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NBA Daily Picks and Predictions – Thursday’s Triple Threat

Michael Crosson
Michael Crosson Sports Betting Expert
4 minute read

There's several ways to bet on the NBA, and some of the most popular ones include taking a side, a full-game total, or a player prop. So, this is what we like to call our Daily Triple Threat. Our three best bets in the aforementioned categories for NBA matchups on Thursday, March 16th. Best of luck!

NBA Best Bets for Thursday, March 16

  • Oklahoma City Thunder +6 (-110) @ TOR
  • Cameron Johnson (BKN) Over 4.5 Rebounds (-120) vs. SAC
  • Magic-Suns Over 228 (-110)
Updated on 05/10/2024
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Oklahoma City Thunder +6 (-110) @ TOR

The Raptors are having a very mediocre campaign, currently stationed 9th in the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 33-36, coming on the heels of a solid 48-34 finish last year, which earned the 5th seed in the conference.

Despite their underwhelming journey thus far though, the Raptors are still slated to make the Play-In Tournament with a losing record, and there’s little reason to believe that they’ll lose their grasp on that spot with the Wizards, Bulls, Pacers, and Hawks all jockeying for those final three positions.

The Raptors are a decent team, currently ranked 13th in offensive rating and 18th in defensive rating (115 ORtg, 114.5 DRtg), but push comes to shove, being decent at both ends of the floor usually isn’t enough to squander teams capable of running-and-gunning like Oklahoma City.

The Thunder rank 4th in pace and 3rd in overall scoring, which hasn't exactly bred the most efficient scoring clips, also ranked just 11th in offensive rating and 21st in effective field goal percentage (115.2 ORtg, 53.4 EFG%), however, because of their rapid pace of play, for the most part, what you see is what you get with this OKC’ team, and what we’ve seen over the course of this season, is that they stand head-and-shoulders above Toronto at both ends of the floor.

So, I’ll take the points with Oklahoma City in Thursday’s matchup against a Raptors’ squad that’s just 2-4 in their last six contests, and ranks 16th in the league in net rating on the season (NetRtg +0.4).

Take OKC!
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Cameron Johnson (BKN) Over 4.5 Rebounds

At the trade deadline, the Nets elected to part ways with Kevin Durant in exchange for four first-round picks, a first-round pick swap, Mikal Bridges, and, of course, Cameron Johnson, who averaged 13.9 points on 4.8 field goal attempts per game across 17 outings for Phoenix this season.

In Phoenix, Johnson was more of a complementary piece, usually averaging somewhere between 22 and 26 minutes per game across his four years or so with Phoenix. However, now in Brooklyn, Johnson is one of the best players on the floor at any given time, and as a result, his volume numbers have seem an immediate uptick, averaging 17.2 PPG, 4.8 REB, and 1.7 AST  in his 13 outings since joining the Nets, while also posting a career-high runtime of 30.5 minutes per game across that brief span.

In this contest, though, the best value on the board appears to lie with his rebounding line. Johnson enters Thursday having secured 5+ rebounds in four of his last six outings, with three of those performances ringing in at 8+ boards. So, I’ll back that trend to continue for him in tonight’s matchup against a Warriors’ squad that ranks 1st in the league in pace (101.8 PACE).

Take the Over!
BET NOW!
The total has gone OVER in 5 of the Suns' last 6 games. (Getty)

Magic-Suns Over 228 (-110)

The Suns are currently favored to win the Western Conference at +250, and rightfully so, given the fact that the Nuggets, Clippers, Mavericks, and Grizzlies have all shown that they cannot be trusted, and Phoenix already teetered on the border of title contention prior to the acquisition of Kevin Durant.

In order to acquire Durant, though, Phoenix had to sacrifice a huge amount of depth, and now that Durant is set to miss a minimum of three weeks with an ankle injury, the Suns are skating on very thin ice at the moment, which has led to a frustrating 1-3 skid, and a string of high-scoring affairs, considering Phoenix has either surrendered or scored 120+ points in three of their last four contests.

While on the other hand, the Magic aren’t exactly known for playing at an expedited pace, currently ranked just 16th in pace on the year. However, Orlando has officially gone into tank-mode as of late, having dropped five of their last seven contests, while combining with their opponents for a monster average of 245 PPG during that span.

So, I’ll take the ‘over’ in Thursday’s matchup between a pair of squads that have both seen at least one team clear the 120-point mark in four of their last five contests.

Take the Over!
BET NOW!

Michael's Triple Threat Tracker: 65-41-2 (+1,735)

  • Oklahoma City Thunder +6 (-110) @ TOR
  • Cameron Johnson (BKN) Over 4.5 Rebounds (-120) vs. SAC
  • Magic-Suns Over 228 (-110)

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Michael Crosson

Michael Crosson

Michael Crosson began his time at VegasInsider as a freelance NBA writer back in 2019 while he continued to study Psychology and Biology at James Madison University. Following his graduation in 2021, Michael joined the team full-time, and he's been with VI ever since. Michael still writes NBA, NFL, and MLB for VI, as well as gambling industry news. He's also become a crucial part of our editorial production team. More from Michael Crosson
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