Top NBA Betting Picks for Thursday, May 13
With the end of the regular season fast approaching, I encourage bettors to do their research on teams that still have something to play for. Betting on squads without much incentive to try can burn you at this point, so don’t forget to take that extra step at this point in the year.
Here are the top NBA betting plays for Thursday, May 13, provided by BettingPros experts Raju Byfield 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: Trail Blazers +4.5 (-110 at FD Sportsbook)
Let’s run down the list of teams with something left to play for. Portland still hasn’t punched their playoff ticket — a few more losses could send them to the play-in tournament. Meanwhile, the Suns are locked in, and they’re just fighting for positioning at this point. The Suns are now on a two-game losing skid, having fallen to both the Warriors and Lakers. They may get the win tonight, but the Blazers should keep this within four points. Over the last three games, Portland outranks Phoenix in offensive efficiency (3rd to 5th) and defensive efficiency (13th to 24th). They have also gone 22-13 ATS on the road, the NBA’s fourth-best such mark. Of course, Phoenix is 23-12 ATS at home, but that doesn’t scare me because of their recent performance.
Top Game Prop of the Day
Sirois: Timberwolves Over 114.5 (-105 at FD Sportsbook)
The T’Wolves went over this total in their past two games, and they’re 4-1 against it through their last five. The Nuggets’ full-game overs have hit 55.1% of the time, and they rank an unremarkable 13th in defensive efficiency (27th over their last three contests). Meanwhile, the T’Wolves are showing off to end their losing season — they’re playing at the NBA’s fourth-fastest pace while scoring 119.7 points per game over their last three contests. The juice shouldn’t be this close to even on this line, and I’m backing the over with confidence.
Top Player Prop of the Day
Sirois: Ivica Zubac Over 7.5 Rebounds (-138 at FD Sportsbook)
This isn’t the highest-value prop that I’ve featured, but you can consider taking the over 8.5 at +114. That said, I much prefer this line, which has cashed in all of Zubac’s last four contests. The center has averaged 8.1 rebounds per game since Serge Ibaka’s injury, and he’ll take on a banged-up Hornets squad without their third- and fifth-best rebounders. In fact, the Hornets give up the second-most rebounds per game to centers (16.8), good for a rate of 0.35 per minute. If Zubac can nab boards at that clip, he’d need just 22.9 minutes to cash the over, leaving him plenty of time to potentially record a ninth and cash the above plus-money prop.
Check out our NBA Prop Bet Cheat Sheet for the top bets of the day >>
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