We’re coming off yet another profitable day with our NBA betting tips and have some more value plays in store for you on Thursday. Catch our best spread and player prop bets from the upcoming seven-game slate here!
NBA Betting Tips: Thursday, 18th of March
Sacramento Kings at Washington Wizards
Capital One Arena, 10am AEDT
Sacramento Kings let another one slip in their recent clash against the Hornets in which they led by as many as 15 points during the third quarter. The fact that the Kings went onto lose that game pretty much sums up their season, in fact probably their last 10+ seasons in the NBA.
Washington Wizards were on a roll leading into the All-Star break, but the week off looks like it’s been a detrimental to their form. They’ve lost all four of their games since resuming, although two of those came against the Bucks and one was against the 76ers, so it’s not all doom and gloom.
These teams haven’t met each other in over a year, so there’s no H2H form to go off here. However, we do see more upside with the Wizards as they showed plenty of ability in the big run they went on just a couple of weeks ago. As long as they bring something close to their best, then they should be able to negotiate the win here.
This is expected to be an extremely high-scoring game with the total points line currently set at 245.5. Obviously, this will lead to some big scoring nights for a lot of players, but our favourite to eclipse their points line is Rui Hachimura. He finally got out of his form slump two games back against the Bucks with 29 points and was able to back it up with 22 just two days later. Getting near even money for him to score 15+ looks a great bet in a high-scoring game.
Prop: Hachimura O14.5 Points ($1.86)
Washington Wizards -2.5
$1.97
Milwaukee Bucks at Philadelphia 76ers
Wells Fargo Center, 10am AEDT
Milwaukee Bucks have resumed post All-Star break in just as good of form as they were prior to their week off. They’ve won all three of their games since resuming to take their record to 9-1 over the past 10 games. The Bucks are now just 2.5 games behind first place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Philadelphia 76ers have been the best and most consistent team in the East all season and come into Thursday on a six-game winning streak. Their depth will certainly be tested for the next couple of weeks however, as superstar centre and MVP candidate Joel Embiid is set to miss through injury.
If Embiid was fit for this blockbuster clash, then the 76ers would probably start as the narrow favourites, but unfortunately, he’s out and the Bucks are the overwhelming favourites as a result. Embiid means so much to the 76ers on both ends of the floor and without him we just can’t see how they get within 10 points of the in-form Bucks.
Ben Simmons has been a topic of conversation in recent days for a couple of reasons and we expect him to play with a chip on his shoulder as a result. His usage rate is also up with Embiid on the sidelines, so expect a big night on all fronts for the Aussie All-Star.
Prop: Simmons O34.5 PRA ($1.87)
Milwaukee Bucks -6.5
$1.90
Miami Heat at Memphis Grizzlies
FedExForum, 12pm AEDT
Miami Heat have put a disastrous start to the season behind them and are currently one of the form teams of the competition with wins in 11 of their past 12 games. The driving force behind this run has coincided with Jimmy Butler being back on the court, which just goes to show how great of a player and just how important to this team he is.
Memphis Grizzlies are going through a rough patch at the moment with three losses on the spin. Their most recent defeat was the most disappointing one as they failed to notch 100 points and went down by 20+ to the Suns. The Grizzlies playoff chances are slipping away and will completely evaporate unless they find some form ASAP.
As we said above, the Heat are one of, if not the form team of the competition at the moment, which makes it surprising to see them as just narrow favourites against this out-of-sorts Grizzlies team. We love the Heat at just a -2.5 handicap and will be backing them into cover it as our final spread bet on Thursday.
Dillon Brooks generally guards the oppositions best wing player, which will see him matchup against Jimmy Butler here. Brooks finds it tough staying out of foul trouble at the best of times (#1 for fouls in 2019-20), which often leads to extended time on the bench. Up against one of the hardest players to guard without fouling in the league in Butler, we expect Brooks to be in for a frustrating night, especially if he’s guarded by the superstar on the other end of the floor.
Prop: Brooks U15.5 Points ($1.84)
