NBA Best Bets Tonight - Free Playoffs Picks for Thursday, May 4th

NBA Best Bets Tonight - Free Playoffs Picks for Thursday, May 4th

This article is part of our NBA Picks series.

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Best Bets

Klay Thompson over 0.5 steals (-135) vs. Lakers

DraftKings, 2:35 PM CT

Alex Barutha: Thompson has gone four consecutive games without a steal, but he was a more active defender in Game 1 against the Lakers than in the series against the Kings. Against Sacramento, Thompson averaged just 1.6 deflections per game. He had four deflections against LA on Tuesday. I'm leaning on him staying as active Thursday, and we have the benefit of not laying too much juice.

Draymond Green over 7.5 assists (+115) and Kevon Looney over 3.5 assists (-125) vs. Lakers 

BetMGM, 2:47 PM CT

Alex Barutha: This is purely a play on the extremely high number of potential assists from Game 1. Green had a staggering 21 potential dimes, and Looney had 12. The actualized numbers were seven and five, respectively. Golden State may have to adjust its gameplan a bit, but I think there will still be tons of handoffs and passes into backdoor cuts from Green and Looney.

Austin Reaves under 19.5 points + assists (-120) at Golden State

DraftKings, 2:58 PM CT

Alex Barutha: Reaves posted 10 points on nine shots and three assists in Game 1. Compared to his impact in Round 1, he was quite uninvolved in the offense. I think that will continue in Game 2, as so much of his responsibility is chasing Steph Curry and other three-point shooters around screens.

Jordan Poole over 1.5 threes (-162) vs. Lakers

FanDuel, 3:03 PM CT

Alex Barutha: Poole went 6-for-11 from distance in Game 1. That won't happen again, but eight of those attempts were uncontested. The Lakers didn't seem concerned about Poole shooting, and he was getting free as a ballhandler in the pick-and-roll. I think LA is picking its battles on chasing around three-point shooters, and they'll live with Poole taking a huge chunk of Golden State's triples.

DraftKings Same-Game Parlay: Kevon Looney O11.5 rebounds + Anthony Davis O11.5 rebounds + Warriors ML (+120)

Nick Whalen: I don't always love the value with these pre-packaged parlays, but I do like all three legs of this one. Looney has been a machine on the glass over the last few games, and I don't see that changing as this series progresses. Davis, meanwhile, has 23, 14 and 19 boards over his last three games, respectively, and has gone over 11.5 in nine of his last 12. In terms of final result, I'm not sure I'm comfortable taking Golden State up to -7.0, but I do think the Warriors win this game at home and even the series.

Other leans: LeBron James O5.5 assists (-125); Stephen Curry to lead the game in made threes (-125); LeBron James U2.5 made threes (-155)

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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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