Today marks the beginning of the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup knockout stage. We’re going to see the Miami Heat take on the Orlando Magic, then the Toronto Raptors will host the New York Knicks. My daily NBA workload generally features a story on sides/totals and another story on player props. However, with only two games on the card for tonight, I’m dropping all of my plays below. That said, keep reading for my NBA picks and predictions for Tuesday, December 9.
RELATED: Check out the Pro Picks page for more selections from our talented VSiN hosts and analysts!
NBA Best Bets Today (Sides/Totals)
Heat ML (-112) vs. Magic
Heat at Magic – 6:00 pm ET
The Heat aren’t playing very well right now. Miami comes into this game having lost three straight, with the last one being a 16-point home loss against a miserable Sacramento squad. However, Orlando just lost Franz Wagner to a high ankle sprain, meaning the star will be out for 2-4 weeks. That was actually good news for the Magic considering how bad the injury looked live, but it is a loss that Orlando will feel while he’s out. Wagner has an Estimated Plus-Minus of +3.2 this season, which puts him in the league’s 91st percentile. He’s a tremendous two-way player for Jamahl Mosley’s team.
Fortunately, the Magic did get Paolo Banchero back a couple of games ago. There will be times Orlando will have to roll the ball out to Banchero and hope the talented forward can put the squad on his back. However, it should be noted that this team has had some troubles when Banchero has played without Wagner. In fact, in the 312 possessions the Magic have played with Banchero on the floor and Wagner off, they’ve been outscored by 6.3 points per 100 possessions. And their offense with those lineups has been in the league’s 15th percentile. That’s a small sample size but it’s not inconsistent with things we’ve seen in recent seasons.
I’m not sure we’ll see Orlando completely fall apart without Wagner, but I do think that beating a team like Miami will be a challenge in a game like this. It’s going to take some time for the Magic to figure out how they’re going to play without Wagner’s downhill attacking on offense, plus high-level wing defense on the other end of the floor.
Orlando is also just 34-59 straight-up when playing as home underdogs under Mosley, plus the team is 36-66 SU versus teams that outscore opponents by 3.0 or more points per game.
There’s just a lot that suggests Miami will get back in the win column here, so I like the Heat on the moneyline. I also wouldn’t hate a sprinkle on Miami to win the NBA Cup at 16-1 odds. I’m not sure anybody in the East will get through the team that comes out of the West, but I do think the Heat have a good shot at getting to the finals. If they do, you can do a lot to monetize a 16-1 ticket.
NBA Player Props Today
Scottie Barnes Over 5.5 Assists (+102) vs. Knicks
Knicks at Raptors – 8:30 pm ET
I wish I had a little more on the Knicks-Raptors game. I have a slight lean on Toronto +5, but the team hasn’t been performing well enough recently. That’s why I ultimately decided to lay off the sides/totals. However, I am playing Barnes to finish with at least six assists. Barnes has just been looking locked in as a playmaker recently, dishing out at least seven dimes in three of the last four contests. He has also had at least 10 potential assists in three of the last four.
Barnes is also going up against a New York team that could make it somewhat easy on him to put a mark in this column on the box score. The Knicks are 23rd in the NBA at defending corner 3s and 27th at defending above-the-break 3s. That means the Raptors should get quality looks throughout this game, and Barnes can be trusted to set his teammates up with some good shots.
2025-26 NBA Record: 166-155 (+8.68 units)
