The NBA regular season rolls on with another solid slate this Thursday, with a total of 9 matchups on the docket scheduled for today. So, our staff of basketball experts dug into the latest odds and identified all the best betting value on the board for tonight's contests.
Our betting experts have looked over the odds and made 5 NBA picks for today's matchups. Continue below for our NBA best bets and predictions for Thursday, December 26.
NBA Best Bets Today, Predictions, Picks: Thursday, December 26
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 7 p.m. | |
  | 8 p.m. | |
| 7 p.m. | |
  | 7 p.m. | |
  | 10 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. | ||
Hornets vs. Wizards
By Joe Dellera
Mark Williams has been solid for the Hornets since he returned, and now he gets a relatively soft matchup against the Washington Wizards.
Williams has steadily seen his minutes increase as of late, and has scored double digits in four of his last five games.
When Williams plays at least 15 minutes, he has cleared this line in 22 of his last 30 games.
Additionally, when the Hornets played the Wizards a week ago, he dropped 16 points in just 19 minutes.
The Wizards play at the fourth-fastest Pace in the league and allow their opponents to shoot 66.8% at the rim, the highest mark in the league in that department.
Couple that with the fact that centers are absolutely roasting Washington this season, and this is a great spot to back Williams.
Pick: Mark Williams Over 9.5 Points (-125)
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Rockets vs. Pelicans
This is one of the first times this season I have looked to back the Pelicans.
Their role players are getting healthier, as they've returned Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum and Trey Murphy to hold up the offense.
On the other end, the Rockets have finally seen a significant upgrade to their power ranking, now listed as an 8-point favorite on the road.
While I backed the Rockets at numbers between 0 and 5 regularly, a road favorite -8.5 is a spot this Rockets team has rarely found itself in, and is likely worth fading in the betting market.
Pick: Pelicans +8.5 (-120)
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Hornets vs. Wizards
LaMelo Ball has gone over this in two of three outings since returning from injury, with the lone miss ringing in at 13 exactly, and he recently just cleared this line against this same Wizards team.
Additionally, he has gone over 13.5 rebounds + assists in six of his last seven games.
Lastly, we have a bunch of injury questions in Washington. Kyle Kuzma and Marvin Bagley have already been ruled out. Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington and Bilal Coulibaly are all questionable.
Pick: LaMelo Ball Over 13.5 Rebounds + Assists (-115)
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Thunder vs. Pacers
By Vince Akins
The Thunder missed out on the Christmas Day slate, despite leading the West in the regular season last year and being the dominant team in the West this season.
Look for this young, hungry team to come out of the holiday with a little extra edge today.
Oklahoma City has done well with a couple days off, like they've had entering tonight's contest. The Thunder are 8-0 ATS since February 22 with 2+ days rest in non-neutral site games, when favored by less than 10 points.
The Thunder surprisingly lost both meetings against Indy last season, which should have them locked in here. Road favorites of 5+ points facing a team they lost to in their previous meeting is almost always a play for me. I'll lay the points with OKC.
Pick: Thunder -5.5 (-110)
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Pistons vs. Kings
By Nick Parsons
Just a great situational play here in my opinion. Detroit went into the Christmas break on fire by winning three of its last four games, including back-to-back road upsets at the Suns and Lakers.
With a game at Denver to conclude this trip, I say that this mini-holiday break could not have come at a worse time for this team that was slowly starting to show small signs of chemistry and cohesion.
However, the break could not have come at a better time for a now desperate Sacramento team, which lost its fourth straight to the Pacers by a score of 122-95 on December 22.
The Kings have now lost five straight against the spread. But note, looking back, they are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 after playing to five or more straight ATS losses in a row.
Look for the Kings to go all-out to, not only win this game, but to do so in blowout fashion. Lay the points with Sacramento.
Pick: Kings -6 (-110)
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