Handicapping the NBA: Thursday Picks

Handicapping the NBA: Thursday Picks

This article is part of our NBA Picks series.

Alex Barutha

Pascal Siakam under 35.5 points + rebounds + assists (-111) vs. Cavaliers -- FanDuel, 1:40 PM CT

This is mostly a bet on Siakam getting the Evan Mobley treatment. My assumption is that Mobley will be assigned to Siakam while Lauri Markkanen guards Khem Birch. Mobley's length and versatility should slow down Siakam, who often relies on getting points in the paint and in transition.

Nick Whalen

Corey Kispert OVER 11.5 points (-105) at Milwaukee Bucks – DraftKings Sportsbook, Noon CT

This is a bit of a deep cut, but I don't love most of the spreads for tonight. Suns +4.0 looks like a bargain, but DraftKings doesn't have any Suns player props listed, which leads me to believe some rest could be coming. ANYWAY, with Giannis and Khris Middleton both sitting out this could end up being a more competitive game than the spread (Wizards +9.5) would imply. Either way, the rookie has been locked into a big role of late, playing at least 29 minutes in six of the last seven games. He's gone over 11.5 points six times in that span. He's very reliant on knocking down threes, and Milwaukee once again ranks near the top of the league in threes allowed to opponents.

Joe Bartel

Kristaps Porzingis 15+ points and Brook Lopez under 1.5 made threes (-128) -- FanDuel Sportsbook (11:48 AM CT)

Kristaps has scored at least 15+ points in each of the last five games. It's to the point where I'd take him to cover his over outright (over 20.5 points, -118), but I thought this might be a good parlay pick just overall to highlight. Lopez finally made multiple three-pointers for the first time since October 19, but he's averaging just 3.0 three-point attempts in his four-game return. The odds of him even attempting more than three seems unlikely, so I'll gladly take the under on Lopez shooting well above his career high.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Joe Bartel
Joe Bartel is RotoWire's Operations Specialist and football contributor among many other things. When not at the office, he's probably playing a variety of Gen 4 console games or rooting on his beloved Green Bay Packers.
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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