There are five games available for us on the NBA schedule Thursday night, with four of the 10 teams having made recent trades that impact their rosters.
The Knicks and Raptors swap is now a couple weeks old, while the Wizards are expected to see Marvin Bagley III and Isaiah Livers suit up for them for the first time.
The Pacers will have to wait one more game for Pascal Siakam to make his debut, and the players the Raptors received in return are not expected to be available either.
Let’s take a look at some of the top PrizePicks projections to target on this five-game slate.
De’Aaron Fox (Kings vs. Pacers) more than 28.5 points
Fox had been in a slump to start the new year, averaging just 19.7 points per game over the first seven games of 2024, but he has gotten back on track this week with a 32-point performance against the Bucks and 33 points against the Suns.
Fox has been the Kings’ leading scorer this season, with an average of 28.0 points per game on 31.9% usage.
He gets a matchup Thursday with a Pacers team that has played at the second-fastest pace in the league and owns the fourth-worst defensive rating.
On top of that, Indiana traded away its best perimeter defender (Bruce Brown) to the Raptors.
The Pacers should struggle to slow down Fox, who has a great chance at a third straight 30-point performance.
Nikola Vucevic (Bulls vs. Raptors) more than 11.0 rebounds
Vucevic is averaging 10.4 rebounds per game after averaging at least 11.0 rebounds per game in each of the last four seasons.
Despite the slight decline on the glass, he has grabbed at least 11 rebounds in 15 of his 35 games played.
Vucevic is in a particularly great position to rack up rebounds against the Raptors, who rank 18th in rebound rate and continue to play without their best rebounder, Jakob Poeltl.
In five games without Poeltl, the Raptors have slipped to 24th in rebound rate.
In addition to Poeltl still being out, Toronto, of course, won’t have Siakam and will be shorthanded in the frontcourt.
Vucevic will only have to contend with the likes of Jontay Porter and Thaddeus Young to grab his boards.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder vs. Jazz) more than 31.5 points
SGA is among the league leaders in scoring with an average of 31.0 points per game.
He scuffled a bit this week in losses to both L.A. teams, but he has scored at least 32 points in 23 of his 39 games played this season.
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Gilgeous-Alexander is in a good spot to get back on track Thursday in Utah. The Jazz have played at the 10th-fastest pace in the league and rank just 19th in defensive rating.
In an earlier matchup with the Jazz this season, SGA dropped 30 points in just 27 minutes.
Assuming he sees somewhere around his season average of 34.5 minutes, he should be able to beat his points projection.
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