Thursday NBA Betting Picks: Three Best Bets Before a Big Sports Weekend

Before ceding the stage to a busy sports weekend capped by Monday's college football national championship game, there's hoops to play on Thursday.

Nine games are on the schedule and several of the league's top teams take the court. After looking into each game, we’ve come up with our “Best NBA Bets” list for the day.

To keep it interesting, our picks will feature some of the top teams in the league, including two nationally televised games on Prime Video.

Phoenix Suns vs. Detroit Pistons

Phoenix is coming off a 127-121 loss to the Heat in Miami, but they have been one of the better teams in the league of late, with wins in nine of their last 12 games. Detroit is coming off a tough loss to the Clippers, 98-92, but won the three games prior to that one.

The Suns have quietly been playing good basketball, especially on defense, where they have a top-five unit (No. 5). However, the Pistons are not too shabby on defense either (No. 4).

Our Pick: Pistons -6.5 at -110 (FanDuel)

With Jalen Green out and Devin Booker a GTD, I don’t see the Suns putting up enough of a fight to keep it close. When Cade Cunningham appeared on the injury report earlier in the week, the Suns ML looked like an enticing bet.

But with Cunningham playing, the edge returns to the Pistons.

Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets

The Thunder are coming in hot, having won four in a row, including a dominant performance against the San Antonio Spurs in their last game Tuesday night. Houston is coming off a win vs. Chicago in their last game on Tuesday, but lost four of the previous five.

However, the Rockets have been one of the best home teams in the NBA this season (12-2), with wins in their last eight games at the Toyota Center in Houston. But Oklahoma City has not been too shabby on the road (14-4).

Our Pick: UNDER 221.5 at -110 (Caesars)

While I’d lean towards picking the Thunder to win, with these two defenses (OKC—No. 1; Houston— No. 3), points will be hard to come by tonight.

New York Knicks vs. Golden State Warriors

This will be the second half of a back-to-back for the Knicks, who lost more than just the game to the Sacramento Kings last night. Jalen Brunson had to exit early due to an ankle injury. While he is listed as a GTD, it would be surprising to see him play after going down with the injury the night before.

Golden State will have a rest advantage in addition to home-court advantage. In their last game (Tuesday vs. Portland), the Warriors hit 23 of 57 three-point attempts.

Our Pick: Warriors -3.5 at -110 (Caesars)

Prior to last night's game vs. Sacramento, the Knicks had lost five of the last seven. Golden State, on the other hand, has won three of the last four and four of its last six. They’ve got the hot hand against a short-handed Knicks team. If they don’t win outright, they will not lose by more than three.