DraftKings Sportsbook: Thursday Picks

DraftKings Sportsbook: Thursday Picks

This article is part of our NBA Picks series.

Alex Barutha

2-Leg Parlay (+203): Bradley Beal over 5.5 assists at Heat and Fred VanVleet over 2.5 made threes at Jazz -- DraftKings, 2:52 PM CT

Player prop parlays continue to be my favorite way to be NBA despite the risk. These are two tough opponents to go up against, which does give me some concern, and I scratched the idea of adding some Cavs props because they face the Warriors' elite defense. Still, here's the breakdown: With Spencer Dinwiddie (and Davis Bertans) out, Beal averages 6.8 assists per 36 minutes. He's also averaging 7.2 dimes across his past five games. With OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa out for Toronto, VanVleet launches 10.2 threes per 36 minutes. I think he'll stay beyond the arc with Rudy Gobert roaming the paint.

Nick Whalen

Golden State Warriors -9.0 (-115) at Cleveland Cavaliers -- DraftKings Sportsbook, 1:30 PM CT

There are a handful of big spreads on tonight's slate, and I like both favorites in this game as well as the Raptors-Jazz (-10.5) contest. While Golden State is on the road in the midst of an Eastern Conference road swing, the Cavs are simply too depleted to run with the best team in the NBA right now. Cleveland will be without four regular starters in Jarrett Allen, Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton and Evan Mobley. The Warriors aren't a team that punishes opponents inside, but the Ricky Rubio-Darius Garland-Kevin Love trio won't be enough to keep up with Steph Curry and Co.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Alex Barutha
Alex is RotoWire's Chief NBA Editor. He writes articles about daily fantasy, year-long fantasy and sports betting. You can hear him on the RotoWire NBA Podcast, Sirius XM, VSiN and other platforms. He firmly believes Robert Covington is the most underrated fantasy player of the past decade.
Nick Whalen
Now in his 10th year with the company, Nick is RotoWire's Senior Media Analyst, a position he took on after several years as the Head of Basketball Content. A multi-time FSGA and FSWA award winner, Nick co-hosts RotoWire's flagship show on Sirius XM Fantasy alongside Jeff Erickson, as well as The RotoWire NBA Show on Sirius XM NBA with Alex Barutha. He also co-hosts RotoWire's Football and Basketball podcasts. You can catch Nick's NBA and NFL analysis on VSiN and DraftKings, as well as RotoWire's various social and video channels. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @wha1en.
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