NBA Thursday April 3rd - Best Bets & Betting Odds
All odds provided by Betway.
Milwaukee Bucks Alternative -9.5 Point Spread @ PHI (-110)
Milwaukee has not exactly been on a roll lately, losing six of their last 10, but they get a reprieve here from the saddest team in basketball. The Bucks have not been double digit favorites very often this season (they’re favored by 11.5 here), but when they are, they generally get the job done. They are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games as a favorite of 6+ points and an even better 5-1 ATS in their last half dozen games as a double digit favorite.
Poor Philadelphia, eh? At least they have those Eagles. Go Birds! But these 76ers have had a season that went from promising, to bad, to worse, to god awful. They have lost their last nine straight games, covering the spread in just one of them. Going back to the start of February, they are 3-24 straight up, and 6-21 ATS. They also have the worst ATS record in the league at home, at 11-25-1. We’ll still buy a couple points down from our friends at the betting apps just for a little bit of extra peace of mind.
Ja’Kobe Walter Over 11.5 Points vs. POR (-110)
With just six games to go and the Raptors mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, we can expect to see some tanking from the Toronto club over the next couple of weeks. They’ve already started handing the reins over to the youth of the squad for the remainder of this campaign. Handicappers don’t quite know these guys very well yet, however, so we found a steal here in Ja’Kobe Walter.
Toronto’s rookie first-round pick didn’t play a ton to start the season, but they’ve been bringing him on slowly here in the later stages of the season. He has averaged just over 20 minutes a game this year, but over the last four games, all starts, he’s averaged 30.3 minutes a night.
He’s been effective too, averaging 14.0 points a pop during that span. In 15 starts this year, Walter has averaged 12.3 points, topping the 12-point mark in nine of those. To put a cherry on top, the Blazers allow the seventh-most points per game to shooting guards, at just over 23.
Los Angeles Lakers Moneyline vs. GSW (-130)
This is a massive game. Not only because there are always fireworks when LeBron James and Steph Curry clash, but because these teams are currently two games and one seed apart in the standings. The Lakers are the No. 4 seed and the Warriors are two games back at No. 5. This could very well be a preview of a first round playoff matchup, and if it stays like this, the Dubs are in trouble.
Not only have the Lakers dominated Western Conference competition to the tune of a league-leading 30-15 ATS record, they are also excellent at their home base, where this one will be played. They are third in the league, with a 25-13 ATS record at home. They have also been excellent in games against good teams recently, going 5-2-1 ATS in their last eight in contests where they were favored by five or less. They boast a two-point spread, but with the moneyline at -130, there’s no need to sweat that.
