The NBA is back in full swing with a solid schedule of matchups this Saturday, so our staff of experts went down the list and identified all the best betting value on the board for today's loaded 7-game slate.
Our basketball betting experts have looked over the latest odds and made 6 NBA picks for today's contests. Continue below for our NBA best bets and picks for Saturday, November 23.
NBA Best Bets Today
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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. | ||
Knicks vs. Jazz
Here lies a top-3 offense against a bottom-3 defense. The Utah Jazz are 3-12 with four straight losses and have allowed 120 points or more in nine of 15 games this season.
On the reverse, the Knicks have scored 120 or more in five of seven games, and as of late, they've been punishing weak defenses. Their 120-plus offensive outings have come against the Suns, Wizards, Nets, Pistons, Bulls and Pacers (twice).
All of those defenses are rated higher than Utah so far this season, except for Washington. And three of these Knicks offensive explosions have come on the road.
Ultimately, we're rolling with trends here. The Knicks offense has been in an excellent rhythm, and in their four-game winning streak, they're beating teams they should — Utah fits perfectly in this category.
Pick: Knicks Total Team Over 120.5 (-120)
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Knicks vs. Jazz
By Joe Dellera
The Knicks continue their Western Conference road trip against the Utah Jazz.
This is a good scoring matchup for Karl-Anthony Towns. The Jazz have the third-worst Adjusted Net Rating and the league’s worst-Adjusted Defensive Rating, per Dunks and Threes. They get destroyed from every aspect on the defensive side of the ball but are allowing their opponents to shoot 67.4% at the rim (29th) and 36.7% from deep (22nd).
Walker Kessler is a strong defensive option for Utah. However, it’s a difficult matchup against someone like KAT that can truly stretch the floor and attack from either 3-point range or get to the rack. And, even if Kessler is able to play, he may be a bit limited in his minutes.
Couple that with Kyle Filipowski (ankle) being out, and this could set up for John Collins to be the primary defensive option on KAT which is less than ideal for Utah.
I’ll grab KAT to exceed 26.5 points today.
Pick: Karl-Anthony Towns Over 26.5 Points (-106)
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Pistons vs. Magic
Not the best news for the Pistons to find out that top scorer Cade Cunningham (23.5 ppg) is going to miss tonight's game after suffering a hip injury late in Thursday's bitter 123-121 overtime loss to the Hornets in Charlotte.
More bad new is running into the red hot Magic, who return from a 2-1 West Coast road swing and moving themselves to 8-1 across the past nine games. Included were six straight wins and covers at the Kia Center before going away, and a rousing 119-118 win over the Lakers on Thursday in LA.
Franz Wagner has continued on fire for Orlando, scoring 37 against the Lake Show and his fourth game of 30+ points in the last six. I'll lay the points with the Magic.
Pick: Magic -9.5 (-110)
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Grizzlies vs. Bulls
By Ray Monohan
Memphis and Chicago meet on Saturday in Chicago and this is a good spot for a lower scoring game.
This is a matchup between two teams that have been wildly inconsistent all season long. They have struggled to find any sort of groove and offensively they've been a roller coaster.
That bodes well for the under, especially given how well they've played defensively at times. The Grizzlies and Bulls play at two of the slowest paces in the NBA, and they're going to showcase that here on Saturday.
Look for very minimal transition play, while they work the ball around more to find open shooting lanes. Given how well these two teams close out on shooters too, all signs point to an under spot.
Pick: Under 241.5 (-110)
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Trail Blazers vs. Rockets
I bet this last night and it hit by a mile, and given that this is the exact same set of teams running it back 24 hours later, I see no need to run away from this bet.
The total was the same last night — 222.5 — and these two combined for 204 following a 116-88 Rockets win. Houston's defense has been very good in general, but especially against bad teams.
I don't know why this is 222.5, and I'm OK getting beat on this if both teams are hot offensively for whatever reason, but this feels like a misguided number.
Pick: Under 227.5 (-110)
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Nuggets vs. Lakers
By Joe Dellera
The Nuggets face the Lakers and are at a rest disadvantage after dropping last night’s contest to the Dallas Mavericks.
The player I’m targeting is MPJ. He has thrived against the Lakers due to his size and ability to stretch the floor while also attacking on the interior.
His points + rebounds line is set at 23.5, a number he has exceeded in 10 straight games against the Lakers while averaging 28 per game. He has also been great for Denver on zero days rest and has averaged ~26 PR over the last two seasons.
This is a strong spot for MPJ against the Lakers 24th ranked Adjusted Defense, so I’ll grab him to exceed 23.5 points + rebounds tonight.
Pick: Michael Porter Jr. Over 23.5 Points + Rebounds (-105)
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