Pick against the spread, best player prop for Nets vs. Pacers on Thursday

The Brooklyn Nets have already clinched a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference and enter Thursday with a 1.0 game lead on the Philadelphia 76ers for first place. The Indiana Pacers are not exactly where they’d like to be this season, sitting at the edge of the play-in tournament in 9th place. Injuries are mostly to thank for that. TJ Warren has been out all season. Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner are the latest injured front court specimens. Goga Bitadze may not play vs. the Nets. Meanwhile, Brooklyn just ruled out Kyrie Irving with a groin injury. Kevin Durant is healthy and back in the starting lineup while James Harden remains out with a hamstring issue. Let’s take a look at the odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook.

Nets vs. Pacers, 7:00 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass

Pick ATS: Pacers +5

I’ll take the Pacers and the points at home in an important game for play-in tourney seeding. Indiana is coming off a bad loss to the Portland Trail Blazers last night. If Goga can get in the lineup, that’ll help a bit. Either way, the Pacers need this game and with Irving sidelined, the Nets may not be too competitive tonight. KD may be held back since the Nets don’t have much to play for having clinched a berth.

Player Prop: Kevin Durant U28.5 (-113)

This could backfire big time, so if you want to steer clear of this prop, I won’t blame you. I still think the Nets won’t go with a regular rotation and Durant may not see a ton of minutes if the game goes one way or the other. If the Nets blow out the Pacers, then Durant likely doesn’t reach this number. If the Pacers go up big with Irving and Harden out, as well as Bruce Brown and Nic Claxton, then KD could sit to get some additional rest. Ultimately, I think with the Nets clinching, they’ll be careful with superstar players — ex: Irving sitting tonight.

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