Best bets, public plays for Thursday's NBA and college basketball games

How the public is betting Thursday's NBA/CBB games at DraftKings, plus insights from a FanDuel trader

It seems like there are a multitude of fun NBA matchups every night right, and Thursday night’s six-game slate features the Phoenix Suns at the Boston Celtics (-5.5, 225.5) and the Dallas Mavericks taking on the Oklahoma City Thunder (-11.5, 234.5).

One other NBA note to keep an eye on: If you like Denver’s Nikola Jokic for MVP, you might want to bet it sooner rather than later. The Nuggets have the easiest remaining strength of schedule in the league and Jokic is now a -270 favorite, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander second at +370 and Luka Doncic third at +850. It seems like it’s Jokic’s award to lose at the moment.

Below I’ll dive into the public betting for tonight’s NBA and college basketball games, along with a FanDuel trader’s quotes on a few and a bunch of best bets from Danny Burke and other handicappers.

Enjoy!

Quotes from a FanDuel Sportsbook trader

• Suns at Celtics: “In an intriguing matchup of the Eastern conference favorites and a preseason darling in the West, Boston is unsurprisingly garnering 88% of handle on the spread, but just 43% of handle on the moneyline. One potential factor is Jaylen Brown’s injury status — he is listed as questionable but traders see him as likely to play.”