warriors
10:30 p.m. ET | TNT
Sharp angle: Under (moved from 225.5 to 224.5)
Rockets vs. Warriors. Offense vs. offense. It just feels like this game has to go over, especially with the not-especially-high opening total of 225.5.
Golden State has led the NBA in points per game in each of the past four seasons. Houston has been second in the past two years, and ranked fourth and sixth in the previous two, respectively.
It makes sense for the public to flock to the over when these two teams meet. Since the start of the 2011 season, only twice has the under been the more popular bet on the total in this matchup.
Despite that, the under has gone 29-13 (69%) in these games over that same span, including an 8-1 run over the past nine — none of which had a public backing.
Still, the public remains convinced that these two should combine for a high total, as 57% of bets are on the over. Bigger bettors, however — the ones more likely to be sharps — disagree.
The 43% of bets hitting the under have accounted for 54% of actual dollars wagered to this point, and that significant difference has helped bring this total down from 225.5 to 224.5.
Also helping the fall have been two Sports Insights Bet Signals on the under, indicating at least two instances of market-wide line movement caused by sharp action.
