One of our PrizePicks NBA props for Friday is on Scottie Barnes.
With Sunday’s conclusion to the 2022-23 regular season just days away, the NBA schedule is jam-packed with action this weekend, and Friday night is the start. Miami, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Phoenix are playing the second of back-to-back games among those in playoff spots, and each will still have one more game to play on Sunday.
Some featured matchups include the Eastern Conference’s top seed, Milwaukee, playing the second seed in the West, the Memphis Grizzlies. That is a potential NBA Finals preview, although Memphis is the team that needs to win to maintain its current position in the conference playoffs.
The Golden State Warriors travel to Sacramento to play the Kings Friday night. These two teams are slated to meet in the first round if the seedings hold through Sunday afternoon. Sacramento has clinched the three seed, and Golden State could either rise to the fifth seed or drop into the play-in spots depending on their performance over the final two games.
Our Thursday prop best bets finished 1-1, and we’ve got another batch ready for Friday’s NBA schedule.
The eliminated Indiana Pacers will be without All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton on Friday night, and their center Myles Turner is questionable to play due to a back injury. NeSmith has seen an increased share of the team’s minutes and scoring opportunities as the outlook for their season continued to dwindle.
Of the 18 games NeSmith has played 30+ minutes, seven have occurred in the last month. The forward has scored 12+ points in six of Indiana’s last 12 games and is averaging 14.3 points per game, shooting 60% from three-point range over his past four games.
We like NeSmith to connect on multiple triples tonight and cash his over against Detroit.
Scottie Barnes UNDER 6.5 Rebounds
Barnes and the Raptors can still host a play-in game against Atlanta with wins in their final two games and a few Hawks’ losses. Toronto plays in Boston Friday night against the Celtics, a team locked into their two-seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Barnes secured eight rebounds in the Raptors’ loss to the Celtics on Wednesday and has averaged six boards per game in three matchups with Boston this season.
However, his rebounding totals over the last ten games have dropped well below his season average of 6.8 per game, and we’re not confident that Barnes can repeat his performance on the glass from earlier this week. Take his under in Toronto’s rematch with the Celtics tonight.
Kyrie Irving OVER 5.5 Assists
Irving’s passing numbers have improved during his 20 games in Dallas compared to the first half of the season when he was still a member of the Nets. He’s averaged six dimes per game for the Mavericks and has dished out 6+ assists in 13 of the 20 games he’s played for his new team.
Irving is averaging 6.2 assists per game over Dallas’ last five, and with their season on the line tonight, we expect the point guard to get his teammates involved with some timely kick-out passes for threes.
We’ll be on the over for Irving’s assist total in their matchup with the Bulls as Dallas clings to hope they’ll snag the tenth seed in the West.
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Nicholas Berault is a proud Penn State alum whose past work has been featured on FantasyPros. He is an avid golfer and a collector of pin flags and sneakers. As a senior writer at EatWatchBet, Nicholas serves as an NFL, CFB, and NBA betting analyst.
