NBA Best Bets Today: November 5 Picks & Predictions
A two-game west-coast NBA slate awaits us on Thursday night as the Magic visit the Suns at 9:00 pm ET and the Heat take on the Warriors at 10:00 pm ET on NBA TV. Phoenix and Miami both played Wednesday, while the Magic and Warriors had the night off.
I have singled out my three favorite NBA best bets for Thursday's slate, but as always we have you covered with expert analysis and NBA picks for every game, every day! Let's jump right into it.
NBA best bet: Warriors -6.5 over Heat (-115)
Odds available at Novig at time of publishing. Playable at that number.
Following an 0-3 start to the season, the Golden State Warriors have won five in a row. Yaxel Lendeborg, the #11 overall pick, is averaging 21.5 points on 50% shooting, and Steph Curry is doing Steph Curry things, scoring 30+ in three of the six games played. Thursday's 10:00 pm ET tip gives the Warriors two full days off. Miami has been a different story.
The Heat are 3-5 and needed overtime to beat a 1-6 Clippers team on Wednesday. Giannis and Bam each played 41 minutes, and now Miami takes a short trip up to the Bay Area for a 7:00 pm local tip on the second night of a back-to-back. Miami gives up 123 points a night, 27th in the league, and its only other back-to-back ended in a loss at Charlotte. Golden State won this matchup 135-112 at home last January. I like the Warriors to cover at home.
Read our full Heat vs Warriors predictions
NBA best bet: Klay Thompson (MIA) Over 13.5 points (+115)
Odds available at Novig at time of publishing. Playable at that number to -115.
Klay Thompson faces his former team at Chase Center on Thursday for the first time in a Heat uniform. He is red hot coming in. In his last three games, he torched the Clippers on Wednesday for 30 with eight threes, scored 19 against the Lakers and 25 against Indiana. That is 74 points in three games on 19 of 36 from deep. His minutes have climbed with the shooting, 26 to 27 to 35.
The line is still priced off his slow start, when he was getting 15 to 17 minutes some nights and scoring in single digits. With Nikola Jovic and Nick Richards seemingly out of Miami's rotation to start their five-game road trip, Klay has slotted right in. Golden State's defense ranks 21st in efficiency, and nobody knows the three-point line at Chase Center better than him. He has cleared this number comfortably in three straight games, and we are still getting plus money on his points total. This is my favorite player prop of the day.
NBA best bet: Magic ML over Suns (+102)
Odds available at Novig at time of publishing. Playable to -105.
Phoenix has lost four straight, and things are getting worse by the game. Devin Booker's 33 points on Wednesday night didn't make a difference in a 132-119 loss to Portland at home. With Mark Williams out following shoulder surgery, the Suns are relying on Khaman Maluach and Oso Ighodaro as rim protectors -- and both were pushed around by Donovan Clingan for 24 and 11. Phoenix is allowing 124 a night over its last five. Now the Suns play again Thursday on the second night of a home back-to-back.
Orlando has struggled to score since Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs went down, with 97 and 94 points in its last two home games. The injury bug has hit Orlando early, but the Magic still show up defensively -- allowing 108 a night over the last three, sixth-best in the league. Last season these teams split two games and neither was decided by more than four. Two struggling teams at a coin-flip price, and I will take the one that had Wednesday off. Give me the Magic.
Check out our Magic vs Suns predictions
