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Thursday’s Best NBA, NHL & College Basketball Bets (3/7)

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No matter your sport of choice, there's always sports betting action to be had. We'll have you covered each and every day with our daily best bets. Here are our best bets across each major sport in action today.

Today's Best Bets

NBA Best Bets

(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)

Brooklyn Nets @ Detroit Pistons

The Nets (25-37) travel to meet the Pistons (9-52) at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. It's the third meeting of the season, with Brooklyn winning each of the first two meetings by an average of 8.5 points per game. That includes a 118-112 win at LCA on Dec. 26, with the Pistons hanging on for the cover as a 6.5-point underdog at most shops.

Brooklyn heads into this one with a 112-107 win over the Philadelphia 76ers last time out on Tuesday, covering as a 1-point favorite. The Nets are 3-1 straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS) in the past four outings while cashing the Over in three of those outings, too.

Detroit suffered a 118-110 loss on the road against the Miami Heat as an 11-point underdog, improving to 4-2 ATS in the past six games. However, Detroit is back to its losing ways, picking up just a single victory across the past 10 games dating back to Feb. 10. Back the Nets on the moneyline if you don't want to fiddle around with the points.

Bet: Nets Moneyline (-130)

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NHL Best Bets

(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

Ottawa Senators @ Los Angeles Kings

  • Leg 1: Kings Moneyline (-192)
  • Leg 2: Under 6.5 Total Goals (-118)
  • Leg 3: Senators Under 2.5 Goals (-110)

This Kings team is far from the one we saw early in the season. On Dec. 7, they were 16-4-3; they are 15-15-8 since. The main reason is that the offense has completely abandoned them. They are scoring 3.07 goals per game, which is 19th, but the underlying metrics show they are playing above expectations, as their expected goals per 60 are 3.02. Their defense will keep this afloat, as they're third in expected goals allowed per 60 and fifth in shots on goal allowed.

Unlike the Kings, the Senators' problem has been the defense, specifically their goaltending, which ranks 30th overall. The team seems to be waiving the white flag, as they traded Vladimir Tarasenko, and they could make more moves before the trade deadline.

Their offense is better than the Kings', but this LA defense is too good, and they have the rest of the advantages. 

Total Parlay: +436

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College Basketball Best Bets

(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

Lehigh @ Lafayette

Lehigh aims for a clean sweep of three wins in its third meeting with its biggest Patriot League rival after the first two meetings were decided by eight or fewer points (the first meeting went to double overtime). While we are well aware of the old adage that it is difficult to beat a team three times in a season, especially given how there does not appear to be much separating these teams, we cannot ignore how differently each of these teams is trending entering this matchup.

Lafayette lost four straight games to end the regular season (and six of seven), while Lehigh went 5-2 down the stretch. Granted, the Mountain Hawks did lose their final two games, but those came by a combined five points against Boston University and Colgate, the top two teams in the league. That impressive 5-2 stretch coincided with Lehigh getting its second-leading scorer, Keith Higgins Jr. (13.3 points per game), back from a nine-game absence.

Lehigh would likely have finished much higher than the league's No. 6 seed if Higgins stayed healthy, as the team went 3-6 in his absence. The 6-foot-4 junior has scored in double figures in four games since his return, and his presence on the perimeter should open up more interior scoring against the league's best interior defense (the Leopards allow just 45.1% from 2-point range in Patriot League games). However, the Mountain Hawks have had some difficulty scoring inside on Lafayette, combining for 64 points at the rim in their prior two meetings.

Pick: Lehigh -2.5 (-110)

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