The Holidays may be over but the NBA is still gifting us a full slate of professional basketball to wager on tonight. Finding value in the NBA can be overwhelming, but that’s why we’re here. I’ve done the research and picked the three best games for betting tonight’s slate. Let’s dive into the game previews, picks, and best NBA Wednesday odds.
Memphis Grizzlies (-295) at Charlotte Hornets (+235) – Wednesday, 7:00 PM EST
Memphis is on the road tonight, facing one of the worst home teams in the league in the Charlotte Hornets. Charlotte is a mere 5-12 at home this year, largely due to their team not being healthy for most of the season. Memphis also hasn’t been good on the road but are clearly the superior team. Not to mention, one with a deep playoff run in their future.
It’s clear based on where the moneyline is set that Memphis is expected to win. However, the spread is a little short, and something we are going to take advantage of tonight. BetRivers is giving us this game with Memphis favored by 7.5 (-112) and a high total of 235.5. Neither of these teams score a ton of points, with Memphis having the higher average of 115.4. However, that number dips to 112 on the road, and they are facing a team that only scores 109 points per game (PPG) at home. While this game seems like it would be fast moving and high scoring, that won’t be the case tonight.
Memphis is too good on defense not to exploit the least efficient offense in the league. On the flip side, Charlotte should be able to keep the lid on Memphis who aren’t terribly efficient themselves. This is a situation where the books are trying to tell us it’s going to be a shootout, reflected in the highest total of the evening coming on this game. They are attempting to push the public towards an over. However, that won’t be the case, as this game goes under tonight.
Don’t get fooled by the story the sportsbooks are telling and take the Under 235.5 in this game.
Wicked Wager – Under 236 (-113)
San Antonio Spurs (+320) at New York Knicks (-435) – Wednesday, 7:30 PM EST
The Spurs who are 12-25 overall are on the road in the Big Apple tonight facing the 20-18 Knicks. The Knicks are looking to even the season series after losing to the Spurs at the end of December. New York are winners of two straight and will look to take advantage of a horrendous Spurs road team. San Antonio is currently 5-12 away from home court.
New York will not have RJ Barrett available and could be missing Derrick Rose and or Obi Toppin as well. However, that isn’t slowing us down on our position with the Knicks tonight. The Knicks are clearly a better team than the Spurs and are in a great spot at home to beat up on the road team. Anytime there are injuries, especially in the second unit like New York has, we like to bet first quarters. It minimizes the impact of a short handed second unit as we know that the starters are going to get most of the first 12 minutes run.
The Knicks are 11th in the league in scoring in the first quarter at 29 PPG, and see an uptick at home, putting up 30.3 PPG inside of MSG. On the other side, the Spurs are barely putting up 28 PPG in this spot on the road. BetRivers has a couple of lines available in this spot, and we are keyed in on New York -2.5 (-114). New York is going to come out fast and set the tone early, you can bet on that.
The second Wicked Wager in this one is on the full game spread. Despite the injuries that New York is going to be dealing with, the Spurs have the worst point differential in the league. When they lose, they lose big, to the tune of an average 9.4 points. On the other hand, the Knicks have the 7th best scoring margin at +2.8, and +3.5 at home. To make matters worse, the Spurs are losing road games by an average of 11.4. We are taking the Knicks -7.5 with -136 odds on BetRivers tonight. We’ll be paying a little more juice for a more favorable line but it isn’t costing us too much, and will reduce the sweat factor at the end.
Wicked Wagers – Knicks 1Q -2.5 (-114) / Knicks -7.5 (-136)
Brooklyn Nets (-210) at Chicago Bulls (+165) – Wednesday, 8:00 PM EST
There is no hotter team in the league than the Brooklyn Nets. They are winners of twelve straight games and are 18-2 over their last 20 games. This team is firing on all cylinders, and it’s been fun to watch.
Brooklyn has been great on the road this season as well, with a 12-7 record and a scoring differential on the road of +1.9. The Nets are beating teams by 4.4 points per game on the year and face a Chicago team tonight that is 9-9 at home.
Chicago will be without several key role players tonight, while Brooklyn should have almost everyone. Royce O’Neale is listed as questionable, however even if he’s out, the Nets have a significant advantage. This team also just feels like it’s clicking. When you watch them play, you can tell they are all on the same page. Additionally, for the first time in a long time, there’s no drama getting in the way of their play.
A wise man once told me that if you bet with a streak, you can only be wrong once, and if you bet against a streak, you can be wrong many times. That’s great advice for sports bettors, and there’s no reason to bet against this hot streak now. BetRivers is giving us a short line on this game tonight, likely because Chicago did win the first match up between these teams earlier in November. However, much has happened since then, and tonight’s going to be different.
The line currently sits at -5 in favor of the Nets, but the +5 is juiced. Don’t get fooled by the story they are telling you, follow our Wicked Wager on this game and lay the points with Brooklyn. The five-point line isn’t much for a team of this caliber to cover, and they will handle business tonight in the Windy City.
The second play I’m on is the halftime line, because it’s too good not to: Nets -2.5 (-117). Brooklyn is 4th in the league in first half scoring, while Chicago is only 18th. The season numbers are tricky, but Brooklyn will have their second unit intact while Chicago’s going to be short handed there. You can expect to cash halftime and full game tickets on this one tonight.
Wicked Wagers – Nets 1H -2.5 (-114) / Nets -5 (-110)