The NBA's Saturday schedule is a short one, but it packs a punch. There are five games on the slate tonight, including two divisional matchups out West: Pelicans vs. Mavericks (8 p.m. ET) and Lakers vs. Kings (10 p.m. ET).
Our crew has three best bets for Saturday's slate, including player props and a bet on the spread in Pels-Mavs. The break down their expert picks and predictions for those games below.
NBA Odds & Picks
Utah Jazz vs. Chicago Bulls
Munaf Manji: The Utah Jazz travel to Chicago to take on the Bulls who are playing the second leg of a back-to-back after beating the Philadelphia 76ers Friday night.
The Bulls come into this game as one of the worst perimeter defenses in the entire league. According to NBA Advanced Stats, the Bulls allow the second-most 3s per game (13.8) and have the second-highest opponent 3-point percentage (37.4%) in the league this season.
Jordan Clarkson comes into this game shooting the ball well from beyond the arc. In his past 11 games, Clarkson is shooting 43.3% from deep and he has topped this line of 2.5 in nine of those games. Clarkson has a poor shooting night the last time these two teams met (1-of-8 from deep), but that came during a rough 10-game stretch where he was shooting 21.7% from deep.
The Bulls exerted tons of energy last night in a victory against the Sixers on the road and I expect the Bulls to come out a bit flat — they aren't a particularly good home team. I like this prop at over 2.5 and buy it up to 3.5 at plus money.
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Dallas Mavericks
Tyler Schmidt: This is one of the two player props I'm targeting for Saturday's slate (you can find the other one here).
The top of our Model is flooded with Christian Wood under props. Deciding which prop to choose from was difficult, but taking the under on his points + rebounds + assists prop on DraftKings feels like the best value. We have Wood projected for only 25.6 points, rebounds, and assists in this matchup tonight.
Not only are the Pelicans strong defensively, but they rank fifth in Rebounding Percentage this season. Wood has played under 30 minutes in four-straight games, which is not giving him much opportunity to reach this prop line, especially in a difficult matchup. This game may turn in to a slug fest.
Take this under prop on Wood down to 27.5 PRA.
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Dallas Mavericks
Jacob McKenna: I wrote the full betting guide for this game (you can read that here), but I think the Mavericks are the right side in this one.
The biggest advantages that Dallas has in this matchup is the rest advantage and the health advantage, both of which put them in a position to win this matchup.
Additionally, the Pelicans have struggled a little bit on the road this season, where they are just 7-10 overall. In those games the Pelicans have posted an Offensive and Defensive Rating of 112.2, both of which are a massive difference from their ratings at home (Offensive- 116.6, Defensive- 108.9).
Combine that with the with fact this is a back-to-back for the Pelicans, and I think the Mavericks will bounce back in a big way after a bad loss on Thursday. I like this spread to 8.
