Saturday action in the NBA today! There are six NBA games today, in order they are Philadelphia 76ers at Oklahoma City Thunder, Miami Heat at Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks at Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Lakers at Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Pelicans at Utah Jazz, and Dallas Mavericks at LA Clippers. The only nationally televised game is the Mavericks at the Clippers with a 10:30 PM ET tip off. There will be a straight bet placed on this match, and it is the bet of the night. The opening tip off is at 5:00 PM ET, and is the 76ers at the Thunder. There is a plus odds prop on this match, as the spread is just -1 and it really is a toss up on who could win. There is also a 7:00 PM ET tip off featuring the Hawks at the Wizards. It too is a straight bet with nearly even odds. Yesterday was the first betting day without two winning bets, and today’s NBA best bets look to get back on a winning track.

 

BET OF THE NIGHT: Dallas Mavericks -1 (-110 at DraftKings Sportsbook)

The Dallas Mavericks chose to stay in LA over the Thanksgiving holidays. The reason being they played the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday and won a close battle 104-101. They have a match against the LA Clippers today, and are back in Crypto.com Arena. The Clippers are on the second of back-to-back games, and were in a four quarter battle against the Pelicans which they lost. The Dallas Mavericks are better rested, are much younger, and should have a full roster. The Clippers rely heavily on their starters, do not have a great bench, and will likely be resting starters who began the load management era. The Mavericks crushed the Clippers 144-126 on November 10th, and are the better defensive team. The Clippers are  much better at home than on the road, but Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, or James Harden could miss this game, which will force this line to move. Jump on it early and trust Luka Doncic to lead the Mavericks to a victory.

PROP BET: Joel Embiid OVER 12.5 Rebounds (+105 at DraftKings Sportsbook)

The Reigning MVP, Joel Embiid took the second of back-to-back games off, and now has three days of full rest and prepared to lead the Philadelphia 76ers game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder are full of superstars and ‘rookie’ center Chet Holmgren is a leading candidate to win the Rookie of the Year Award. However, C. Holmgren’s body is like a twig compared to Joel Embiid’s. J. Embiid is being much more aggressive around the paint in his rebounds are up to 11.3 per game. Oklahoma City likes to play fast and shoot often. This bids well for J. Embiid with more defensive rebounds. It is projected to be a close game and J. Embiid will need to be a dominant player on the glass to help them win this week. The Thunder struggle against big centers, allowing 14 to Jokic. Joel Embiid is just that, a big and strong center. This bet is at plus odds, and worth a unit wager.

STRAIGHT BET: Atlanta Hawks -7.5 (-115 at BetMGM)

The Atlanta Hawks are playing against the Washington Wizards who are on the second of back-to-back games. They played a tough matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks and now have one the highest scoring offenses to deal with. Washington allows the most rebounds per game and this should help the Hawks with more second chance opportunities. The Wizards have not released their active roster, but this line is likely to move if players are declared out. Atlanta is averaging 124.1 points per game and the Wizards are averaging 116.0. That is an eight point difference, hence why the bookies put the spread at -7.5 for Atlanta. The averages will not apply to this game as Atlanta is well rested, Washington is not and does not have a superstar to rally behind in close games. Trust the Hawks to cover the spread on the road. 

Remember to check out Fantasy Alarm for all your NBA fantasy needs. Basketball stats, rankings, DFS picks, tools to help your lineups, and of course the NBA DFS show with Jon and James.

Thank you for reading.

Bet Smart, Be Lucky - Iggy

 

*All Bets to be placed at 1 unit unless specified otherwise