The NBA Cheat Sheet provides an in-depth look at Thursday’s two-game NBA slate, featuring DraftKings DFS and Sportsbook picks.
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Top scoring game environments on DraftKings Sportsbook
76ers-Nets: 231.5 Points
Nuggets-Warriors: 226 Points
There are only two games on the schedule, so we don’t exactly have a smorgasbord of totals to pour over. The highest one is for the headline matchup between the Nets and Sixers. With the game being played in Philadelphia, Kyrie Irving will be available. He’s coming off of a monster 50-point performance in his last game against the Hornets. This will be the first time that James Harden will face his former team, but Ben Simmons won’t take the floor as he continues to work on his conditioning.
The Nuggets and Warriors will both be playing their third game in four days, which is not ideal for either side. The Nuggets just played Wednesday, earning a win on the road against the Kings. The Warriors don’t have much size up front, so expect them to have a difficult time slowing down Nikola Jokic. He faced them Monday, he posted 32 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists.
Scheduling Notes
3rd game in 4th night
Nuggets, Warriors
2nd night of a back-to-back
Nuggets
1st night of a back-to-back
None
Key Injuries to Monitor
Nuggets SG Will Barton ($5,900) vs. Warriors
Barton is dealing with an ankle injury that has sidelined him for two straight games. If he’s unable to play again, that puts even more scoring pressure on Jokic. Monte Morris ($4,700) has stepped up his production with Barton out, scoring 37.8 and 34.5 DKFP, respectively, in the last two games. He scored at least 18 points in both matchups, which is a significant increase from his season average of 13.0 points per game.
Favorite Pick Against the Spread
Warriors (-1.5) at Nuggets
The Nuggets won by seven points when these two teams played each other Monday, but Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins all sat that one out for rest. The Warriors have had a difficult time with the Nuggets this season, losing all three of their previous meetings. In the two games that Curry played in, though, they lost by three points and one point, respectively. With the Nuggets playing the second game of a back-to-back set, look for the Warriors to finally put one in the win column against them.
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Favorite Player Prop
76ers PF Tobias Harris: Under 15.5 Points (-125)
Since Harden made his debut with the Sixers, Harris has averaged only 11.5 shot attempts across six games. That’s a significant decline from his season average of 14.7 shot attempts per game. The result has been him scoring 15 points or fewer in five of the six games. In fact, the only game that he scored more than 15 points was when Harden sat out for rest against the Heat. Unders aren’t fun to bet on, but this one could prove to be profitable.
Favorite Value Play
Nets PG Goran Dragic ($3,600) at 76ers
The Nets have slowly worked Dragic back into action after he sat out most of his tenure with the Raptors. He’s ramped up his playing time lately, though, logging at least 22 minutes in three straight games. He was able to turn that into at least 21.5 DKFP two times, so he could be worth the risk at his cheap salary.
Favorite Stud
Nuggets C Nikola Jokic ($11,200) vs. Warriors
Jokic has owned the Warriors this season. Across their three previous meetings, he’s averaged 29.7 points, 17.0 rebounds and 8.7 assists. As good as the Warriors are defensively, their weakness is in the middle, where they will have to turn to Kevon Looney ($4,100), Juan Toscano-Anderson ($3,300) and Nemanja Bjelica ($3,100) to try and slow down Jokic. Good luck with that.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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