Navigate

Top NBA Odds, Picks & Predictions: Thursday (3/7)

by |

The National Basketball Association has seven games on tap for Thursday night, including the two nationally televised games on TNT. In the first game, the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks square off in the Metroplex, while the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets meet in the TNT nightcap in a potential NBA Finals preview. Let’s get started!

Get instant alerts when a line reaches your target via the BettingPros App >>

Thursday’s Best NBA Bets

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All wagers are for 1 unit

Brooklyn Nets (-130) at Detroit Pistons (+115) | O/U 215 (-105/-115)

The Nets (25-37) travel to meet the Pistons (9-52) at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. It’s the third meeting of the season, with Brooklyn winning each of the first two meetings by an average of 8.5 points per game. That includes a 118-112 win at LCA on Dec. 26, with the Pistons hanging on for the cover as a 6.5-point underdog at most shops.

Brooklyn heads into this one with a 112-107 win over the Philadelphia 76ers last time out on Tuesday, covering as a 1-point favorite. The Nets are 3-1 straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS) in the past four outings, while cashing the Over in three of those outings, too.

Detroit suffered a 118-110 loss on the road against the Miami Heat as an 11-point underdog, improving to 4-2 ATS in the past six games. However, Detroit is back to its losing ways, picking up just a single victory across the past 10 games dating back to Feb. 10. Back the Nets on the moneyline if you don’t want to fiddle around with the points.

Bet: Nets Moneyline (-130)

Minnesota Timberwolves (+102) at Indiana Pacers (-120) | O/U 228 (-112/-108)

The Timberwolves (43-19) hit the road for Gainbridge Fieldhouse against the Pacers (35-29) in Indianapolis. Minnesota picked up a 127-109 win in the Twin Cities in the first meeting on Dec. 16, cashing as a 10.5-point favorite as the Under (238) connected. The T’Wolves have not only won five in a row in the series, Minnesota has covered the past four, while the Under is 3-0 in the previous three meetings, and 4-1 in the past five in the series.

Minnesota is coming off a 119-114 win against the Portland Trail Blazers, although it didn’t come close to covering as a 15-point favorite. The Timberwolves have failed to cover in the past five outings, although it has won four of the past six outright while going 8-3 SU in the past 11 outings.

Indiana posted an impressive 137-120 win as a 5.5-point underdog at Dallas on Tuesday, but it has just two wins in the past five outings, while also going 2-3 ATS during the span.

Based on Minnesota’s dominance in this series, especially in the first meeting this season, the Timberwolves are a strong moneyline play at plus-money.

Bet: Timberwolves Moneyline (+102)

Boston Celtics (-112) at Denver Nuggets (-104) | O/U 220.5 (-110/-110)

The Celtics (48-13) travel to face the Nuggets (42-20) in a potential NBA Finals preview in the Mile High City. Denver picked up a 102-100 win at TD Garden as a 7-point underdog in the first meeting on Jan. 19 as the Under (234) connected.

Boston is looking to rebound after a shocking fourth-quarter collapse in Cleveland on Tuesday, falling 105-104. The fact they lost to the Cavs isn’t shocking, but it was the fact leading scorer Donovan Mitchell was out, another starter Max Strus was sidelined, and the Cavs lost Evan Mobley to an ankle injury in the third quarter to make matters worse for Cleveland. Yet, it still persevered.

The C’s are still 11-1 SU in the past 12 games while covering six of the past seven outings. We’ll focus on the fact the Under is 4-1 in the past five, however, and the total went low in the first meeting in Boston.

The Nuggets went low in a 117-107 OT loss at home against the Phoenix Suns, just barely, as the total closed at 224.5 at most shops. The Under is officially 4-1 in the past five games for Denver while going 5-1 at home in the past six games.

Bet: Under 220.5 Total Points (-110)

Make sure to check out our other best bets for Thursday:

Transform your betting strategy with Automated Line Tracking across all significant markets and sports >>

Daniel E. Dobish is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Daniel, check out his archive and follow him @danieledobish.