The NBA regular season concludes today on Sunday, April 14, and our betting experts are ready with five NBA best bets. All 30 NBA teams play basketball today, and we have five player props and spread bets ready for matchups across the league with playoff seeding implications.
Find our NBA best bets and expert player props for Sunday below.
NBA Best Bets Sunday
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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. | ||
Hawks vs. Pacers
By Joe Dellera
The Pacers have a must-win game today against the Atlanta Hawks, who are locked into the Play-In Tournament as the 10-seed.
Despite being entrenched in the Play-In, the Hawks should get Trae Young at least some time at point guard given his recent return from injury. Young is a total sieve defensively, and the Hawks are 3.8 points worse defensively when he’s on the floor.
In two games against the Hawks this season, Haliburton has logged 16 and 18 assists on 22 and 25 potential assists, respectively. He has evicerated this defense which has no real answer for him, especially when he gets to face off against Young.
The Hawks allow the eighth-most assists per game, but prior to Young’s injury, they were allowing the fourth-most assists (28.6). Even if Young does not play, resting him for this game means the Hawks will be deep into their depth chart.
Tyrese Haliburton still may not be operating at 100%, but he has looked significantly better this month while averaging 20 points and 9.5 assists per game.
Given the potential pace in this game and conflicting levels of motivation, I expect Haliburton to continue to find success distributing in a must-win game for the Pacers.
Pick: Tyrese Haliburton Over 10.5 Assists (-110)
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Raptors vs. Heat
Taking Jimmy Butler’s overs after the All-Star break looked great for the better part of about three or four weeks, but since then, he's mostly gone under barring a recent surge.
He's looking like he does when he gets hurt in the playoffs: driving and jump-passing out to shooters instead of attacking the basket at will. He often looks disinterested in shooting and is averaging only 10.9 field goal attempts over his last 10 games.
Also, he might be violently disinterested in scoring tomorrow, the last game of the season where the Heat — even with a slight chance of avoiding the Play-In Tournament — are likely to remain as the 8-seed.
Butler had 14 points on seven shots and played 29 minutes against the Raptors two days ago. A similar line today wouldn't surprise me.
Pick: Jimmy Butler Under 19.5 Points (-110)
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Bucks vs. Magic
Despite the machinations that can come of the busy final day of regular season NBA basketball, I think it behooves the Magic to get a win and go for the 5-seed.
They seems to agree as they are one of the few teams with a relatively clean bill of health on the final day of regular season basketball. Only Wendell Carter Jr. is listed on the injury report for Orlando. The Bucks will be without Giannis Antetokounmpo, but Damian Lillard is expected to play.
Still, I think the Magic are a good bet in this spot, especially at home where they've been dominant. I'll wait out the injury report and bet them before tipoff for .35 units and get ready to bet bigger in the playoffs when motivations are clearer. Still, the Magic are good at -4.5.
Pick: Magic -4.5 (-110)
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Raptors vs. Heat
Heat-Raptors will be one of many games that are tough to read, but I think Nikola Jovic continues his improved play.
I like this spot for Jovic because the Heat are playing to win, but they're playing a tanking team as 15.5-point favorites. If Miami handles business and blows out the Raptors, I think the young Jovic gets a longer rope to remain out there and accumulate points.
His recent play also helps: He's gone over 10.5 points in six of 10 games along with four of the last six games and three of the last four. He's good for 11.8 points per game on 48/38/93 splits over his last 13 outings, and I think he has another strong performance to end the regular season.
Pick: Nikola Jovic Over 10.5 Points (-106)
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Bucks vs. Magic
I have no idea who wins this game, but I like Damian Lillard to go over 33.5 points + assists, assuming the Bucks are going to give this an honest effort and not toy with the basketball gods by trying to duck first-round smoke from the 76ers. There are too many scenarios to properly tank, so I think the Bucks try to win.
Lillard is probable to play, and in seven games without Giannis Antetokounmpo this season — including an April 10 effort against the Magic — he's gone over 33.5 points and assists in all but one contest. In fact, Lillard has hit over the 33.5 tally with points alone three different times.
This should be one of the only games where both teams are trying to win, so Lillard should get a nice minutes load and have a real shot at hitting this over.
Pick: Damian Lillard Over 33.5 Points + Assists (-110)
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