We’re back with our best NBA betting tips for NBA Thursday, where there’s a big 10-game slate on the cards. Catch our best spread and player prop bets from the value games right here!
NBA Betting Tips: Thursday April 1st
Portland Trail Blazers at Detroit Pistons
Little Caesars Arena, 10am AEDT
Portland Trail Blazers have enjoyed a successful road trip so far, winning all three of their games by 5+ points. They made a nice acquisition in Normal Powell before the trade deadline, which gives them another fantastic option on offense.
Detroit Pistons secured a rare win over the Raptors last time out to snap a four-game losing streak. They managed to win by 14 points despite a rare poor night from Jerami Grant (seven points), which is more of an indication of where the Raptors are at right now more than anything.
The Pistons are coming off a win, but we’re not reading into that at all; if anything, it’s a positive because we get some more value about the Trail Blazers here who we believe are ready to make a big run. They’re finally getting healthy and are in some great road form, so take them to cover the spread in this one.
Damian Lillard returned from a game off to deliver 22 points and 11 assists against the Raptors, making it three straight games with 9+ assists. The addition of Normal Powell takes more pressure off Dame to score the ball, so we’re expecting some more big assists nights going forward, making his 7.5 assist line value on Thursday.
Prop: Lillard O7.5 Assists ($1.80)
Portland Trail Blazers -6.5
$1.90
New York Knicks at Minnesota Timberwolves
Target Center, 11am AEDT
New York Knicks have been one of the surprising teams this season and are in a really good position to return to the playoffs this season. They weren’t able to topple the Heat last time out on the back of a rough shooting night, but they’re still above .500 and sitting fifth in the East.
Minnesota Timberwolves had to rely on a monumental collapse by the Rockets to secure a rare will last week, but returned to their losing ways after that with two losses in a row leading up to this one. The Timberwolves have had another bitterly disappointing campaign and look destined to finish bottom of the West.
Considering how bad the Timberwolves are we’re surprised to see the Knicks as only the slight favourites here. In our opinion, they’ve earned the right to be at least 6–7-point favorites in this one as they should be far too strong over the course of a 48-minute game. Take them to get the job done comfortably against the worst team in the competition.
Julius Randle is having a phenomenal season but has had his struggles shooting the ball over the past couple of games. He has a fantastic opportunity to find his rhythm again when he matches up against one of the worst defences in the NBA. Look for him to bounce back with a big night scoring the ball on Thursday.
Prop: Randle O23.5 Points ($1.86)
New York Knicks -3.5
$1.90
Sacramento Kings at San Antonio Spurs
AT&T Center, 11:30am AEDT
Sacramento Kings are rolling at the moment and loom as a big chance to at least make the play-in tournament in the West. They’ve now won five on the spin and seven of their past eight to move within 2.5 games of the eighth seed. A lot of their recent success has to do with the extremely high level that De’Aaron Fox is playing at. He was recently named the Western Conference Player of the Month after scoring 37ppg in their 4-0 week.
San Antonio Spurs are going through a bit of a funk at the moment, losing five of their past six games, four of which have been on their home deck. The most alarming thing about their current streak is they’ve lost their last three by 13+ points, conceding 130+ points in two of them.
These teams met just a couple of days ago and it was the Kings who secured a really comfortable win on the road. Surprisingly, the Spurs remain the favourites to win the rematch on Thursday, which we simply don’t agree with. Take the Kings to increased their win streak to six.
Sacramento Kings +2.5
$1.90
