NBA Best Bets Today (Predictions for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray and Josh Giddey on Thursday)
By Peter Dewey
The NBA season slows down a bit on Thursday with just two games going between the Orlando Magic and Golden State Warriors and the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder.
With just two games on the slate, I’m actually turning my focus to just one of them with three prop bets in the Nuggets-Thunder matchup.
OKC comes into this game at 6-1 against the spread on the season, but I’m not as comfortable taking the Thunder to cover tonight as 6.5-point dogs, so let’s just root for some of the stars in this matchup.
NBA Best Bets Record to Date
- NBA Best Bets Record for 2022-23 Season: 30-20-1 (+6.9733 units)
NBA Best Bets Today
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander OVER 27.5 Points (-115)
- Josh Giddey OVER 26.5 Points, Rebounds and Assists (-120)
- Jamal Murray OVER 16.5 Points (-115)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander OVER 27.5 Points (-115)
SGA has cleared this line in five of his six appearances this season, averaging 31.5 points per game.
He’s quickly becoming one of the best scorers in the NBA, and now he gets a Denver team that ranks 25th in the league in defensive rating. Until books start putting this closer to 30, I’m taking the OVER on SGA every time.
Josh Giddey OVER 26.5 Points, Rebounds and Assists (-120)
Josh Giddey returned from an ankle injury in Oklahoma City’s last game to play 25 minutes, scoring seven points (3-for-12 shooting) while adding one rebound and 10 assists.
Now, Giddey gets a solid matchup against Denver, who ranks 25th in defensive rating, 12th in pace and 17th in rebounding percentage this season.
The second-year wing can fill up the stat sheet, averaging 12.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. He easily cleared this number in the first two games of the year when he was healthy before suffering the ankle injury.
Jamal Murray OVER 16.5 Points (-115)
Jamal Murray had one of his best games of the season against this Thunder team, scoring 16 points in 28 minutes on 6-of-12 shooting from the field.
He’s coming off his best game of the season, scoring 21 points against the Los Angeles Lakers in a season-high 32 minutes. Murray also took 21 shots in that game.
If the usage continues to increase for Jamal, this is too low of a number against an OKC team that plays at a top-five pace in the NBA.
These teams combined for nearly 240 points the last time they played, so I expect plenty of scoring on Thursday night.
Find Peter Dewey’s full betting record here.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.