The NBA grind continues tonight, and our Action Network staff has you covered from every angle. We've pooled our top analysis and broken down the board to bring you our favorite spreads, totals, and player props for today's slate.
Continue below for our NBA picks and predictions for Thursday, October 22.
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NBA Best Bets for Thursday, October 22
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 7:00 p.m. | |
  | 9:30 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NBA Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Cavaliers vs. 76ers
76ers -3.5 (-105)
Honestly, this Philadelphia team gelled significantly faster than I originally anticipated.
The 76ers were admittedly a bit sloppy in the first half of their opener against the Knicks, but they quickly figured it out and allowed everybody to cook exactly the way they needed to for this offensive system to be functional.
Tyrese Maxey was allowed to completely control the pace and tempo, and it simply looks like everyone already understands their specific roles—and they did this in their very first game together on the road against the defending champions in a hostile environment.
This is just the tip of the iceberg for Philadelphia; their current power rating is simply too light for a team operating with this much cohesion early on.
On the other side of the floor, I try not to overreact to the preseason, but if you are going to play your actual starters, I am going to analyze the tactical results.
The Cavaliers played their core guys in three games, got worked by Boston's backups, got worked by Orlando, and in their final tune-up, not a single starter finished better than a -16 in 20 minutes of action.
That is absolutely not what I want to see from a team heading into a matchup against a Sixers squad that already looks dialed in.
Pick: 76ers -3.5 (-105)
Donovan Mitchell & Tyrese Maxey to Score 20+ Points Each (-119)
I am looking at a pre-built promotional parlay on DraftKings here: Donovan Mitchell and Tyrese Maxey to both score 20+ points at -119 odds.
My biggest overarching takeaway from that Sixers and Knicks opening matchup was that Tyrese Maxey is unequivocally not getting lost in this new-look Philadelphia offense.
This is still Maxey's team as the primary offensive engine.
LeBron James is clearly trying to operate more as a playmaker, and Joel Embiid is going to ease his way into his usual high usage, but Maxey is the one getting the highest volume of shot attempts.
Maxey is the true driver of this car, dominating in transition and operating as an elite pull-up threat. Sure, he may destroy the Knicks historically, but quite frankly, he destroys pretty much everyone in the Eastern Conference.
Then you look at the other side with Donovan Mitchell, who is an absolute scoring machine and firmly remains the head of the snake for the Cavaliers.
Even with the surrounding talent on Cleveland's roster, Mitchell is going to be the leading scorer and command a ton of perimeter usage.
If you were to price these out individually, the market has Mitchell listed at an astronomical -360 to score 20 points, and Maxey is sitting at -212.
Do not be one of those conspiracy theorists who refuses to bet the sportsbook promos because you think they know something you don't or they're trying to cap your winnings.
This is a promotional boost designed to give users a favorable price, and we are getting two elite, high-usage guards in a premium matchup at a severely discounted combined price.
Maxey and Mitchell are the clear offensive focal points for their respective teams, and barring an injury, they should both easily clear this 20-point threshold tonight.
Pick: Donovan Mitchell & Tyrese Maxey to Score 20+ Points Each (-119)
Jarrett Allen Over 21.5 Points & Rebounds (-114)
By Matt Moore
You may have noticed the aging veteran Andre Drummond absolutely smashing the Sixers on Tuesday.
The Sixers have a real issue with both center depth and containing bigs rim running. Embiid can’t get up the floor fast enough, and Adem Bona is undersized.
Throw in the propensity for Jarrett Allen to benefit from lobs against the drop coverage of Philly’s pick-and-roll, and the fact that Mobley’s rebounding will be limited by having to chase LeBron James around the perimeter, and I like Allen to go over his PR line here.
Pick: Jarrett Allen Over 21.5 Points & Rebounds (-114)
Click here for our full Cavaliers vs 76ers betting preview!
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Nuggets vs. Thunder
Nuggets +8.5 (-105)
By Matt Moore
I don’t want the moneyline here. I don’t think Denver will win outright, but I do think this is a heavy price to lay.
Let’s give OKC a full 2.5 points for home-court advantage, considering they have one of the better crowds you’ll find in the league.
That makes this a 6-point difference in power ratings on a neutral floor. For context, I have the Timberwolves at about a 6-point advantage versus a completely average team.
Is the gap between the Thunder and the Nuggets really as wide as the gap between the Wolves and an average team? I mean, maybe. The Thunder are really darn good. But I still think this line is too heavy; I actually make it 5.5.
There’s also a notable trend to consider here: home favorites coming off a road win in their season opener (like the Thunder) are just 29-47-1 ATS (38%) since 2003. That includes an 11-15-1 ATS mark over the last 10 years and a 6-9-1 ATS record since the Bubble, via KillerSports.com.
Furthermore, Denver went 3-1 ATS against OKC last season across three real matchups and one late-season fake game. They have consistently hung around in this matchup, despite Aaron Gordon only playing in one of those contests (though to be fair, OKC was missing a bunch of guys in those games as well).
Denver can absolutely score against OKC; they just can’t get stops, and that dynamic is not likely to change tonight.
I want to fade OKC coming off an emotional win against the Spurs—the team that kept them from a chance at repeating—so I'll gladly take the points with Denver tonight.
Pick: Nuggets +8.5 (-105)
Jared McCain Over 9.5 Points (-115)
By Joe Dellera
Jared McCain was incredibly solid in the opener, dropping 20 points in just 22 minutes of action.
What makes that even more impressive is that it came against a much tougher Spurs defense. If McCain can produce that efficiently against San Antonio, I have a lot of confidence backing his scoring output in this specific matchup.
When you look at his track record against Denver from his time with OKC last season, the production is remarkably consistent. He put up point totals of 14, 13, and 15 against the Nuggets.
I understand there are different rotations at play for Denver this year, but structurally, I fully expect the Nuggets' defense to remain susceptible from three-point range.
That is obviously an area where McCain thrives and can easily exploit for quick scoring. I'll back him to score over 9.5 points tonight.
Pick: Jared McCain Over 9.5 Points (-115)
Aaron Gordon 2+ Three-Pointers Made (-102)
If you dive into the underlying metrics, Aaron Gordon's three-point attempt rate has been steadily climbing.
Last year, his attempt rate spiked to nearly 40 percent, mirroring the volume we saw during his fourth season in Orlando when the Magic were still trying to figure out if he was a true franchise cornerstone.
Now that Gordon has settled into his niche as a high-end role player in Denver, he is shooting significantly more threes. Looking at the raw numbers, he averaged 4.4 three-point attempts per game last season, and his per-100 possessions metric sat at a very healthy 7.6.
It would not surprise me in the slightest if Gordon hovers around eight attempts per 100 possessions this year, giving us a very stable floor of four or five actual attempts per game.
In the one game he played against Oklahoma City last year, Gordon went 2-for-4 from beyond the arc. That is absolutely not a coincidence. When you look at the defensive philosophy of the Thunder, they are going to do everything in their power to force the ball out of Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic's hands.
The Thunder will aggressively close out on the perimeter to prevent clean looks, but the one guy they are usually willing to live with beating them from deep is Aaron Gordon. It is essentially a better version of how teams treat Josh Hart on the Knicks.
OKC will purposely leave him open and live with the variance. If Gordon is getting four or five high-quality looks from the perimeter because the defense is hyper-focused on Jokic, he only needs to knock down two of them to cash this ticket for us.
Pick: Aaron Gordon 2+ Three-Pointers Made (-102)
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