NBA Betting: Nuggets, Mavs Try To Stay Alive

Thursday night’s NBA slate includes a pair of Game 6s from the opening round, and the start of the second round in the Eastern Conference.

The first Game 6 on tap Thursday is the Denver Nuggets vs the Utah Jazz. The Nuggets avoided elimination in Game 5 with a 117-107 win as a 2.5-point underdog at Bovada Sportsbook. Jamal Murray led Denver with a game-high 42 points and Nikola Jokic added 31 points.

In Game 6, the Jazz are a slim 1.5-point favorite at Bovada. So far in the series the favored team is 3-2 straight up and 2-3 against the spread. For totals bettors, taking the OVER has been lucrative in this series with four of the five games going OVER the posted total.

Big games from George, Leonard give Clips series lead

In Thursday’s other Game 6, the Los Angeles Clippers can send the Dallas Mavericks packing, up 3-2 in their series. In Game 5, the Clippers crushed the Mavericks 154-111 as an 8.5-point favorite behind 35 points from Paul George and 32 points from Kawhi Leonard.

Following the Game 5 win, the Clippers are 7-2 SU and ATS in their last nine against Dallas. In Game 6, the Clippers opened as 8-point favorites. This series has also been a strong OVER play for bettors, with the last four games all going well OVER the posted total.

Raptors favored over Celtics in first-ever playoff meeting

Round 2 begins Thursday night with Game 1 between the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics. Bovada has listed the Raptors as a 2-point favorite, and Toronto is also a -130 favorite on the series odds.

In the opening round, the Raptors easily got past the Brooklyn Nets in a four-game sweep while going 3-1 ATS. The Raptors have won eight straight with a 6-2 ATS record, and they’re 15-1 SU and 11-4-1 ATS in their last 16.

Boston also swept through the first round, taking four straight from the Philadelphia 76ers while going 3-1 ATS. Overall, Boston is 8-1 SU and 7-2 ATS in its last nine games. As underdogs, the Celtics are 2-5 SU and 3-3-1 ATS in their last seven, and as a playoff underdog they’re 2-5 SU and ATS in their last seven.

The Celtics and Raptors met up four times this season and Boston went 3-1 SU and ATS. They last met up on August 7 and Boston rolled to a 122-100 win as a 1.5-point underdog. Surprisingly this is the first-ever playoff matchup between Boston and Toronto.