Top NBA Betting Picks for Thursday, April 8
We’ve got a seven-game slate this evening, and we have a pair of key Western Conference matchups. The Trail Blazers will take on the Jazz, and the Suns will play the Clippers tonight; both games will tip-off at 10 p.m. ET. You can watch the latter game on TNT.
Here are the top NBA betting plays for Thursday, April 8, provided by BettingPros experts James Bisson and Isaiah Sirois (Main game odds courtesy BettingPros Consensus; lock and prop odds sites may vary):
Check out our NBA Prop Bet Cheat Sheet for the top bets of the day >>
Betting Lock of the Day
Sirois: Bulls -4 (-114 at FD Sportsbook)
The Bulls are the NBA’s best team against the spread when on the road: they have gone 17-6 ATS outside of Chicago. They should improve that record tonight with a road matchup against the heavily depleted Toronto Raptors. Head coach Nick Nurse has already ruled out Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, Rodney Hood, and Paul Watson. Also, rotational guard De’Andre Bembry will have to serve a one-game suspension. He had been averaging 31 minutes per game since VanVleet’s injury. The Raptors lack the personnel required to cover this spread.
Top Team Prop of the Day
Sirois: Bulls Over 110.5 (-118 at FD Sportsbook)
I’ll double-down with Bulls picks here. Chicago scored 118 points against the Raptors the last time they met, and that was before they added veteran center Nikola Vucevic. The Bulls average 112.6 points per game, a nose above this total, and both of these teams play at an above-average pace. Toronto’s opponents have averaged 117.8 points per game through the seven games that VanVleet missed, with all but two of them going over this total. The LeBron-and-Davis-less Lakers managed to score 110 points against the Raptors on Monday; I suspect the Bulls will be able to score at least one more point than them.
Top Player Prop of the Day
Sirois: Nikola Vucevic Over 11.5 Rebounds (-104 at FD Sportsbook)
Vucevic recorded 32 rebounds against the Raptors in two games for the Magic earlier this year. Toronto allows the fifth-most total rebounds per game (55), and they give up the eighth-most to centers (15.4). Meanwhile, the Bulls have entrusted Vucevic with more work lately, and he is averaging 14.5 rebounds per game over his last two outings. This total sits close to the plus money because Vucevic’s average rebounds per game for Chicago (10.8) isn’t compelling. However, that rate is high enough for the matchup and his recent performance to point to value on the over.
Check out our NBA Prop Bet Cheat Sheet for the top bets of the day >>
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