Handicapping the NBA: Thursday Best Bets

Handicapping the NBA: Thursday Best Bets

This article is part of our NBA Picks series.

Nick Whalen: Jazz (+1.5) at Nuggets (DK Sportsbook, 11:30am CT)

Utah is coming off back-to-back losses for the first time since early December, so I like the Jazz to bounce back tonight -- even on the road. The Nuggets will still be without two starters, and they're coming off of an ugly loss of their own in which they failed to hit 100 points. Denver is just 10-11-2 ATS as a home favorite this season and is 6-6-3 ATS when holding the rest advantage. Utah played last night in San Antonio but is 3-1 straight up on the second night of back-to-backs this season. 

Alex Barutha: 4-pick parlay (+148)

     •  Clippers moneyline (-1115) vs. Kings

     •  Celtics moneyline (-1000) vs. Warriors

     •  Raptors moneyline (-560) at Cavaliers

     •  Joel Embiid over 11.5 rebounds at Hawks(-134)

I'm sure this sort of wager breaks multiple principles taught in Gambling School -- parlays in general are often viewed as negative value -- but this is a fun one that I feel good about. I'm not sure how much I really need to discuss the moneylines here. It's great teams against awful teams, and two of the three are at home. 

But my favorite bet, and the one that I consider to be a lock in general for today's slate, is Embiid going over 11.5 rebounds. Al Horford and Josh Richardson are out for the 76ers tonight. With those two off the court in road games, Embiid averages 20.8 rebounds per 36 minutes. It's not a huge sample size (78 minutes), but it's one I feel good about, even if Embiid plays something like 28 minutes. The Hawks' frontcourt is awful, and the team allows 47.0 rebounds per game to opponents, which is fifth-most in the league.

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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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