We have an excellent 9-game slate on tap in the NBA this Friday. So, it seems rather fitting, our staff of basketball betting expert has provided a total of 9 best bets for today's slate of matchups, including 3 picks against the spread, 4 player props, and 2 team total predictions.
Continue below for our NBA best bets and our top NBA picks for Friday, November 1.
NBA Best Bets, Picks, Predictions for Friday November 1
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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. | ||
Celtics vs. Hornets
The Celtics are coming off an overtime loss against the Pacers and this could be seen as a bounce back spot, but the Hornets outperformed the market against Boston last season. They were 2-1 against the spread (ATS) and their one ATS loss came on one of the last days of the season when no one was playing for either team.
The Hornets also have Charles Lee as their head coach, who made his bones as an assistant for a championship Milwaukee Bucks team, and most notably as an assistant for the Celtics last season. If anyone knows the ins-and-outs of the Celtics game plan and how to beat them, it's Lee.
Charlotte has been the best offensive rebounding team in the league so far this season, and I think they can generate competitive offense against the Celtics who are on the road where they're just 1-2 ATS, with their one ATS win coming against the Wizards, who are arguably the worst team in the league. I'd bet Charlotte down to +9.
Pick: Hornets +10.5 (-110)
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Cavaliers vs. Magic
Jarrett Allen begins the season with three double doubles in five games.
The only games he didn't record a double double in were blowout wins over the Wizards and Raptors. Those are also the only two games this year where he topped out at 26 minutes. In any game he's played over that, he's gotten a double double.
He's coming off back-to-back double doubles, including his last where he decimated Anthony Davis and the Lakers for 20 and 17, and had 15 and 15 in MSG in a win over the Knicks to start the week.
Against the Magic without Paolo Banchero, the pathway will be there, and the Magic defense could prevent this from being a total wipeout, giving more opportunity for this to cash.
Pick: Jarrett Allen Double Double (-105)
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Knicks vs. Pistons
By Joe Dellera
Karl-Anthony Towns is coming off of a tremendous 44 point performance against the Miami Heat and looks to build on that against a team he’s had tremendous success against in the Detroit Pistons.
Over the last few seasons, KAT has dropped 21, 24, and 27 against Detroit, and I think it’s a matchup he can absolutely cook in against Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart. His ability to stretch the floor while also playing on the interior will pay dividends.
Looking recently at centers against Detroit: Al Horford, Jarrett Allen, and Myles Turner all exceeded their points prop against the Pistons. KAT aligns most closely with Horford and Turner from a shot-profile perspective, so that’s promising to see as well.
The Pistons are allowing the seventh-most 3-pointers this year by frequency, and KAT’s ability to stretch the floor will be critical, especially considering the commentary around the volume and usage the team needs to get him.
I’ll grab KAT to exceed 20.5 points.
Pick: Karl-Anthony Towns Over 20.5 Points (-110)
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Knicks vs. Pistons
By Eric Gaston
The Pistons just won their first game of the season this past Wednesday against the 76ers after losing their first four games of the season.
At home against the Knicks in this matchup, the Knicks are simply the better team offensively, especially when Karl-Anthony Towns is putting up shots, which was proven in their last game against the Heat.
The defensive versatility between OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart should have impact tonight against Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey.
Pick: Knicks -6.5 (-110)
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Hawks vs. Kings
By Joe Dellera
Risacher has been solid to start his rookie season, however, there is one thing he does not do: pass the basketball.
Risacher only makes 16.4 passes per game, compare that to Jalen Johnson (79.4), Trae Young (72.4), De’Andre Hunter (23.5), and Garrison Mathews (14.3) for reference. He is averaging just 1.2 assists per game on two potentials. Even last game where he played 35 minutes, he had just three potential assists.
Here, the Kings actually do a good job of limiting their opponents’ assists and they are not the Kings of old. They play slower with DeMar DeRozan and should not be considered a pace-up spot, especially against a Hawks team that already plays at the second-fastest pace in the league.
Risacher can have a solid game from a scoring perspective, but he is not being leaned on to dime. I’m drinking all of this juice and grabbing under 2.5 assists.
Pick: Zaccharie Risacher Under 2.5 Assists (-170)
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Bulls vs. Nets
By Joe Dellera
Zach LaVine has been COOKING to start the season and has thrived without DeMar DeRozan.
This is the perfect buy-low opportunity after he played the smothering Magic defense last game and scored just 11 points. Now, he gets the Brooklyn Nets, who have been scrappy, but remain one of the worst teams in the league.
The Nets have the sixth-worst Adjusted Defensive Rating in the NBA, per Dunks and Threes. They are getting torched from beyond the arc and at the rim, two areas where LaVine likes to score.
We have seen this from LaVine as well, he’s exceeded this line in 7/9 of games against the Nets since 2021, and one of the misses fell just short at 20 points.
LaVine scores about three more points per 100 possessions without DeMar, but the more important thing is the Bulls are playing faster this season at both ends of the floor. They are the fastest-paced team in the NBA compared to the third-slowest last season.
This swing is getting LaVine more possessions and chances to score. I’ll back LaVine today against the Nets’ porous defense.
Pick: Zach LaVine Over 20.5 Points (-115)
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Thunder vs. Trail Blazers
By Chris Baker
The Blazers offense ranks 25th in turnover rate, and tonight they'll take on an OKC defense that ranks 1st in turnover rate, effective field goal percentage, and defensive rating.
This OKC defense is generational, but I actually prefer the offense team total here, as the Blazers defense is currently being overrated and there are paths where the Blazers clear their team total due to the pace of play in my opinion.
I envision this being in an up and down game where the Thunder consistently destroy the Blazers in transition off of both steals and live rebounds. The Blazers rank 11th in defensive rating but is very misleading as they’ve played a fairly weak schedule of opposing offenses thus far.
Since their opener against Golden State, the Blazers have played four straight games against offenses that aren’t top-10, in my opinion. Two of those games were against an injury ridden New Orleans team, then they played the Kings, who reached only 111 points on them solely because they couldn’t buy a shot in the first half and then rested their starters for the 4th quarter. Most recently they played a Clipper squad that has a lot of question marks offensively outside if James Harden.
This is an overrated defense that is specifically bad in transition (22nd), and that is where this young athletic Thunder squad typically thrives. I expect the Thunder to dominate them in transition all game and reach at least 120 points here.
Pick: Thunder Team Total Over 116.5 (-108)
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Thunder vs. Trail Blazers
The OKC Thunder need to win by at least 12 to cover the spread tonight. They haven't won a game by less than 12 in any of the four games they've played this season.
They beat Denver by 15, the Bulls by 19, the Hawks by 24 and the Spurs by 12, in that order.
When the dust settles, Portland should be the worst of that group, and OKC looks like a two way buzzsaw who may win 60-plus games this season.
The NBA is the NBA, and anything can happen on a nightly basis, but our OKC sample size suggests this shouldn't be very close, even on the road.
Pick: Thunder -11.5 (-110)
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Thunder vs. Trail Blazers
This is a vote against the worst offense in the league and a vote for the best defense in the league. It's a low number, but the Thunder have held opponents to just 94.8 points per game and opponents are 0-4 to the team total over this season.
The Blazers are coming off an upset win, which makes this a potential letdown spot, but they won by scoring 106 points. That's over this number, but they're playing their fourth game in six nights.
I project this team total 102.3, and I like this down to 103.5. But if it gets below that number, I'll lay the points with OKC.
Pick: Trail Blazers Team Total Under 104.5 (-115)
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