NBA Best Bets

The home of our NBA best bets. Our expert handicappers spend hours analyzing every angle to bring you our free NBA best bets across today’s NBA slate. We post our NBA Predictions and match previews for every game of the season, and our most confident selections find their way here on the NBA best bets page.

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Point Spread PickBest Bet

CLE Cavaliers Win -4.5-110ORL Magic @ CLE Cavaliers

Reasoning

The 2024 NBA Playoffs are upon us. The opening weekend will start with a battle between the fourth seed Cleveland Cavaliers and the fifth seed Orlando Magic. The Cleveland Cavaliers were expected to be exceptional this year with a strong backcourt led by Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley controlled the paint all season with both players averaging near 15 points and 10 rebounds per game. The Cavaliers surrounded these stars with shooters who shot better than 35% percent from three-point range including Max Strus, Isaac Okoro and Georges Niang. The Cavaliers are a deep team that has handled adversity and played through injury all season long. The Orlando Magic were one of the NBA’s most surprising teams this season. The Magic were the NBA’s fourth youngest team this season with an average age of 24.3 years. Orlando is led by 21-year-old power forward, Paolo Banchero. Banchero led the Magic in scoring this season with 22.6 points while shooting 45% from the field. The Magic won with defense this season, ranking third in the NBA in defensive rating at 110.8. They were excellent on their home court but left something to be desired on the road. The Magic finished the season with an 18-23 record when playing away from Orlando.

Just a year ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers were in a similar situation that the Orlando Magic are in now. They were a young team making their first collective appearance in the postseason with a lot of hope and aspiration. Last year, Cleveland’s goal of advancing was quickly diminished by the New York Knicks. Cleveland didn’t play up to playoff standards and lost that series in 5 games. While that series loss hurt Cleveland Cavaliers fans, it may help the Cavaliers in their opening round against the Orlando Magic. Cleveland saw what it takes to win a playoff series first-hand and will be looking to right their wrong this year. Orlando is still a very young team with still a lot to prove. The Magic have had a great season, but playing on the road in a lot of these players’ first postseason game against a team hungry for a series win is a tough place to start. I have Cleveland starting this series with a statement win.

Cleveland Cavaliers -4.5 available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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Ben Dezell

NBA Best Bets

47.8%

Strike Rate

54Wins

59Losses

1Pushes

Percentage only includes Wins and Losses

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What is an NBA Best Bet

Our expert NBA handicappers analyze, preview, and predict each of the 2,460 games during the NBA season, and our NBA best bets highlight those top plays on today’s NBA action. Our NBA experts analyze statistics, team news, form, trends, and more for each game of the NBA regular season and playoffs, but you must be selective in your wagering to see long-term success.

Each of our NBA predictions, all of which can be found on our NBA Picks and Predictions page, are given a confidence rating ranging from 1 to 3 stars, with 3 stars being the most confident, 1 the least.

The confidence rating alongside each NBA pick is a useful tool as bettors can gauge our confidence in the selection, and the NBA best bets page goes even beyond that.

Our NBA best bets are just that, our most confident selections on today’s NBA action. With a page solely designated to our NBA best bets, it’s a quick and easy way for bettors to find our best NBA picks today, each with detailed analysis and reasoning for the selection.

Best NBA Bet today

With up to 15 NBA matches on any given day during the season, the majority of sports bettors will not want to wager on every game, and those that do, will likely not turn a profit over time.

Alongside all of our daily NBA picks and predictions, we have a confidence rating from 1-3 stars and we also post our Best NBA Bet today right here on the Best NBA Bet page.

By highlighting our best NBA bet today, sports bettors can quickly, and easily find our most confident picks from the long list of NBA games today and be more selective in their NBA wagering.

Be sure to check out our NBA Picks and NBA Predictions pages for all of our previews, picks, and predictions for today’s NBA games, along with our best NBA Parlays and NBA Prop Bets.

NBA Best Bets – Where to bet on NBA games today

Betting on the NBA is popular among sports bettors and there are countless ways you can have a wager on an NBA game. You can get a full rundown in our how to bet on the NBA guide.

With its popularity and variance in markets, NBA betting odds are often competitively priced amongst online sportsbooks, so shopping around for the best NBA odds is key. While we highlight the best odds for our NBA picks and selections, odds are fluid and can change quickly, so checking for the best available odds or spreads is always advised.

Depending on the type of bet you’re wagering, with our best NBA bets often across various markets, you can find noticeable differences between odds and spreads, and every point in your favor helps secure that winning ticket. If you’re a big picture bettor, you can also get our best NBA Futures bets.

All of the big online sportsbooks will offer several markets and odds for each NBA game including more traditional markets like Moneyline, point spreads, and totals market with a selection of players and team props. If NBA Prop Bets are your thing then be sure to check out the likes of FanDuel Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook, who offer a wide selection for each NBA game and regular price boosts.

Unsure where to wager on our NBA selections, head over to our Online Sportsbook Review’s Page for all the must-have information on all of the leading sportsbooks, and be sure to check our Bonuses Page for all the latest signup bonuses and promo codes. We even have a list of the best NBA betting sites.

Best Basketball Bets Today

Basketball matches come thick and fast during the season and with so many matches live each day it’s good to be selective with your plays. Therefore, right here on our best bets page, we detail our best basketball bets today, from the day’s slate. Our experts research every basketball game thoroughly, using in-depth statistical analysis, team news, odds, trends, and more ahead of previewing and making our predictions on each game.

We then run through all of today’s basketball picks and post our expert handicappers’ strongest play, or best basketball bet today right here with a full breakdown and the best odds available.

NBA Lock Of The Day – NBA Lock Picks Tonight

Looking for NBA Lock Picks tonight? Well, you’re in the right place. Our NBA Lock of the day will be right here on our NBA Best Bets page every day throughout the NBA season. With so many games played on any given night, it’s not wise to bet on them all. What you’ll find here is our NBA expert handicappers’ NBA Lock Of The Day, our most confident pick. Each NBA Lock Of The Day will be accompanied by a full preview and analysis for the lock, and you can also check out how our NBA Lock picks have been doing across the season.

Be sure to check out our Basketball Picks and Basketball Predictions page for all of our previews, picks, and predictions for today’s basketball games, along with our best daily Basketball Parlays.

NBA Best Bets require expertise

Our team has the kind of expertise you only get from decades of NBA handicapping experience. That means years of NBA research, statistical analysis and betting knowledge. All that expertise is available to you through our meticulously selected NBA picks. But don’t just take our word for it, you can find our reasoning and analysis and a star rating for every single one of our NBA best bets.

Andrew Wilsher, Pickswise Managing Editor