Thursday NBA Betting Guide: Key Spreads and Totals to Target

The NBA’s top teams – the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets – take the court Thursday as part of a nine-game schedule.

Not only are there the potential for fun games, but there are also numerous options when it comes to betting.

It’s nice to have options, but for our list of today’s best NBA bets, we’ve narrowed it down to the following games (odds via DraftKings):

Philadelphia 76ers vs. Detroit Pistons

Piston -14.5 at -110

No matter how you look at this game, it’s a big spread, but considering the Pistons won their first two games against the 76ers by 3 and 9 points, maybe it’s too much? I definitely thought so, but I saw the injury report. Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid are not good fits for the 76ers.

Without them, it will be a bloodbath against a solid Pistons team that plays great defense against the best players in the league. Detroit is just 15-17 ATS at home, but they’ll make it 16-17 today.

Denver Nuggets vs. san antonio spurs

Spurs -4.5

Denver might be a little tired after scoring 129 points (93 points) against the Houston Rockets last night in Denver. The Spurs faced a tough challenge in their last game as well, beating the Boston Celtics at home, winning 125-116, but that was on a Tuesday (break advantage – Spurs).

The last time these two teams played. Victor Wembanyama didn’t suit up for the Spurs, but San Antonio still beat the Nuggets 139-136 in Denver. He is listed as a game-time decider for this game due to a right ankle injury (Harrison Barnes and Lindsey Waters III are also GTD). Peyton Watson transferred to Denver.

Despite the troubling state of Wembanyama, I’m good at taking Spurs at -4.5. San Antonio is 19-12 ATS at home and 10-4 SU in games without Wembanyama. Considering how much the line adjusts when he’s out, it’s possible they were the underdogs in many of the matchups.

Boston Celtics vs Oklahoma City Thunder

This should be a fun game between two NBA Finals contenders. Boston has a strong team on the perimeter, with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown leading threes, and a well-rounded defense that can challenge even offenses like OKC.

The Thunder have a team that ranks in the top three of the league in both scoring and defense. Boston’s defense ranks first with 0.7 points per game (107.9-107.2). On paper, it looks like this match could turn into a dogfight where whoever has the last ball wins.

My Pick: UNDER 216.5

Despite facing a solid defense, I was tempted to pick OVER as both offenses have potential. Then I noticed that the OVER was 2-3 in both of their last 5 games. This tells us that both defenses are likely to struggle in this game and that we will likely end up with a low score.