US Basketball Best Bets

Cade Cunningham Over 35.5 PA

Cade Cunningham has only cleared this line once so far this series, but he’s been there or thereabouts for Detroit. At home in the playoffs, he averages a tick over 37 PA compared to on the road.

Expect him to be more efficient today. He’s cleared 30+ PA in all but one of his 17 playoff games. I’m expecting him to go close again.

Tobias Harris 6+ Rebounds

Harris has been great on the boards. Not just in this series but throughout the playoffs. He’s reached this mark in three of four games this series and has done so in all but two games since joining Detroit.

He’ll get plenty of opportunities at home today.

Donovan Mitchell 4+ Rebounds

Another player who is clearing their lines comfortably. Mitchell has had 4+ rebounds in every game this series, averaging 6.3 boards.

He’ll play lots of minutes in what is likely going to be a tight game. So he should get plenty of opportunities to pick up a rebound or four.

Victor Wembanyama 35+ PRA

Against Minnesota this season, Wemby has covered this line in three straight. He also covered this line in two of the four games in the last series. One of those he didn’t reach the line, he left the game early due to an injury.

Minnesota just don’t have the personnel to guard him. Randle and McDaniels are too small, and Gobert is too slow.

Julius Randle 6+ Rebounds

Randle covered this line in five of six games against Denver and did so in all the games against San Antonio this season. He had 10, 8 and 6 and his game where he snatched 10 was the only one Wemby was playing in. With Gobert being tied up with Wemby, Randle should benefit in the rebounding column.

Devin Vassell 10+ Points

Vassell covered this line in every game of the last series. He should benefit from the guys like Castle and Harper getting to the paint and should get plenty of open looks.

Cade Cunningham 25+ Points

Cade Cunningham has been on a heater this series. He’s not scored less than 27 points this series, clearing 30 twice and 40 once. Detroit will need to lean on their star in game seven

Ausar Thompson Over 10.5 Rebounds & Assists

Thompson has been a solid player this series, averaging 12.5 rebounds & assists in the series. He’s covered this line in four straight games and has 21 and 16 in his last two.

Paolo Banchero 20+ Points

Franz Wanger is out, which means Banchero is going to have to do even more on the offensive side of things than normal. He’s averaging 24 ppg this series. He had an off shooting night in game six, expect him to bounce back for the big occasion.

Donovan Mitchell 20+ Points

Mitchell started this series hot with back-to-back 30 point games, but has cooled down since then. In a game seven, he will be the main option for Cleveland, putting up plenty of shots. He’s averaging 23.3 ppg this series.

RJ Barrett 20+ Points

Barrett’s coming off a game-winner in game six and will be high on confidence. He’s got 18+ every game this series and won’t shy away from the big moment.

Evan Mobley 8+ Rebounds

Mobley has found some better form recently, bringing down 9+ boards in his last three games. He’ll be on for 30+ minutes and has been a better rebounder than Jarrett Allen.

With the 7th and 8th play-in games set for this afternoon, Golden State are welcoming back a huge addition to their line-up in Steph Curry. Curry, who has been dealing with injuries on and off all season, missed the end of the regular season and is likely to return in this one.

With his return, I expect his side to feature him heavily, allowing him to get up plenty of shots in what will be a playoff-like environment. With the lights brighter given the play-in ramifications, I expect Curry to be locked in, and that could certainly see him get hot from beyond the arc.

Los Angeles have had their season blown to smithereens with hamstring and oblique injuries sustained by their two best players, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. For the side, that has left them with LeBron James and a group of rotational players to battle down the stretch and into the first round of the playoffs.

For Los Angeles, the one guy who should be able to scale up into a bigger role is their centre, Deandre Ayton. To this point he hasn’t done that on the scoresheet, but after being called out by his head coach, I expect Ayton to come out motivated in this one and make the most of the opportunities that the likes of Luke Kennard and LeBron can generate for him.

A true contender for Most Improved Player this year has been Atlanta’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who in recent weeks has really started to accelerate his charge for the award.

Alexander-Walker becoming a true starting calibre combo guard in the league has transformed this Atlanta side, and against a Cleveland team that will be tough to get past, they will need an all hands on deck performance, which should see him stuff the stat sheet again.

To start off this week, we are looking to back a red hot hand in rookie phenom Cooper Flagg.\r\n\r\nThe teenager, who I think should be ROY, has certainly stepped it up over the last few weeks, hitting an apex recently with a 51-point performance. In this one against Los Angeles, it would be smart for Dallas to continue to ride the hot hand, which should see Flagg get up plenty of shots and potentially go over his line for the game.”}},”mode”:”edit”} /–>To start off this week, we are looking to back a red hot hand in rookie phenom Cooper Flagg.

The teenager, who I think should be ROY, has certainly stepped it up over the last few weeks, hitting an apex recently with a 51-point performance. In this one against Los Angeles, it would be smart for Dallas to continue to ride the hot hand, which should see Flagg get up plenty of shots and potentially go over his line for the game.

After missing our pick yesterday, it’s time to take another swing at a basketball pick today. Like last time, we’re going a little further down the depth chart rather than just the stars on the side.

For today, that means backing Detroit’s new lead guard, Daniss Jenkins, who, with their franchise cornerstone Cade Cunningham out for some time, has been the main player to pick up the slack. In his last five games, Jenkins has cleared this PRA line, and I would expect him to be in line for plenty more minutes against Toronto.

Los Angeles have made it home after their long road trip and will play their first game back without their MVP candidate Luka Doncic. Their superstar will serve a one game suspension after receiving his 16th technical foul of the season, meaning there will be increased touches for the supporting cast.

One name that should benefit is big man Deandre Ayton, who is known as a bit of a stats stuffer and has recently been playing some of his best basketball. While he hasn’t cleared this line in his last five, he will step up to being the third option this afternoon with no Luka.