NBA Best Bets Today | Expert Picks
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our NBA betting staff is targeting from today's slate of games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 6 p.m. | |
  | 7:30 p.m. | |
  | 8 p.m. | |
  | 8:30 p.m. | |
  | 9 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. | ||
We've got an 10-game slate for Saturday, which means we've got plenty of NBA best bets today with our experts' picks. Our analysts have five best bets today, including a spread bet, a play on a lofty total and a same gam parlay.
Let's get to our NBA best bets today and expert picks for Saturday.
Pistons vs. Bucks
Cade Cunningham scored four points last night. But let me tell you something about this former No. 1 overall pick: For all the Pistons' struggles this season, Cunningham — while it hasn't been amazing — has been one of the bright spots.
He has not scored under 20 points in back-to-back games this season except in one instance where he had 10 against the Bulls and nine against the Hawks on Nov. 12 and Nov. 14, respectively. And when he had nine, his only other single digit scoring game, he had 20 in the game after, which was in Cleveland.
Cunningham had 20 or more in three straight and in five of six leading up to last night's uncharacteristic dud, his season low. The Bucks still can't guard the perimeter and Cunningham dropped 33 against them in Milwaukee on Nov. 8. I like him to get 20 or more tonight.
Pick: Cade Cunningham Over 19.5 Points (-105)
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Hawks vs. Cavaliers
By Chris Baker
The Cavs are going to be a bad defense without Evan Mobley and I will be looking to back the overs in their games moving forward. Darius Garland’s absence does hurt their offense but I think that the additional minutes that Georges Niang, Max Strus, and Caris LeVert will be playing will hurt their defense even more.
We already know about how bad this Hawks defense is as they currently rank 25th in adjusted defensive rating. They’ve gotten even worse since they have lost Jalen Johnson and De’Andre Hunter to injury and this has also resulted in Bogdan Bogdanovic and Saddiq Bey receiving more minutes. With Bogdanovic and Bey on the floor together the Hawks have an insane 126.5 offensive rating.
These teams played at a fast 102 possession pace when they matched up in three weeks ago but the total landed at 233 due to some outlier poor shooting from the Hawks. The Hawks shot 41.1% effectively from the field (2nd percentile) easily their worst shooting game of the season.
I watched that game and did not think the Hawks were generating poor looks and I expect them to regress here especially without Evan Mobley on the floor for the Cavs. The Hawks have gone over this number in 15 of their 24 games on the season.
Take the over 237.5 here without Evan Mobley in for the Cavaliers.
Pick: Over 237.5
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Bulls vs. Heat
Last time the Heat lost to the Bulls in the first of these baseball two-game series', it was in Chicago, and it was 102-97. They responded by thumping the Bulls 118-100. They lost 124-116 on Thursday, a game that was 30-8 Chicago early on before allowing Miami to cut the lead before pulling away late.
Unless you're a great team, it's difficult to sweep these baseball series,' and neither of these two are great. I like the Heat to win at home, not sure I love them at -5, so I'll take the moneyline and parlay it with Jimmy Butler to get 20 plus points. I like Butler to have a nice game, but over 23.5 points is a big ask, and I'd feel comfortable with that if it were after February. If Bam Adebayo were playing — the Heat are 4-5 without him — I'd love them at -5, but then again, he'd probably make this -7 or more.
The Bulls are still 3-9 on the road, and the Heat haven't lost two straight to the same team this season, nor have they lost two straight at home.
Butler hasn't gotten over 23.5 points in any of his last five, so you could talk yourself into him breaking a mini slump, but I think the Heat win and he'll play reasonably well, so this will do.
Pick: Heat ML + Jimmy Butler 20+ PTS Parlay (-105)
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Nets vs. Warriors
By Joe Dellera
The Nets take on the Warriors today and the Warriors are dealing with Draymond Green’s indefinite absence.
The Nets should be able to take care of business. While Draymond has been a negative on the season for his on-court contributions, his absence impacts their overall offensive and defensive flow.
Regardless of Draymond, the Nets have been better overall. The Nets have a +2.0 Net Rating compared to the Warriors’ -0.1, per Basketball Reference. This is a matchup I like for the Nets as well. Brooklyn has a plethora of wings to throw at the Warriors to slow them down and seem perfectly equipped to do that on the defensive side.
I expect the Nets to turn the Warriors over to help kickstart their own offense. Considering the Warriors already turn the ball over at the fourth-highest frequency in the league, there should be plenty of opportunities for the Nets to turn defense into offense.
Pick: Nets +3.5
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Thunder vs. Nuggets
By Joe Dellera
The Nuggets take on the Thunder tonight and this sets up to be a good game for Jokic. He is tied for the league lead in rebounds per game at 12.5 and he secures those on 19.9 chances per game.
In their last game against Chet and the Thunder, Jokic secured 14 boards on 23 chances, per NBA Advanced Stats. This is no fluke either considering the Thunder have allowed some massive rebounding games to Centers including Lively (16), Gobert (16), Sabonis (14.5), and Anthony Davis (14).
Jokic has exceeded this line in 60% of games this season and considering that this is a Pace Up game against the Thunder and I expect him to clear the 12.5 rebound mark.
Pick: Nikola Jokic Over 12.5 Rebounds (-130)
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