We’re back with our best spread and player prop bets for the NBA this Thursday! We have a huge 11-game slate on the cards and we’ve picked out the best plays from the key games for you right here.
NBA Betting Tips: Thursday, 25th of March
Denver Nuggets at Toronto Raptors
Amalie Arena, 10:30am AEDT
Denver Nuggets were able to see off the Magic on Wednesday in their first game of a road back-to-back. Nikola Jokic was the star of the show once again with his 12th triple-double of the season, leading the Nuggets to their 26th win to keep them in fifth spot in the West.
Toronto Raptors were always going to find it tough this season as all of their games are effectively road games. With that said, they’ve still performed far below expectations and come into this game off a really poor loss to the Rockets to make it nine defeats on the spin.
Although the Nuggets are on the second night of a road back-to-back, they still deserve to be a lot shorter in the head-to-head market in this game. They’re in some fine form at the moment and find themselves against a Raptors team that have lacked effort and intensity in their recent performances. We’re really happy to be on the Nuggets in this one.
One of the only Raptors that can hold their head up high at the moment is Fred VanVleet. He’s scored 23+ points in five of his past eight games and has played 41+ minutes in each of his last three. With his team severely struggling at the moment, look for him to try to continue to put up big numbers on offence.
Prop: VanVleet O30.5 PRA ($1.86)
Boston Celtics at Milwaukee Bucks
Fiserv Forum, 10:30am AEDT
Boston Celtics have been unable to live up to their lofty pre-season expectations and are currently battling away in eighth in the East. The Celtics certainly have a lot of star power on their roster, but for one reason or another they just aren’t clicking and are now looking what’s out there in the market to improve their team.
Milwaukee Bucks didn’t get off to the greatest of starts this season but are certainly clicking at the moment. They’ve surged into third spot in the East and just two games behind the first seed after winning 12 of their past 13 games. The Greek Freak was absent in their most recent game, but the Bucks still managed to topple a decent Pacers team by a whopping 27 points, highlighting the elite form they’re in.
The Greek Freak is a GTD tomorrow but even if he doesn’t play, we still fancy the Bucks to cover a spread of just 3.5 points, which is an insult to their current form. They’ve won seven on the spin for a reason and we expect them to have no problems dealing with the out-of-sorts Celtics on Thursday.
Milwaukee Bucks -3.5
$1.92
Phoenix Suns at Orlando Magic
Amway Center, 11am AEDT
Phoenix Suns have been one of the form teams of the competition for the past couple of months now and there are no signs of them letting up. They come into this off a comfortable win over the Heat, which was their first game of a road-back-back. The Suns are blistering 14-5 on the road this season, which ranks #1 in the NBA.
Orlando Magic will also be on the second leg of a back-to-back when they host the Suns at the Amway Center. On Wednesday they went down pretty easily against the Nuggets, making it an embarrassing 11 losses from their past 12 games.
Orlando are really struggling at the moment and a lot of that has to do with all the injuries they’re dealing will. There will be no mercy from the Suns on Thursday either, as they look to continue their dominance on the road this season and push closer towards the #1 seed in the West.
With the Magic roster being so decimated by injury, the likes of Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic are having extremely high usage rates. The former, Fournier, has been thriving with his increased usage and has put up 23+ points in four of his past five games, including two 30+ nights. Look for him to continue his form and eclipse his PRA line.
Prop: Fournier O26.5 PRA ($1.92)
