There are five NBA games today, including the Cleveland Cavaliers taking on the Brooklyn Nets in Paris, France. In addition, the Milwaukee Bucks host the Boston Celtics in a marquee Eastern Conference matchup tonight.
Here are the three best NBA PrizePicks plays for Thursday, Jan. 11.
Our PrizePicks Cheat Sheet helps bettors by comparing lines from PrizePicks vs. our daily NBA projections >>
There are five NBA games today, including the Cleveland Cavaliers taking on the Brooklyn Nets in Paris, France. In addition, the Milwaukee Bucks host the Boston Celtics in a marquee Eastern Conference matchup tonight.
Here are the three best NBA PrizePicks plays for Thursday, Jan. 11.
Our PrizePicks Cheat Sheet helps bettors by comparing lines from PrizePicks vs. our daily NBA projections >>
Tuesday’s Best NBA PrizePicks Player Predictions
This Season: 27-35
Deandre Ayton is doubtful for tonight's game, which means Duop Reath should see an increase in his minutes yet again. However, Reath played only 21 minutes in his last game, six fewer than fellow center Ibou Badji. Reath scored just seven points and pulled down six rebounds.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are allowing the second-fewest points per game in the paint, so there is no reason to expect Reath to score much tonight, even if he plays a lot of minutes. He's averaging just one assist per game, and other than a 13-rebound night last Sunday, he's been pretty ineffective on the glass, even when his playing time increases. In a bad matchup, take his under.
The Celtics have the third-best scoring defense in the league, allowing just 24.6 assists per game. Yet, with this game being played in Milwaukee and plenty of points expected, we expect Damian Lillard to go over his season average tonight.
When these two teams met in Boston earlier this season, Lillard finished with just five assists. However, he also attempted 24 shots in that game, his second most of the entire season. Look for him to shoot a little less and pass a little more in this matchup. After all, he's entering tonight's game with 18 assists in his last two games.
The Los Angeles Lakers allow teams to make 38% of their three-pointers against them this season. That places them in the bottom 10 in the league at defending the arc and could be a problem tonight against Grayson Allen and the Phoenix Suns.
Allen is averaging 3.6 made three-pointers per game this month, but a big reason for that is his 9-of-14 night against the Miami Heat last Friday. On the season, he's averaging 2.6 makes per game and two or fewer in six of his last eight. He's faced the Lakers twice this season, making four three-pointers on the road and one at home. Even though he had success in LA earlier this year, we think he will struggle tonight and go below his season average.
Make sure to check out our other best bets for Thursday:
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Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.
