Thursday NBA Picks
Our team of writers and handicappers hand out their NBA picks and predictions for Thursday, April 2.
Milwaukee Bucks at Philadelphia 76ers, 7:05PM ET
With an outside shot at hosting a first-round playoff series, the Philadelphia 76ers have little room for error in the final two weeks of the regular season.
If they earn that coveted fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, though, they’ll have to do it without one of their key players.
After learning second-year forward Thaddeus Young could be sidelined for up to three weeks, Philadelphia looks to maintain its push toward the postseason on Thursday night when it goes for its first season sweep of the Milwaukee Bucks in four seasons.
The 76ers (38-35), winners of five of six at the Wachovia Center, are coming off Tuesday’s 98-85 win over Atlanta, which is four games ahead of Philadelphia for the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The 76ers snapped a two-game skid with the victory, but lost Young when he suffered a sprained right ankle and bone bruise in the final minutes of the first quarter.
NBA Free Pick: Philadelphia – View Game Matchup | Best Line: -8.5 SPORTSBETTING.COM
Cleveland Cavaliers at Washington Wizards, 8:05PM ET
The Cleveland Cavaliers are having their best season in franchise history while the Washington Wizards are flirting with their worst, but that has been far from evident when they’ve gone head-to-head.
The league-best Cavaliers will look to extend their franchise-record winning streak to 14 games Thursday night when they visit the Eastern Conference-worst Wizards, who have played well in splitting two games with Cleveland and are finally getting healthier.
Lengthy winning streaks have been routine for the Cavaliers (61-13) this season, as they’ve won at least eight in a row three times. The victories in their current 13-game streak haven’t always come easily – seven have been by six points or fewer – but they’ve shown resiliency throughout, most recently in a far-from-perfect 79-73 comeback win over Detroit on Tuesday.
NBA Free Pick: Washington – View Game Matchup | Best Line: +9.5 SPORTSBETTING.COM
Utah Jazz at Denver Nuggets, 10:35PM ET
In the highly competitive Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets became the fourth team to clinch a playoff spot. They don’t really have time to celebrate, though, as the second and seventh seeds are separated by just 2 1/2 games.
The Northwest Division-leading Nuggets look to win their fifth in a row and move closer to securing home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs Thursday night when they host the Utah Jazz, one of the teams chasing them in the playoff race.
After being written off early, Denver (49-26) continued its impressive turnaround with Tuesday’s 111-104 win over New York to clinch a playoff berth for the sixth straight season.
NBA Free Pick: Utah – View Game Matchup | Best Line: +4 SPORTSBETTING.COM
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Posted: 4/2/09 11:17AM ET