We’re down to just four days remaining in the NBA betting regular season. You certainly know it’s getting close to the end when you can count them on one hand. There are still opportunities for winning on NBA player props though. Thursday evening offers up a nine-game slate for us to attack. Today’s column features NBA betting picks and predictions for Gary Harris, Khem Birch and Enes Kanter.
Yesterday’s NBA Player Props Recap
It was another winning day yesterday, as we hit on two of the three featured NBA player props. Kevin Durant never threatened to go over the line of 27.5 points, while Jordan Clarkson also came up short of exceeding 3.5 made 3-pointers. Had Daniel Gafford managed to grab one more rebound, we’d be sitting here recapping a perfect Wednesday card. The Wizards center unfortunately wasn’t quite as efficient on the glass as he was scoring the ball last night. Let’s push for another solid NBA betting slate on Thursday.
NBA Betting Prediction: NBA Player Props | May 13
Gary Harris (ORL) Over 2.5 Assists
The Magic still have a great chance to land optimal NBA Draft Lottery odds for the top draft pick. As such, the injury report seemingly contains more names than tonight’s active lineup does for Orlando. One of the veterans who will be on the court Thursday is Gary Harris. Since coming over from the Nuggets at the trade deadline, Harris’ impact has been modest at best. However, he saw 29 minutes on Tuesday and figures to be in line for a similar workload tonight.
On the season, Harris has averaged 2.4 assists per game, a mark just below tonight’s NBA betting line of 2.5. The Awesemo NBA Player Props Tool is very high on playing Harris to go over this total. The real handicapping edge here lies in the associated odds. With prices as high as +152 available in the market, it makes complete sense to wager on Harris to essentially exceed his season average. In addition to the minutes he should see, the Magic will face an Atlanta Hawks team that will be playing the second game of a back-to-back. This could lead to tired legs on defense and more offensive opportunities for Harris and Orlando.
Khem Birch (TOR) Over 12.5 Points
Speaking of plus-money NBA player props involving teams in tank mode, our second featured NBA prediction for Thursday is to play Khem Birch over 12.5 points. The even-money odds that the Awesemo OddsShopper Tool shows available in the market aren’t quite as profitable as the Harris prop. Nonetheless, the depleted state of the Raptors’ roster means Birch will see plenty of work. In fact, he should theoretically outperform his 13-point effort from Tuesday given that Chris Boucher will not be active this evening.
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On the season, Birch is averaging 11.4 points per game. Although this is roughly one full point below tonight’s NBA betting line, keep in mind the Raptors “injury” situation. Quotations are in fact necessary there as Toronto is clearly resting everyone in an effort to obtain the best NBA Draft Lottery positioning possible. With both Boucher and Pascal Siakam sidelined, that leaves just Birch, Yuta Watanabe and Freddie Gillespie to man the Raptors frontcourt. The Bulls are a mediocre team defensively, so take Birch over at the most profitable odds you can find.
Enes Kanter (POR) Under 8.5 Rebounds
The Trail Blazers picked up a massive win over the Utah Jazz last night. Unfortunately, there’s no rest for the weary in the Western Conference. Tonight, Portland will take on a Phoenix Suns team that still has a shot at the top overall seed for the postseason. While the Blazers might ordinarily rest some players in this spot, they have to keep right on winning when it comes to their own playoff seeding. As a result, Enes Kanter will struggle to exceed the NBA betting total of 8.5 rebounds.
Kanter held the fort well earlier this season when starting center Jusuf Nurkic was out for an extended period. Well, Nurkic is back and playing very well. He’s also clearly the preferred center in Terry Stotts’ rotation over Kanter. Last night saw Nurkic play 32 minutes compared to just 16 for Kanter. With Thursday’s matchup arguably being just as important, it’s hard to envision Kanter seeing a significant increase in playing time. It’s impossible to weigh Kanter’s season average of 11.0 rebounds per game all that much given the Blazers were without Nurkic for much of the year. With both centers healthy and available, we’ll ride with the under on 8.5 boards for Kanter as our NBA prediction.
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