Best Bets on Today’s 8-Game NBA Schedule
If Saturday’s 8-game NBA slate wasn’t enough for you, there’s a whole lot more on the schedule for Sunday, March 19th. And if you’re looking for some picks on those games, VSiN has you covered with three NBA best bets. Keep reading to find out how you can potentially turn a profit on today’s NBA schedule.
MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts have on March 19
Here are our favorite NBA bets for Sunday, March 19th (odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook):
Miami Heat (-10, 218) at Detroit Pistons
The Heat are eighth in the league in defensive rating this season, and they’re also 28th in pace of play. That means that it would take an explosive type of team to drag this group to an over, and we certainly didn’t just describe the Pistons. This season, Detroit is 27th in the league in offensive rating and 13th in pace. That second number is a little higher than we’d want it to be, but the Pistons have slowed down recently. They’re 19th in pace over the last 10 games.
With Detroit not being a team that is particularly strong offensively, it’s hard to imagine this game not going under. These also happen to be two of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA this season, so it’s not like these two are regularly feeling it up from deep.
The under is 13-5 when Miami is a road favorite this season, with the average total points scored in those games being just 212.8 points per game. And it’s 12-2 when the Heat have play road games with totals of 210 to 219.5 on the year, and the average in this situation is 207.2 points per game.
All signs are point to a low-scoring affair in The Motor City, making this the perfect example of a game you want to bet and forget. Watching it won’t bring you any joy as a basketball fan.
Bet: Under 218
New Orleans Pelicans (-5, 227.5) at Houston Rockets
The Pelicans are just 3-9 straight-up in their last 12 games, and they’re only 4-8 against the spread in those contests. The team also happened to just face this Rockets group on Friday, when Houston earned a 114-112 home victory as a 5.5-point underdog. Jabari Smith Jr. drilled a game winning 3 to end that one. The Rockets are now 5-3 SU and 6-2 ATS in their last eight games, and there’s no reason to think they can’t cover against this Pelicans team again.
New Orleans was one of the hottest teams in basketball early in the season, but the team has been dealing with players being in and out of the lineup all season. Not many teams in the league have experienced what the Pelicans have when it comes to injuries, and that hasn’t allowed Willie Green’s team to find any sort of rhythm. On the other hand, the Rockets have taken a lot of lumps throughout the year, but this is a team that is growing together on the floor. And while people seem to think Houston wants to go out there and lose, that couldn’t be further from the case. The players in the locker room have no desire to lose games, and they are going to continue to fight on a nightly basis.
One interesting nugget when looking at this head-to-head series in recent years is that the home team is 6-1 both SU and ATS in the last seven meetings between these two. It’s also hard to ignore that the Pelicans are 1-10 ATS in road games against teams that out-rebound opponents by 3.0 or more rebounds per game under Willie Green. New Orleans has lost those games by an average of 19.1 points per game. That’s an outrageous trend that only makes us want to back the surging Rockets more.
Bet: Rockets +5
Los Angeles Clippers (-3, 235.5) at Portland Trail Blazers
There are reports coming out that the Blazers are getting close to shutting down Damian Lillard for the rest of the season, as the team is getting further and further away from sneaking into the Play-In. Portland has lost eight of its last 10 games and now hosts a Los Angeles team that is fighting to avoid having to be a part of the Play-In. The Clippers are currently in fifth place in the Western Conference, and they do not want to slip into seventh.
With these teams in different head spaces right now, it’s just hard not to back the one that is a little more motivated — especially considering the Clippers have won each of their last two games at the Moda Center. Portland is a very tough place to win basketball games, but it hasn’t gotten the best of Los Angeles recently. And overall, the Clippers are just a little too talented on the wing for this version of the Blazers, who happen to be without Jerami Grant right now.
Also, while this is the second night of a back-to-back for the Clippers, the team held Kawhi Leonard out of last night’s game against the Orlando Magic. That means that he’ll be out there for this one, and this is a well-rested team to begin with. Los Angeles has played just five games in the last 13 days, which is probably part of the reason the Clippers are 4-1 SU in those games.
Bet: Clippers -3
Did you know that you can parlay these three picks together at +596 odds? Try out our VSiN Parlay Calculator HERE!
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