NBA Expert Tips and Best Bets | Nov 14

Four games will be played in the NBA on Tuesday, Australia time, kicking off with an intriguing clash between two titans of the Eastern Conference and concluding with a big game between two of the better young teams in the league. Though it’s a relatively small slate of games, there’s plenty to look forward to – particularly in the two aforementioned games – and a good amount of value too. Let’s take a look at three of the best bets for the day. 

Raptors -8.5 |$1.90 @ PlayUp 

There’s no two ways about it – the Wizards are really, really bad this season. With their roster the reality was never going to be much different from that, with Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole their marquee players – not exactly a recipe for success. They’ve won just two of their first nine games, and in their most recent outing went down by eight points to the Nets despite that opposition shooting just 37.8% from the field and 24.5% from three-point range. What’s more, that game was on Monday Australia time, making this the second leg of a road back-to-back. The Raptors haven’t set the world on fire so far, going 4-5 through their first nine games, but they look like being a middle of the road team as expected, with some potential to challenge better teams with a rangy lineup led by the rapidly improving Scottie Barnes. They might not be world beaters but they’re a solid team and a hell of a lot better than the Wizards, and on their home court can win this one by double figures. 

Knicks +8.5 |$1.90 @ BlueBet

This feels like a risky one given how good the Celtics are, but for all of their talent and the ease with which this new look roster appears to have come together, they’ll have their work cut out disposing of the Knicks. The Knickerbockers have gone 5-4 through their first nine games, but they’ve been better that record would suggest. Those losses have all been to good teams, and they’ve won their last three in impressive fashion, knocking off the Clippers, Spurs and Hornets by an average of 19 points apiece. What’s more, even in those losses they’ve been really competitive, not losing any of them by a double-figure margin. Tom Thibodeau coached teams are rarely easy to beat, and this one is no exception. Night in night out – at least so far this season – they’ve been a gritty team which is difficult to put away, as was evidenced in the game they’ve already played against the Celtics a couple of weeks ago – they lost that one by four points. They will have a tough time beating Boston at TD Garden, but an 8.5-point head start is a significant one for a team which hasn’t lost any of their nine games by double figures yet this season. 

Under 226.5 total match points | $1.89 @ GetSetBet 

This is an interesting one in that, last season, betting on the under would have been based on the Cavaliers’ elite defence and the hope that they could stifle the elite offence of the Kings. That’s not necessarily different in 2023-24, but the Cavs recent games have been quite high scoring, while on the other side of the coin the Kings have been playing in consistently low scoring games. In fact, each of their last five games have seen 222 points or less scored in regular time, with three of those yielding 203 points or less. The Cavs, in contrast, have been in uncharacteristically high scoring games, but don’t expect that to last -they’re still a defensively minded team that benefits from playing at a slower pace, and against a team which benefits from up and down games, the Cavs should try to turn this into a half-court game. The potential return of De’Aaron Fox may speed things up for the Kings, but in his first game back he may have limited minutes and probably won’t push the pace as much as usual, so with the Kings’ low scoring form and the Cavs elite defence, all signs point to this being a relatively low scoring affair.