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Thursday’s Best Bets: MLB Opening Day, NBA & NHL (3/30)

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No matter your sport of choice, there’s always sports betting action to be had. We’ll have you covered each and every day with our daily best bets. Here are all of our best bets across each major sport in action today.

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Today’s Best Bets

Here are today’s best bets across each of the major sports.

MLB Best Bets

MLB Game Picks

Baltimore Orioles (+108) vs. Boston Red Sox (-125) | O/U 9 (-106/-114)

Baltimore is one of those dark horse picks to make the playoffs this season. The second half of the 2022 season was noteworthy for them, and it’s giving the fans hope for the first time in a long time. 

The rotation didn’t get much better, exchanging Jordan Lyles for Kyle Gibson, who is today’s starter, isn’t necessarily an up or downgrade, but Cole Irvin could be a great value.

It will be the offense that supports this team. Adley Rutschman will try to build on his stellar rookie season, top prospect Gunnar Henderson is looking to make a name for himself, and after a down year, Cedric Mullins will try to get back to that All-Star level.

As bright as things look for the Orioles, it’s the opposite for Boston. Their roster is in a complete turnaround as they elected to let Xander Bogaerts walk, as well as J.D. Martinez and Nathan Eovaldi. 

Their offseason moves will not get the Fenway faithful excited. An aging Justin Turner will move into that DH role, Adam Duvall will be in center, Alberto Mondesi will man second, and Corey Kluber will get the honor as the Opening Day starter. Former Japanese baseball star Masataka Yoshida is the one signee who could make a significant impact on the lineup and is coming off a great World Baseball Classic.

This pitching matchup of two aging starters isn’t exciting, but the game itself could be. I’m heavily favoring an offensive showdown and Baltimore to grab the win.

Pick: Orioles ML (+108)

  • John Supowitz

Check out our other best MLB bets for Thursday:

NBA Best Bets

NBA Game Picks

Denver Nuggets vs. New Orleans Pelicans

This game/bet has everything to do with the status of MVP frontrunner Nikola Jokic. Jokic was listed as Questionable for this contest Wednesday afternoon with calf soreness, and this injury designation shifted the line from Denver -9 to Denver -7. Note how influential the mere uncertainty of Jokic is to the spread, as no player is more crucial to their team’s success than the Denver big man. FiveThirtyEight rates Jokic as number one overall (it’s not close) in Wins Above Replacement, and if he were to be ruled out, my best guess is that this game would close with Denver as a 2.5-point favorite.

I bring this up because I do think it is very likely Jokic rests this game. His injury (calf soreness) is not legitimate, and his downgrade to Questionable is a tell-tale sign of rest for NBA stars. Jokic very infrequently appears on the injury report, and the team will often tag him as such when they do aim to rest him. In addition, rest for the big man makes sense here. The Nuggets have all but secured the top seed in the Western Conference, and face the Phoenix Suns the night after in what certainly will be a much more important game for them.

Finally, even if the Nuggets are at full strength here, we don’t hate this number. The Pelicans have played quite well in the month of March, rating third in the NBA in Pts/Poss, and have reentered the playoff conversation by virtue of their elevated play. The Pels are also the deeper of the two teams, and will likely have the edge when Jokic is off of the floor.

This is an ok bet right now, with the potential to be a great one. Back the Pelicans to cover the number on a bare NBA Thursday slate.

Bet: Pelicans +7 (-110)

  • Tommy Jurgens

Check out our other best NBA bets for Thursday:

NHL Best Bets

NHL Game Picks

New York Rangers (+107) @ New Jersey Devils (-130) | O/U 6 (-121/+100)

The New Jersey Devils are coming off an extremely disappointing 5-1 loss to the New York Islanders on Monday. However, that extra day of rest compared to the New York Rangers could be crucial in this Metropolitan Division tilt. 

One of the best two-way teams in the league and a legit Stanley Cup contender, the Devils rank in the top-7 in both Expected Goals For per 60 minutes (xGF/60) and Expected Goals Against per 60 minutes (xGA/60) at 5-on-5. Meanwhile, New York trails them in both of those categories by a wide margin. 

Once again, keeping the Rangers’ season together is goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who is the confirmed starter on Thursday. The reigning Vezina Trophy winner enters this contest in terrific form and will undoubtedly be New Jersey’s biggest obstacle in achieving two points. 

With that said, Shesterkin has struggled mightily against the powerhouse New Jersey offense. Over his last four starts against the Devils, he is 1-2-1 with a .880 save percentage (SV%) and 4.31 goals against average (GAA). 

Those numbers are far more of a proclamation of New Jersey’s offense than it is an indictment of Shesterkin. Across the ice, goaltender Vitek Vanecek is projected to start between the pipes for the Devils. 

Through 47 appearances in the crease with his new club this season, Vanecek is 29-10-4 with a .909 SV% and 2.50 GAA.

Best Bet: Devils ML (-130)

  • Tony Sartori

Check out our other best NHL bets for Thursday:


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