The Orlando Magic might be locked into the Eastern Conference play-in tournament, but the team has quietly won four of its last five games, including victories over the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers. At the heart of this resurgence is star forward Paolo Banchero, who has been pouring in the points lately. He's averaging 30.2 points in the month of March, highlighted by four straight games of 30+ points entering Thursday's matchup against the Dallas Mavericks at 7 p.m. ET.
The Mavericks enter the day tied with the Phoenix Suns for the last play-in spot in the Western Conference, but finally got some positive injury news with Anthony Davis returning to the lineup against the Nets on Monday. Dallas only has one more back-to-back set left, so Davis should be suiting up for most of the team's remaining games as it makes a play-in push.
The Magic are 7.5-point favorites in SportsLine's latest model projections, priced at -275 (wager $275 to win $100) on the money line. The Mavericks are +222 underdogs (wager $100 to win $222) in the latest consensus odds, and the total is 218.5.
But what if you want to bet on player props, specifically on Banchero continuing his stellar scoring run or Davis delivering a strong performance on the road? The SportsLine model has you covered. It continuously refreshes the most recent available data and can help you spot the biggest discrepancies in the lines. The SportsLine model, which can be found on every game forecast page on SportsLine under the "Prop Picks" tab, assigns ratings of up to five stars for each projected value play on every NBA slate. Those picks can be integral to building winning parlays on DraftKings, FanDuel, PrizePicks, Underdog Fantasy or Sleeper Fantasy and in same-game parlays on any betting site.
Let's check out the SportLine model's three highest-rated player prop recommendations for Mavericks-Magic and see what the payout would be if they were put into a same-game parlay -- and check out the optimal same-game parlay for every game on Thursday's NBA schedule at SportsLine.
Paolo Banchero Under 28.5 points (-106): 4 stars
Despite his recent play, Banchero is in a spot where he could cool off Thursday. The SportsLine model projects him at just 24.0 points. In his last seven games at home against a team with a losing record and middle-third defense, Banchero has gone Under on his points prop six times. Even though he has gone for 30+ points in each of the last four games and is averaging 30.2 points in March, the model likes him to go Under his points line Thursday.
Anthony Black Under 14.5 points + assists (-120): 4 stars
Black has seen more playing time with injuries to Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs. He's topped his points + assists prop in each of the last two games, but the overall trend goes against him. In Black's last 17 games at home, he has gone Under his points + assists line 12 times.
Anthony Davis Over 8.5 rebounds (-128): 3.5 stars
Davis was limited in his return to the lineup Monday, logging just 12 points and six rebounds in 27 minutes. The big man is officially listed as questionable for Thursday. But he didn't play Tuesday in the second game of a back-to-back, so he should suit up for this contest. In his last 25 games with his team as a road underdog, Davis has gone Over his rebounds line 16 times. The SportsLine model projects him at 9.7 rebounds against Orlando Thursday.
Same-Game Parlay odds: +542
