The NBA continues on Thursday night with three matchups on the schedule. As the season is now past the halfway point, teams are scrambling to secure positions and prepare for the final stretch of the schedule. Here’s a look at tonight’s matchups in the league.  

Pelican Hope to End Road Winless Streak

In the first of our NBA picks, sees the New Orleans Pelicans go to New York on Thursday to play the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The team has lost their last five on the road and are 3-6 in their previous nine games overall. They’re also 13.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies in the Southwest Division.

The Knicks sit at the bottom of the Atlantic Division standings, and are 6.5 games behind the leaders with a 22-23 record. The Knicks are close enough to make some noise in this division but have been unable to put together enough wins in a row. 

This should be a competitive game with the Knicks winning at home.  

Suns Travel to Face Surging Mavericks

The Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks will have a showdown at American Airlines Center. Both teams have won their last four games, with Dallas winning ten of their last eleven in total. The Suns have a 2.5-game lead over Golden State in the Pacific Division. while Dallas is still four games behind the Grizzlies in the Southwest standings.

The Mavericks have been hot as of late and have a 14-8 record at home. They are also 20-10 against Western Conference opponents this season. In the last win over the Raptors, Luka Doncic scored 41 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the victory, the Mavs’ sixth straight at home.  

Even though the Mavericks are hot, the Western Conference-leading Suns will get their seventh straight road win in this one. 

Pacers Look For Second Straight Road Win

The Pacers travel to San Francisco to face the Warriors on Thursday night in the third game of this west coast trip. They defeated the Lakers last night 111-104 to end their four-game losing streak. Despite Klay Thompson’s recent return, the Warriors are 3-5 in their last eight games. In addition, Draymond Green is expected to miss another two weeks with a calf injury.  

The Pacers played well in last night’s game in which Caris LeVert scored a team-record 22 points in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Lakers. He ended with 30 points on the night. Domantas Sabonis had his seventeenth career triple-double with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists in the victory.  

Golden State is coming off a Tuesday night victory at home vs. the Detroit Pistons. Klay Thompson scored 21 and had four assists for the Warriors. The team is glad to be back on their home floor for this game tonight, as they have lost five of their last six road games.

The Warriors will get their fourth straight win at home against the struggling Pacers.